Retirement Communities in Bluffton-FIND THE BEST PLACES
Hi, John Weber in the Lowcountry, CharterOne Realty. Today I’m going to talk to you about retirement communities in Bluffton, find the best places. Now this, of course, is my opinion. Lot of people have different opinions but I’m out there every single day in the field, showing real estate, looking at homes, driving through communities. So I do have an opinion. If you’re new to the channel, please subscribe. You can ring the bell to be notified when a new video comes out. If you look below, I have a lot of free guides that you might find interesting and you can just click on the link and get those. So right now let’s get to it and find where to retire in the Lowcountry.
Okay where to retire in Bluffton, South Carolina, the gated communities. Where are the best places to retire. First of all when you move down here, you relocate, you’re looking for a second home. There are, I’m going to say, between 100 and 150 gated communities on Hilton Head Island and Bluffton, South Carolina. It’s very, very active. But I’ve broken this down into three categories that I consider to be primaries that you might consider and I’m trying to keep things inexpensive because I know most people are on a budget.
The 55 plus communities to choose from, there are four on my list. Sun City, Latitude Margaritaville, The Haven and RiverBend. Sun City, The Haven and RiverBend have all been developed by Del Webb Communities. They know what they’re doing. They are all really, really nice and they’re all a little bit different.
Sun City, of course, is a huge property that is phenomenally successful. I think it’s 8,600 homes will be in there total. It’s like 15,000 people live there right now. It’s a city and it’s extremely active. In 2018, I believe, they closed 700 homes in the MLS, according to their statistics. So it’s extremely active. When I show real estate in Sun City, I tell people, “If you see something, you better put an offer in because a lot of people are looking in Sun City and things sell on a daily basis in there”. People see value when they go and look at these resale homes. Sun City, the annual POA fee is $2,220. This video’s being created in 2019 so that’s this year’s POA fee.
I’ll jump down to The Haven. The Haven is a 55 plus community and it’s really, really nice. It’s in an area called New Riverside. The home sites are a little bit bigger, the homes might be a little more wider. They have a great community center with lots of things to do. Very, very popular. No golf course and they do not have privileges at Sun City to go in and use the facilities there. Although Sun City has three public golf courses, they can go in there and play golf. It’s public golf. The Haven’s annual POA fee is $2,508 a year.
RiverBend is a community very close to Sun City and those property owners do have rights in Sun City to go in and use the facilities. It’s just across the street. It’s on the river so the homes are little bit more money, they’re 400 to 750 I think. Larger home sites, larger homes obviously. You have access to the river for kayaking. They have a community center right on the river, beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. RiverBend has the same POA fee as Sun City, $2,220.
Last on this group is Latitude Margaritaville. I have made a couple of videos on Latitude Margaritaville. The annual POA fee is $2,976 a year. That does maintain the landscaping in the home. They are narrow home sites. They’re, I can’t say villa homes. Villa’s a marketing word. You don’t have a whole lot of landscaping but it is being maintained. They have fabulous models, they won all of the awards in the annual builder’s awards banquet. I think 17 Lighthouse awards. Fabulous models. Very, very busy. Last summer they opened up and within three months they sold 90 homes. It’s a real good choice.
So 55 plus you’ve got Sun City, Latitude Margaritaville, The Haven, RiverBend. Now, should you want to live in a gated community that there’s public golf in, of course you’re going to have a lower price point than the more expensive luxury clubs.
I’ll start Hilton Head Plantation. That is a very large gated community. The first one you come to on the island actually, well one of the first. It’s 4,000 acres. Older homes, but a lot of people are redoing these homes and putting granite countertops in and making them look very nice. Four golf clubs in there. You can join one, you can go play. They have special package to bundle membership opportunities. It’s great. They have a marina in Hilton Head Plantation. Tons of trails, very active. Annual POA fee is $1,397 a year. So very inexpensive and a real good option. A lot of people like Hilton Head Plantation.
Directly across the street is Indigo Run and that’s $1,795 a year. Also very popular area. There are, I believe there’s two golf courses in there. You can join one if you want. Bundled rates, public can play in there. Very nice residential community. I’m going to say it’s a little bit higher price point than Hilton Head Plantation. Little bit newer homes, but it’s right across the street and you’re on the island.
Next on my list is an area called The Crescent. That is a gated community. Annual POA fee’s $1,632 a year. It has an Arnold Palmer golf course. It is public golf. Very, very nice. You don’t have to join the club, but you have golf course winding through your community. Great location. People love The Crescent.
Next is Eagle’s Point. That’s similar to The Crescent, Davis Love golf course there. The annual fee’s are $1,260 a year. Your homes in there are going to be around $350,000. You can live in a golf course community right there on 278, very popular. Little higher price point in The Crescent. I think The Crescent, you’re going to be in there between 350 and on the east side of The Crescent, those homes in there are 550, 600, 650. Some of them overlook the marsh. Very, very nice.
So the public golf communities are Hilton Head Plantation, Indigo Run, The Crescent and Eagle’s Point. That’s my own list, my own opinion. There are others, obviously, to choose from. But that’s a good starting point. You can look at some of my other videos and you will see videos created on some of these other communities or you can search on the internet and find their website.
If you want to be part of a club, now there’s a difference there, let’s say in The Crescent. You’re not part of the club, you can join if you want to. They have a package deal for you to play golf. You can do that and that’s fine. As a matter of fact, if you join The Crescent golf bundle, you can play Eagle’s Point and The Crescent. So two golf courses for the price of one.
If you want a private, gated community club, I’m going to start off with Moss Creek. Moss Creek is the last gated community before you go over the bridge onto Hilton Head Island. Their annual fees are $5,700 a year. There is a one time fee that I can discuss in another video about Moss Creek. Actually I have it. I’ve made a video about Moss Creek and you can find that on my YouTube channel.
So Moss Creek’s great value. Two Tom Fazio golf courses. $5,700 a year. They have a clubhouse. Great tennis center. Marina, fitness, pool. They have all of the things that you would want in a club but not the high fees. A lot of people say it’s the best deal in the Lowcountry. Believe me, it’s right up there.