North Myrtle Beach · Relocation
Relocating to North Myrtle Beach, SC
Moving in from out of the area, with a local guide to the neighborhoods and the timing around your move.
A Quick Note
This page is general information, not legal, insurance, or lending advice. Rules and rates change, so please confirm what applies to you with your lender, your insurance agent, your closing attorney, and the agencies named here. I am a real estate professional, and my part is the search and the move.
Plan My Move to North Myrtle Beach
Relocating to North Myrtle Beach, Section by Section
Relocating to North Myrtle Beach means choosing among the four communities that joined as one city in 1968: Cherry Grove, Windy Hill, Ocean Drive, and Crescent Beach, across about nine miles of the Grand Strand. Ocean Drive is where shag dancing found its home in the 1940s and 1950s, and Cherry Grove has the pier and the inlet with its salt marsh. Local to Coastal Realty has an office here, walks houses for you, sends video, and sets up live video tours. We sign a written buyer agreement before any touring, in person or by video, as the National Association of REALTORS has required of MLS participants since August 17, 2024.
Inside the City or Just Outside
The city adds its own levy of 50.0 mills on Horry County's 2026 sheet, so a home you live in inside North Myrtle Beach carries about 112.1 mills on a 4 percent assessment, roughly $1,794 a year on $400,000. Just north in unincorporated Little River, the county's own levies come to about 91.9 mills, roughly $1,470. Inside the city you also deal with City Hall at 1018 2nd Avenue South for business licenses, including the license the city requires for any rental. Across the North Carolina line in Calabash, the rules and taxes change again, and I am licensed on both sides.
Your First Months: the Paperwork That Saves Money
Once you close on a home you live in, apply for South Carolina's 4 percent legal residence rate before the first penalty date for that tax year; it also removes school operating millage. Horry mails tax notices October 1, due January 15. Horry County Schools' "Find My School" gives the school assignment for an exact address. For insurance, lenders require flood insurance on a federally backed loan for a building in a Special Flood Hazard Area, and the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association is the market of last resort for wind and hail in the coastal territory.
Your First Weekends
Walk out on the Cherry Grove Pier, which runs 985 feet into the Atlantic, take a shag lesson on Ocean Drive, and catch a show at the Alabama Theatre on Highway 17 South. My North Myrtle Beach guide has more. Read buying a home in North Myrtle Beach, then call me with your move date.
Sources
The facts above come from these sources, checked in October 2026. Confirm current details with your lender, insurance agent, and closing attorney.
- Visit Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach
- Visit Myrtle Beach, shag dancing
- Cherry Grove Pier guide
- Horry County Auditor, 2026 tax levies
- Horry County, property tax FAQs
- Horry County, real property tax
- City of North Myrtle Beach, short-term rentals and City Hall contact
- South Carolina Code, Title 12, Chapter 43, Section 12-43-220, assessment ratios
- Horry County Schools, Find My School
- FEMA, flood risk and lending requirements
- South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association, about the Wind Pool
- Visit Myrtle Beach, Alabama Theatre
- National Association of REALTORS, settlement FAQs, practice changes effective August 17, 2024
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the sections of North Myrtle Beach?
Cherry Grove, Windy Hill, Ocean Drive, and Crescent Beach, which joined as one city in 1968.
Is the property tax higher inside North Myrtle Beach than in Little River?
For a home you live in, Horry County's 2026 levies come to about 112.1 mills inside the city and about 91.9 in unincorporated Little River, both on a 4 percent assessment.
Can I buy without visiting first?
That is your call. I walk every home, send video, and run live video tours, and we sign the buyer agreement first.
North Myrtle Beach
What relocation looks like in North Myrtle Beach
The birthplace of the shag, the Cherry Grove Pier, Barefoot Landing, and Local to Coastal Realty's coastal office.
North Myrtle Beach was formed in 1968 when Cherry Grove, Windy Hill, Ocean Drive, and Crescent Beach joined together, and it is the birthplace of shag dancing, South Carolina's official state dance.
Barefoot Landing sits on the Intracoastal Waterway with more than 75 specialty shops, the House of Blues, and the Alabama Theatre, and the Cherry Grove Pier extends 985 feet into the Atlantic.
The method
How we do it in North Myrtle Beach
Relocation: keep exploring
Ready to make your move with Local to Coastal Realty?