New Construction for House Hacking and LTR in Myrtle Beach

[Myrtle Mike Thompson]

I have a couple clients purchasing new builds in the Myrtle Beach area for rental, and I thought I'd share a few observations.  

First, they were both able to take advantage of year-end incentives through the builders - Lennar and DR Horton.  One of the properties is a 5 bedroom 2.5 bath home with over 2300 heated sqft.  Purchased for $308k!  I can't find any 5-bed resale homes in our market for anywhere close to that price, so he likely has some instant equity.  He was also able to secure financing through the builder at a lower rate than other lenders he shopped, and they provided a sizable credit towards his closing costs so his total cash invested was very modest.  He plans to occupy the home and rent out the other 4 bedrooms.  At $700-800/month per room, he's looking at some nice cash flow.

The other client bought a 4 bedroom 3 bath new build home to hold for LTR.  Similar incentives and financing through the builder.  This one will be rented out to a family at $2600/month.  

Myrtle Beach is the fastest growing area in the country, and it's only just begun.  We have long been a vacation destination, and over the past couple decades thousands of retirees decided to make this their permanent home.  They created a demand for healthcare providers and other services that cater to seniors, which in recent years has brought medical professionals, attorneys, and other high wage earners.  The influx of money trickled into the school systems, which have long been a blemish for South Carolina in national rankings reports.  Now the schools are good and the secret is out.  You can live 15 minutes from the beach, make a good living in a state where taxes and the overall cost of living are low, and send your kids to a quality public school.  

I'm happy for my clients on their recent purchases and very bullish about the future of our local real estate market.