Hi, John Weber, Charter One Realty, Broker Associate, giving you another update of what’s going on in the Lowcountry. If you have not subscribed to my channel, please consider doing so. You can hit the bell and be notified every Wednesday. I put a brand new video out. That would be awesome.
I thought I’d create a video on why Bluffton and Hilton Head, South Carolina are the perfect location for retirement. I have lived in Florida. I’ve lived in South Carolina. I’ve lived in North Carolina. I’ve lived in the mountains. All around, and I have sold real estate to pre-retirement couples and retirement couples and I’ve observed this through the years. We lived in Naples, for example.
My first one here is location. In Naples, you have to drive 10 hours just to get out of the state. So, especially if you’re in South Florida, it’s a bit of a drive unless you have people you know or family that are close by. So location’s a real big item, and access to family. Here you have access to family that might be living in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, possibly Georgia, Atlanta. And that’s a big deal because if you’re four or five hours away from family members or older children, that’s a big deal. So that counts for something.
Weather, that’s another one. I was here in 1989 when it snowed two, three inches. I was here a couple of years ago when it snowed, two, three inches. If you can put up with a snow storm, two to three inches, every 32 years, you’re good to go. So in the winter, yes, okay, a cold front comes down. I walk the dog at night. I look at the temperature. I say, “Gee, it’s cold.” It’s 33 degrees. It really doesn’t get below freezing.
I’m from Chagrin falls, Ohio. The snowbelt, in the Cleveland area. I know winter really well, and this is a piece of cake. You have four distinct seasons – summer, like now, it’s hot, but this sun’s going down. It’s gorgeous, gorgeous. Spring and fall are off the charts beautiful. A lot of empty nesters coming down here, checking out the area, looking for a retirement, et cetera, et cetera.
Taxes, that’s another one. Florida has no state income tax. Congratulations. Isn’t that great? So our taxes are 4% property tax if you live here in South Carolina, 6% if you live out of state. What that means is, if it’s a $400,000 house and you live in it and you live in Beaufort County, your taxes are going to be $2,200, $2,300 a year in taxes. If you live in New Jersey or Pennsylvania or someplace and it’s a $400,000 home, your taxes are going to be $3,700 to $4,000 a year. Okay, and that’s still very inexpensive.
So 4%, 6%, properties are assessed every five years. And there are two counties, Beaufort County, Jasper County. Beaufort County has lower taxes, and Jasper County has slightly higher, no big deal, okay, in the big scheme of things. Where South Carolina makes their money on taxes is people that own property down here that live out of state. You may not think that’s much, 4%, 6%, but they pushed the school taxes into the 6%. Anyway, taxes.
Access to things to do. I’m two and a half hours from Jacksonville, four hours from Charlotte, four hours from Atlanta, four hours from Augusta, four and a half hours from Pinehurst, two hours from Charleston, 45 minutes from Savannah. These are things to do. If you’re sitting around, gee, what do we want to do? Let’s go for a long weekend. That’s pretty cool, all those places. We always say around here, we’re four hours from everywhere. It’s a lot. I mean, we’re four hours from a lot of cool places. You want to go to the mountains to Nashville? Four to five hours, no big deal.
So there you have it. Weather, taxes, access to family and things to do in the Lowcountry. You cannot beat it for a location on the East Coast. It is just amazing. So come see me, subscribe to my channel, call me, email me. I’m with Charter One Realty, the best real estate company in the area, and we will find your dream home with the best location.
