The last thing I want to do is help you move here and then you call me and tell me you hate it. This is where I’m from, where I’m raising my family, and where I will mostly likely retire. I love calling the Grand Strand home. Let’s talk through a few things that you should consider before moving here and if any of them are deal breakers, please don’t move here.  

Heat and humidity: With summer temperatures as high as 100 degrees and humidity in the 80’s and 90’s, our area can be like walking into a sauna. July and August will make you especially thankful for air conditioning. While not nearly as bad as Florida, our area is hot and humid in the summer months. Stay away if our sub-tropical climate is an issue.  

Bugs: We have all types of creepy crawlies: termites that want to eat your home, mosquitos that want to drink your blood and palmetto bugs that want to interrupt your dinner. 'Palmetto bug' is our southern, genteel name for a roach. Only our roaches are big and they can fly. We also have wasps, hornets, dirt dobbers, centipedes, ear wigs, rolly pollys and many, many more. You’ll find a pest service to help you treat for bugs or you’ll become very familiar with this list and many more. 

Next up on our list is another invasive species: tourists. Folks travel from all over the country to enjoy our beaches. Our summer population swells and with that comes longer wait times in a lot of restaurants, more traffic on the road, and more people in your favorite stores. The tourist season extends to spring and fall thanks to mild climates and our golf industry, and we also have snowbirds that travel down from the North to stay all winter. It might be called 'tourist season' but we’re not allowed to hunt them. If this is an issue, the Myrtle Beach area is not for you. 

The next reason to not move here is our growth. According to many sources, Myrtle Beach is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. This has been happening for decades. There are very few places that haven’t been developed east of the Intracoastal Waterway and development is booming in the inland areas of Conway, Loris, Longs, Aynor and even Galivants Ferry and Green Sea. With that growth comes challenges with roads, schools and infrastructure. Please think twice before moving here if you’re not willing to experience growing pains. 

Another important thing to consider before moving here is our job market. If you’re looking for a union job in a factory, you’re probably not going to find it here. Our cost of living is lower than a lot of places which means our wages are lower than a lot of places. If you’re not in healthcare, tourism, construction or education, finding a job here could be a major challenge. 

And lastly, don’t move here if you’re worried about hurricanes and flooding. With flooding, you can be selective on where you live and probably avoid water in your home. But during our flooding events, roads in the area will closed and you will be potentially impacted. Be sure to check out the Map Your Move tool before moving here. For hurricanes, its important to know that it's not IF we get a hurricane but WHEN. And also please know these storms are hundreds of miles wide. Just because you live 20 miles away from the coast, doesn’t mean a major hurricane isn’t going to damage your home. There were hurricane force winds as far inland as Charlotte, NC during Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Thankfully, we don’t experience a major storm very often but if that’s a dealbreaker for you, please explore other areas in our beautiful country. 

That wraps our reasons not to move here. If you have questions about any of these topics and want to hear a native’s experience combined with a professional Realtor’s input, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re here to help!