Considering a move to SC, anyone live there?

Well I'm sick of NJ for many reasons. South Carolina is near the top of my list of places to relocate to. I've been looking for waterfront property here but no way I can afford it, there simply isn't much available and taxes are insane. For fun I was looking at listings on the water in SC and surprised to see a lot of houses I can afford. I looked at a lot of listings, but Hartwell seems like a nice lake. What other lakes are there that aren't really expensive to live on?

The problem is finding a job in this economy. I didn't find a lot of listings for IT jobs in the areas near some of the lakes I was looking at. Where are the jobs? Are there any IT jobs? I'm a Network/Systems Administrator. I'm not really set on any particular area or lake I don't have a wife, kids, or any family to worry about. Don't need a huge lot, big house, or anything fancy, and have done 2-3 hour round trip commutes to work before. Thinking with prices as they are, now might be the time to take the plunge.

Another thought I had, was if I couldn't find work down there I could buy a lake house as an investment property. Get down there a couple times a year for vacation, and rent it the rest of the season. I don't know what the vacation rental market is like down there, caretaker costs and such since I wouldn't be able to get down there between renters, etc. Anyone here do something like this? Has it been profitable? Any advice?

I'm only toying with the idea of going either route for now. Maybe I'm just dreaming, but if I can find a job down there or even if not, and renting is realistic, I'd like to do it. I'm thinking of talking to some realtors and taking a trip down there to check out some lakes and properties, hopefully time it to do some interviews at the same time. Or this could just be a terrible idea that I should forget about. Either way, if anyone has experience with this or is familiar with the area I'd appreciate any advice.

my buddy Rupie & his wife moved out there (or NC, i forget now) Check him out @ ridebutter.com

Cory, Is Tn on the list? We are in Northeast Tennessee (Near Bristol Motor Speedway) and I work in IT. On my team alone we have 2 or 3 positions and I think there are 9 others on another team and some in network too. Holler at me and I'll give you the website. We are about 5 mins away from the local lake and around 1 hour away from 4 others.

Thanks Greg. TN was not on the list but could be. I haven't really looked into it. It could be promising if there are jobs, but I'd need to have a better look at cost of living, taxes, etc.

I did a quick search and didn't find many properties for sale on Boone Lake (from your profile, I assume that's the closest one?). The ones I did find are all several times my budget. A big part of doing this move would be to get a lake house while prices are still low. Is there waterfront property around that area that normal middle class people can afford?

Boone is the closest to me, but there also is Watuga lake, South Holston Lake, Patrick Henry lake and a little up the road is cherokee lake. Boone is 5 mins away, Watuga is 30 mins away, South Holston is 40 mins away and Patrick henry is about 10 mins away. Also, check out Norris lake, its north of Knoxville but I know land lots and lots with houses etc are relatively cheap as they are just starting to build up that way.