Buyers who start their search along the Grand Strand often end up comparing North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach. Both are small coastal towns with a real beach, a pier, and a loyal group of owners. Both also sit a reasonable drive from the Myrtle Beach airport. Still, they sit …

When buyers tell me they want to be "in North Myrtle Beach," my first question is always which North Myrtle Beach. Ocean Drive and Cherry Grove sit only a few miles apart, but they feel like two different towns once you spend a weekend in each. Picking the wrong one …

Canal homes are one of the first things people ask about when they start looking in North Myrtle Beach, and for good reason. You get a private dock, calm water behind the house, and a short boat ride to the Intracoastal Waterway. But a canal lot comes with its own …

Most people meet North Myrtle Beach in July. The beach is packed, Highway 17 is slow, and every restaurant on Main Street has a wait. It is a fun version of the town, but it is not the one most full-time residents actually live in.

When buyers ask me …

Multigenerational living used to be rare in Grand Strand real estate. It is not anymore. Adult kids moving back home, parents moving in with their adult children, extended family consolidating under one roof — I see all three regularly now. The challenge is that most beach-market homes were not built …

Historic homes on the Grand Strand are a specific category with a specific type of buyer. The real inventory lives in and around downtown Conway, where streets of early 20th-century homes still sit under tall trees. There are also pockets of older coastal cottages in Cherry Grove and the original …

Water views on the Grand Strand are not just an oceanfront conversation. Marsh views, river views, canal and channel views, pond and lagoon views, and golf course water hazards all qualify, and each delivers a very different everyday experience than true oceanfront. For buyers who want water from the back …

Boat slips and marina memberships are a specific real estate conversation that most inland buyers never think about. On the Grand Strand, where boating is a real part of the lifestyle in Little River, Cherry Grove, and along the Intracoastal, these questions come up regularly. Owning the slip, leasing it, …

Cherry Grove has a certain type of buyer, and second-home condo buyers are a big part of that group. They want the neighborhood, the beach access, and the laid-back Cherry Grove feel, but without the maintenance of a channel home or the day-to-day management of a single-family beach house. A …

Buyers ask me about gated communities all the time, usually in the same conversation where they're weighing beach access, HOA fees, and everyday lifestyle. Gated communities feel more secure and more exclusive on the surface. Non-gated communities offer more freedom, often more character, and usually lower carrying costs. Neither is …