We did that very thing in 1981. I can tell you from living in Summerville, for 30 years, you can't go wrong with choosing that town for a home. It's growing, but there are some beautiful older neighborhoods, along with new. We loved the location to surrounding areas of Charleston, in Summerville.
West Ashley is a bit crowded and busy, in my opinion.
Charleston is of course a wonderful place to be also, but, you pay for that luxury.
Summerville is 20 miles from Charleston. Give it a look and see.

Foggy... thanks! i had read an article somewhere about Summerville and told DD that we want to look there. Glad to hear you love it there. I like a small town feel, and yes, W. Ashley is too busy ...... and we definitely cannot afford the luxury of Charleston.
Do you think we will be able to find a house to rent in Summerville at a reasonable price? Don't want an apartment because we have two dogs. I thought it best to rent for a year also to give us a chance to get to know the area....before plunging into a purchase. thanks so much for your help.

I'm no help since I've only been to Charleston once for my nephew's wedding. But it's a lovely town and has wonderful restaurants. Hard place to beat for foodies.

Yes, Patti, it is a lovely town. Our trips down have been for events, college graduations, new babies, etc, so we have not been able to do a lot of sightseeing. Yet. If this works out for us, looking forward to trying the great restaurants too!

Hi Jenna. We live in Summerville and have lived in the general area since the 70's. We are both 'former' yankees. I love Summerville. The people are very friendly and there is a large variety of housing. The market has lost a lot of value due to the recession, and homes are back to 2001 prices, but beginning to come back up slowly. You probably won't have any trouble finding a nice house to rent, but it will most likely cost $800-$1200. I don't know what you would consider reasonable.

Jeane.... thank you for the advice. All our research is pointing us to Summerville. That rental estimate is right on target, I would need to stay around 1000 until we get our house in Virginia sold. We do have two older dogs, Boxers, that will certainly be moving with us. I haven't rented in many many years, and I hope we will be able to find a small house in a nice area that will allow the dogs. They are my babies. :)

I don't want to buy until we live there awhile. I suppose it will be after the first of the year before we get our house ready to put on the market. DH will probably look for a part time job there to get us through the money crunch. I wish we could move next month!!! But i know we have to be realistic. I am anxious to explore the area.

Some of the older neighborhoods I referred to, were off of Trolley Road and Dorchester Road. Jeane is right, there would be several places to choose from for rentals.
My son bought our house in Summerville, and he has two boxers!
We have moved to Georgia to be nearer our grandchildren. Even so, I had to be pulled from S'ville,(as we say) kicking and screaming.

Foggy.... aw! I would love to meet the Boxers!! Just love them! I will make a note of Trolley Rd and Dorchester Rd. for when we start looking.
We have other grandchildren, but they are all on the west coast, their dads are in the Navy so it would not be easy to relocate near them.....just to have them be transferred. The daughter in Charleston will stay put. :) She went to college there and has been there ever since. Her little ones are 18 months and six weeks old, just precious. Would love to be close enough to spend a lot of time with them.
By the way, any areas you would NOT recommend? thank you so much for taking the time to answer me again.

Jenna,
DH & I are also looking to move to SC. We still have a daughter in high school (11th), so it will be a couple of years. I have researched extensively on the web and have only heard/read alot of good things about Summerville. We are also looking at Goose Creek. We have never been to the area and hope to visit extensively before we decide to move. We are from VA as well and live in a very rural setting, although it is pretty & quiet, the lack of shopping and having to drive an hour for groceries etc...drives me crazy. We are looking for a small city/large town. You can also find information on a website called city data, there are reviews/questions & answers regarding any area.

Thanks MsMagoo... I will check out 'city data'. DH mentioned he had seen something about Goose Creek also. Not sure when we are going, have to get this house spiffed up first. May drive down for another visit, to check out Summerville etc. It is about a seven hour drive for us. We live just south of Richmond VA. I want the small town feel, but close proximity to libraries, good medical centers, decent shopping etc. DH would be happy in a very rural setting, but not me.
Let me know if you run across any more good info?

Me again. FYI- Goose Creek is another nice place. Lots of retired military located there. Very nice neighborhoods too. Summerville is a little more contained, but you should check out both places. They are closely located to each other. We often went to Goose Creek for things.

Foggy,,,, we will check out Goose Creek for sure! Looks like we need to make another trip down there soon!