Yolande’s Site Visit to the Low Country’s Newest Active Communities
Category: Active adult communities
March 19, 2024 – Our faithful correspondent Yolande recently continued the pursuit of her perfect place to retire in South Carolina’s Low Country. She started her explorations in Charleston, then worked her way north, ending up in the Myrtle Beach/Conway area near the North Carolina Border. She visited some of the newest active communities from Lennar. Her always interesting and frank reactions are shown below. Note: We just love these site visit reports from our Members – feel free to share yours!
Yolande’s Report
Charleston, Summerville, Myrtle Beach, SC
I flew into Charleston International airport; loved the awesome customer service and the airport. Easy to get through and around. I rented a car for the time I was there.
My hotel was in Mt. Pleasant which is a half hour from the airport. I was told it was the “Beverly Hills” of the South with homes starting at $1MM. I’ve been to Beverly Hills a lot, but I saw no resemblance. I enjoyed staying in the area since it was close to the ocean. The weather was nice for the season, low 70s. It did get windy and cold the day before I left.
I had 4 home tours set up in Summerville with Lennar in Summerville, an up and coming area of Charleston. All were brand new home communities, but only one was 55+. What I recommend is not contacting Lennar at all, just decide which communities you want to see and drop in. Reason I say this is because the person who set up my appointments, arranged them back to back for only an hour each, not giving me enough time to talk to the reps, or see the models. As a result I was late to every appointment after the first one.
From my visits I learned these are not true master planned communities, and they are all in different areas. For travel purposes, that would have been helpful to know for scheduling. Since I traveled 2,000+ miles I was very disappointed in Lennar’s inability to properly inform a prospective buyer on the area, and schedule suitable appointments. Lennar gets an “F” on customer service at corporate.
Lennar is having a huge well worth it inventory blowout sale of their Summerville communities, if you can move in fast! There is a $40K to $50K reduction in prices of quick sales and homes under construction. That’s why I went, I wanted to see what the fuss was about. The homes include everything except the refrigerator and W/D. Most builders have stopped including them, because buyers were complaining about the selections. I only went to the communities that were in my $350K and below budget, or so I thought.
Limehouse Village Row Collection – All Ages – sold out
This was my first stop, 45 minutes from Mt. Pleasant. I was not crazy about the area, saw nothing driving in but gas stations and fast food places. No grocery stores the entire 45 minutes nor after. Limehouse has beautiful, tastefully designed Southern styled exterior homes. It felt like a fairy tale neighborhood in the middle of a run down aging community! I didn’t look at the model home, because I have a rule: if you can’t afford it, why tease yourself. Price point was higher than the site listed, but satisfyingly beautiful!
Sweetgrass Carolina Collection – All Ages
Again, the community had very beautiful Southern styled homes. The prices were higher too. They had a great sale going. but given the numbers didn’t play well with my budget, I had to move on. Although I did not see the models, the one the sales team was located in was beautiful, spacious and well laid out. It had a front porch, which is my thing. I drove around the neighborhood, and just loved the way they were laid out, with brightly colored, Southern charm. They looked like homes in a fairy tale. Again, no grocery stores or amenities at all present.
Out of the three communities I really liked the models here best. I didn’t think I would but they were very well laid out for 55+, and had some nice interior features. I was surprised because most 55+ communities I have seen are cheaply done or way too expensive. This one was in the middle. I would’ve bought here, had I had a better sales person, someone who could have answered my questions and I could relate to. The community was beautiful. I recommend checking it out if you’re able to.
Lindera Preserve Arbor Collection – All Ages
Unfortunately I never made it to this community because by the time I left Horizons I was more than an hour late. Like I said, don’t rely on someone else to set up appointments for you. Be cognizant that some of these communities are far apart and you are traveling in an unfamiliar area, so give yourself extra time to get there.
Moving on up to Myrtle Beach Places to Retire (heading)
My next day’s visit was to the Myrtle Beach area. This time the visit was to new home communities from Meritage and Lennar. I was warned about Myrtle Beach area by someone who lived there for years, and a friend who visited and was not impressed. But I did want to see for myself. Once again, the drive up was long and boring.
Saddle Ridge – All Age – sold out
Due to the 2 lane roads and foggy weather I was late getting here too. I was not pleased with the City of Conway. It was not a true small town in my opinion. It was too spread out, really old, run down, and again not much in the way of grocery stores that I could see. Even though the sales rep confirmed my appointment with me a couple days in advance. he failed to tell me his community was sold out! I was not happy. He asked me to meet him at another community, Cooper’s Bluff, but by this time I was so worn out from getting lost that I decided to bag it and return to Charleston.
Overall – Is SC the Place for Yolande to retire?
My over all opinion of SC is it’s not for me. I wasn’t crazy about the scenery, and it seemed way too hard to get around. There didn’t seem to be many grocery stores, or at least conveniently located ones. I don’t like driving that much. On the plus side, the humidity did amazing things for my skin!
I recommend going if you think you have an interest. I was there a short time, because I work and can’t spend months in a place to decide if I like it. I look for what’s important to me, if I don’t see it, I “X” it from the list. I did not see Charleston as a place I could live. Visit again, yes but not live there. So I’m still searching for that place that meets my needs. Thank you for reading my review!
Editor’s Comment: Thanks so much for sharing your impressions of Lennar’s South Carolina’s Low Country Active Adult Communities with the Topretirements Membership. It is so helpful to hear real people’s experiences, and we really appreciate your frank comments!
Comments? Have you visited some Low Country communities you could tell us about? For example, Topretirements advertiser Cresswind has several great communities in South Carolina, notably Cresswind Charleston. Haig Point on Daufuskie Island is another. Please share your comments in the Comments section below. Another area popular with retirees is the Hilton Head, Bluffton area – does anyone have experience there?
More about the Low Country and Carolinas
Site Visit: Cascades at Embrey Mill
Dueling Retirement States: SC vs. NC
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