First 90 Days After Moving to Bluffton SC — The Checklist

Week 1–2: Legal Residency Foundation

1. File the 4% legal residence ratio with the Beaufort County Assessor. This is time-sensitive — it must be done within your purchase year. Do not wait. The form is available at the Assessor's office or website. Bring your closing documents, SC driver's license application, and proof of occupancy.
2. Apply for your SC driver's license at an SC DMV office. This establishes your SC domicile and is required documentation for many tax filings. You have 90 days from establishing residency.
3. Register your vehicles in SC. Vehicle registration in SC includes an annual property tax component — typically much lower than Northern states. Bring your out-of-state title(s) and proof of insurance.
4. Update your voter registration to SC if you intend to vote here. This further establishes SC domicile.
5. Notify your former state's taxing authority of your change of residency if you were paying state income tax. The date of change matters for partial-year state income tax returns.

Month 1: Financial and Insurance Setup

6. Confirm your homeowners insurance is in force and your policy has been fully endorsed for your new address with updated coverage amounts.
7. Review flood insurance — confirm whether your specific lot requires a flood policy and if so, that it is in force at closing or immediately after.
8. Evaluate your Medicare plan if you are Medicare-eligible. Moving to a new county triggers a Special Enrollment Period. Evaluate Medicare Advantage and Supplement options in Beaufort County on Medicare.gov. Plans available in your old state may not be available or optimal in SC.
9. Establish banking in SC or update direct deposit and billing addresses to your new SC address across all financial accounts.
10. File your change of address with USPS and update recurring subscriptions, financial accounts, and government agencies (Social Security Administration, Medicare, former employer pension administrator).

Month 2–3: Community Integration

11. Register with your community's POA as a new resident and receive your key fob, amenity access credentials, and community app login.
12. Attend an orientation session if your community offers one. Sun City has a formal new resident orientation that explains the community structure, amenity access, and club sign-up process.
13. Sign up for two or three clubs or activities in your first month — before you are fully settled and before the inclination to delay sets in. The residents who struggle socially in large communities like Sun City are almost always those who wait to get involved.
14. Establish primary care and specialists in your new area. Do not wait until you need a doctor. Schedule a new patient appointment with a primary care physician in the Bluffton area within your first 60 days.
15. Calendar the 65+ homestead exemption filing — this goes to the Beaufort County Auditor by December 31 of the year after your first full calendar year of SC residency.

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