Dear Craig,
You didn't say your age group or if you were married or had children. Think about your needs. Be cautious of homeowners fees as well since Viji here said said in her answer here.

The Southeast is TRYING to grow, but it's a SLOW thing in progress. This is Richland County School District # 1 with 3 great schools out of many in the inner city: Rosewood Elementary, Hand Middle School, and Dreher High School. SO be careful, if you have children, that your location is for THOSE schools. They have been red and blue carpet awards and ribbon awards educational facilities.

If you are single and going to college, look into "the Vista" area downtownb or across the Blossom Street bridge in West Columbia/Cayce were college students rent a bedroom unit with bath but have many amenities that is very reasonable and charges per person. Stay away from noisy Five Points unless you like the party scene and the party crowd. A college student should think of renting for 1 year until knowing if they want to stay at the school or if they find the school not meeting their needs. There are property management companies out there who have listings and people who have garage apartments or rooms to rent. Pick up a copy of the "Free Times" and look in the back pages for those. All Bi Lo Grocery Stores and all around town on street corners (including the downtown post office on Assembly and Taylor Streets) have various color boxes of apartment rental and real estate to buy booklets.

My family rented a 1 bedroom apartment at a nice motel for a month looking everywhere until we decided upon an apartment that has met our needs for a while. My family is a follower of Suze Ormon, Dave Ramsey, and Howard Clark on tv. Look them up on the internet. They would tell you to watch how much debt you get yourself into, ask yourself why you want to go somewhere in particular, and then TRY the area out. Once you sign that lease or contract to buy, you are stuck with it. Go by these places on weekend nights and see for yourself what life is really like there and not what it IS portrayed to be when people are at work and kids are in school! It can be a REAL eye opener.

By the way, I am NOT a realtor but know what it's like to be new in a town with a toddler and know had I bought at certain places where one realtor was showing me, I would have ended up in an area that was new and building up with a major mall with homes 8 years ago not worth much and more so now, traffic headaches, "malfunction junction" traffic on I-26, and not the best schools as bragged about. I told my realtor "NO!" Stay away from homes past I-26 and I-77 going past Bluff Road. Another area to avoid that has built up very well, but the roads weren't planned for it, is the Northeast area of Columbia. Prices on homes can be reasonable with good schools and lots of shopping, BUT traffic is a nightmare! Travel certain roads at rush hours (4-6 pm) to see.

I have family members who work at the VA and like it. It's a great place to work who treat their veterans with respect and in a timely manner.

If you are military, ask at Ft. Jackson.

If you will be a med-student at MUSC, the school can help you out with housing.

It is true that you could buy a place and rent it out leaving to go where ever you need to next, but you will need to pay a property manager, be prepared if it's ever empty you have to pay for it and it's utilities and owner's/renters insurance, and whatever you'd pay if you lived there (that means double costs on you). Right now there are many homes and rental places sitting empty and do rent out, but the prices are high. If it were me, I would only take on what I can afford to do and see if you really want to stay here after 1 year. If you decide to stay, you will know where you want to live. As I said before, the 3 "gurus" I follow on tv, they'd say if you are going to stay 5 years or more, then buy. If you aren't, then rent or buy a very reasonably priced place. Homes can sit. No one knows if something is going to appraise higher in 3 years. I AM sure the Southeastern area of Columbia, will NOT. I have a pastor's wife friend whose mother passed away last year who lived in her home until she was in her 80's and passed away 1 mile from the VA. It is a pretty home and nice. It's right by Rush's Restaurant on Greenlawn Road near the funeral home and cemetery. I have no idea if my friend is going to sell it or not. It's small but has a beautiful sunroom I would love to have!

Lastly, check out the website http://www.sciway.com (I think it's .com and not .org). Sciway is prounounced Sky Way. You can find anything you want about our state.

Best Wishes and Success.....
H.E.Z.

Hi Craig,
The Hampton Forest community is really nice and the location is great.
However, a townhome has regime fees or Home Owners' Association fees - in this case, it is $65/month. Some can go as high as $200/month.

I tell all my buyers to hold on to the properties they buy because that is how you can create wealth.

If the location iand neighborhood are good, you can always get renters. People all over the world hold properties and get renters to pay their mortgage.
Viji

Hello Craig,

It would totally depend on the market as to what the appreciation and resell value of any property would be in three years. What I can do is assist you with your process of buying a property here in columbia. For more information about homes in Columbia SC, visit http://www.cbunited.com/howardrose.

I can also be reached at 803-800-4448.

Thanks

Howard Rose III Army (Ret), Realtor
Coldwell Banker United, Realtors

Craig -

Are you going to USC? Is that why the 3 year time frame and the search in the SE part of Columbia?

Call me - I can help

Randy Lindsay
Coldwell Banker
803.370.9324
buca1122@aol.com http://www.randylindsay.com

Craig:

I noticed that no one else answered your questions. I'd love to have an opportunity to assist in getting the answers to your questions and helping with your move to our area. Please feel free to email me at crsdave@davidpatterson.net

By the way, if you visit http://midlands.yourmlshomesearch.com/atj/microsite/Microsit…

you will be able to search our MLS for your next home.

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sincerely,

David A. Patterson, Broker CRS
Keller Williams Realty
4400 Saint Andrews Road
Columbia, SC 29212
(803) 429-9010

Visit My Blog - Your Comments are Welcomed
http://www.ThePattersonFiles.info/
http://www.sellinghomesisourbusiness.com http://www.davidpatterson.net http://www.CRS.com

"A journey begins with a designation in mind."

Jake:

These are very good questions for someone that considers themselves to be "young". I would be more than happy to do some analysis for you on these neighborhoods and send you some Market Profiles for Southeast Columbia, SC. If you would send me your email address, I'd more than happy to send this information to you.

Also, I will be loading the entire MLS for our area on my websites in the near future. I will let you know about the completion of this project in a separate email.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

David A. Patterson, Broker CRS
Keller Williams Realty
4400 Saint Andrews Road
Columbia, SC 29212
(803) 429-9010
brokerdave@davidpatterson.net
Visit My Blog - Your Comments are Welcomed
http://www.ThePattersonFiles.info/
http://www.sellinghomesisourbusiness.com http://www.davidpatterson.net http://www.CRS.com