Where the Real Rental Money Lives in North Myrtle Beach
North Myrtle Beach is one of the most reliable vacation rental markets on the Grand Strand. Repeat family visitors, a strong shag-dancing crowd, and a wave of Barefoot Resort golf travelers keep the calendar booked most of the year. If you're buying to rent, the community you pick matters more than the sale price. The right building or neighborhood can carry your ownership costs; the wrong one leaves you subsidizing a coastal vacation home you rarely use.
Here's what I've watched hold up over 20+ years working North Myrtle Beach real estate. A handful of communities consistently outperform for investor buyers. They cluster in a few specific zones.
Cherry Grove Oceanfront Towers
Cherry Grove sits at the northern tip of North Myrtle Beach and holds strong appeal for families who return year after year. Oceanfront condo buildings up here rent well through peak season and shoulder season. Buyers should look at unit floor plans that support families of six or more, since a lot of the demand is multi-generational travel.
Bay Watch Resort is a well-known oceanfront tower with rental appeal and strong resort amenities. Pricing across the building varies by view and floor, so run the rental numbers building-wide before you commit to a specific unit.
Windy Hill and Crescent Beach Buildings
Windy Hill and Crescent Beach are the stretch between Ocean Drive and Cherry Grove. These oceanfront buildings pull steady summer bookings and shoulder-season retirees who want a warmer week away from home. Crescent Shores Condos is one of the anchors in this zone.
What works well here is that unit sizes tend to lean toward two- and three-bedroom layouts, which price higher per night than one-bedroom studios and appeal to the family-vacation crowd that drives most of the local rental demand.
Ocean Drive Condos
Ocean Drive is the cultural heart of North Myrtle Beach. Renters who come here specifically for the Main Street shag scene, live music, and beach-town restaurants pay a premium to be walking distance. Ocean Keyes is a strong planned condo community in this zone, popular with both owners and renters.
What sets Ocean Drive apart is the second-tier rental market beyond peak summer. The area draws SOS (Society of Stranders) events, golf groups, and off-season travelers in ways some quieter stretches don't. That extra rental potential adds up.
Barefoot Resort
If your rental strategy is golf, Barefoot Resort is where you focus. The community sits along the Intracoastal Waterway with multiple courses, restaurants, and a marina. Golf groups from the Northeast and Midwest book Barefoot villas and condos in patterns most oceanfront buildings can't replicate.
Barefoot condo and villa units tend to have longer average stays (multi-night golf trips versus weekly beach families), which changes turnover economics for you and your property manager. Different rental math, different community fit.
The Avista Resort Corridor
Avista Resort anchors a stretch of North Myrtle oceanfront with strong resort branding and consistent guest traffic. Buildings in this cluster pull from the family-vacation and small-group traveler segments.
What Matters More Than the Community
Community reputation gets you traffic. What actually drives your net income comes down to:
- Unit-specific view and floor level (ocean view corner units outperform interior units by wide margins)
- The HOA's stance on rentals and the specific rental program the building uses
- Furnishings, kitchen equipment, and photo quality on your listing
- Your management partner's occupancy and average daily rate performance in that specific building
- Master insurance policy and the building's reserve health, which show up in future assessments
Two units in the same tower can net wildly different annual returns depending on how each of these plays out.
How to Evaluate Before You Buy
Ask for actual rental history from the current owner, not projected income. Ask your local property management partner what a comparable unit in the same building has done over the last 24 months. Read the HOA rules on rentals in writing. Look at the building's most recent reserve study.
Model the total ownership cost: mortgage, HOA, insurance, taxes at the non-primary rate, management fees, cleaning turnover, marketing spend, and repair reserves. Subtract from realistic income. If the number works with conservative assumptions, the deal works.
Key Takeaways
North Myrtle Beach delivers reliable rental income when you buy in the right community and the right unit. Cherry Grove oceanfront towers, Windy Hill and Crescent Beach mid-rises, Ocean Drive condos, Barefoot Resort golf communities, and the Avista corridor each match a different guest profile. The community draws the traffic; the unit-specific view, floor, layout, rental rules, and management partner drive your actual return. Get real rental history, model full carrying costs, and lean on a local team that knows both the buildings and the renter profiles that book them.
About Greg Harrelson
Greg Harrelson is a seasoned Realtor® with more than 30 years of experience serving the Myrtle Beach and Grand Strand markets. As the founder of Century 21 The Harrelson Group, Greg has built his career helping buyers, sellers, and investors achieve success in every corner of the coastal Carolina real estate market. His expertise spans residential homes, investment properties, land development, and coastal condos. Known for his deep local knowledge, innovative marketing strategies, and commitment to personal service, Greg consistently helps clients reach their real estate goals while navigating the ever-changing market with confidence and precision.
