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Can you be specific when mentioning SC and NC. Looking to buy near the coast with some property/privacy.

Beaufort, NC (not to be confused with Beaufort, SC), is a charming town, and prices are not as outrageous as they are, in, say, Wrightsville Beach, or, God forbid, Corolla. Here's one real estate agent:

http://www.beaufortrlty.com

realtor.com listings for Beaufort and all surrounding communities are here:

http://www.realtor.com/FindHome/HomeListings.asp?
mlsttl=&frm=bymap&pgnum=1&mls=xmls&js=on&st=nc&ct=Beaufort
&areaid=86696&areaid=49301&areaid=81850&areaid=76322
&areaid=49466&areaid=20693&areaid=38504&areaid=76719&areaid=93704&areaid=30899
&typ=1&mnprice=0&mxprice=99999999&mnbed=0&mnbath=0&mnsqft=0&pgsz=50&view=2&ss_fthb=n%2Fa&ss_mitm=n%2Fa

This will give you 50 hits at a time; if you have a slow modem connection to the internet and you want fewer than 50 hits in a page, change the pgsz=50 to something smaller, like pgsz=10. Alternatively, this page should give you a map:

http://www.realtor.com/carteretcounty/nbregion1.asp

The trouble with the beach communities (and the mountain towns as well) is that there aren't any good hospitals nearby. If you want healthcare, then you should retire to the triangle area (Durham, with the Duke University School of Medicine, and Chapel Hill, with the UNC School of Medicine). Of course, you pay for what you get - prices in the triangle are pretty high.

An alternative, with fairly good health care, would be Winston Salem, which has the Wake Forest University (Bowman Gray) School of Medicine.

May be true of the beach, but mountain and foothill areas of NC can be quite close to excellent medical facilities in Asheville NC and Spartanburg, SC. Look at SC: it has mountains too, and Hwy 11 thru the foothills shows you some of the prettiest land in America.

Thanks for the links. I am familiar with realtor.com which is somewhat limited with the information they provide (having been spoiled by sites which have virtual tours or interior photos). Will certainly check out Beaufort, NC and hope a beach is nearby. Do have any knowledge about Mount Pleasant or James Island in SC?

Hattend - try www.ired.com (international real estate digest) which shows new communities, properties for sale by owner, etc., throughout the US. I believe they also have demographics regarding different communites which is most helpful.