The Real Cost of Owning at DeBordieu Colony
The purchase price on a DeBordieu listing sheet is the smallest number in the real math. A private gate and a Pete Dye golf course come with real, recurring carrying costs: a county property tax bill split by South Carolina's 4%/6% assessment rule, a windstorm policy through the state's insurer of last resort, flood coverage that varies sharply between an oceanfront lot and a marsh-front one, and Club dues this page can only partially confirm.
What 'All-In' Means Behind a Private Gate
DeBordieu Colony doesn't have a town hall, a municipal tax rate, or a public beach parking meter, because it isn't a town -- it's a private, gated, unincorporated community in Georgetown County reached off US 17 about three miles north of Georgetown and five miles south of Pawleys Island. That structure removes some cost categories other beach markets on this site carry (there's no separate municipal millage layered on top of the county's) but adds others most open beach towns don't have at all: a Community Association that governs the gate, roads, and architectural review for every property owner, and a separate Club with its own membership economics that this page could only partially confirm.
The figures below come from Georgetown County's own published tax data, South Carolina's statewide assessment-ratio law, multiple real-estate market trackers, and general South Carolina coastal insurance guides -- with the gaps stated plainly rather than guessed at.
Purchase Price: A Wide, High Range
Multiple market-tracking sites put DeBordieu Colony's median home sale price in the $1.7-1.8 million range as of 2025-2026 snapshots. One May 2025 snapshot cited a $1,799,000 median sale price against a $1,737,155 average sale price, while other aggregator snapshots cite figures closer to $1.73 million. Current active listings span an unusually wide range for a single private community -- roughly $1,575,000 at the low end up to $4,300,000 -- which reflects the real diversity of product inside the gates: interior golf-course lots, marsh and creek-front homes, villa-style attached units in developments like Pioneer Place Villas and Beach Villas, and true oceanfront estates all sell under the same DeBordieu Colony label but at genuinely different price tiers.
This page did not find a single authoritative current median specifically broken out by waterfront type (oceanfront vs. marsh-front vs. interior/golf-front), and market-tracker sites disagree on exact days-on-market and year-over-year trend figures the way they do in most small, thin luxury markets. Ask a DeBordieu-focused agent for a segment-specific comparable-sales pull rather than trusting a single site's community-wide average.
Property Taxes: The 4%/6% Split Matters More Here Than Almost Anywhere
South Carolina assesses real property differently depending on occupancy: owner-occupied primary residences are assessed at 4% of fair market value, while second homes, vacation properties, and investment property are assessed at 6% -- a 50% higher assessed value for the identical house. That distinction matters more in DeBordieu than in most markets on this site, because DeBordieu is a heavily seasonal, second-home-driven community; an aggregator-estimated housing vacancy rate near 40.7% is a strong signal that a large share of DeBordieu properties are not anyone's owner-occupied primary residence and therefore carry the higher 6% ratio. On top of the ratio itself, South Carolina's Act 388 (2006) exempts owner-occupied primary residences from the school operating millage specifically -- but not from school bond millage -- while second homes and investment property pay the full school operating rate. A DeBordieu buyer planning to make the home a primary residence should budget meaningfully less in annual tax than a buyer planning to keep it as a second home, on the exact same purchase price.
Georgetown County's most recently confirmed tax-year-2024 millage figures show a county operating rate of 78.0 mills and a combined school district rate of 155.5 mills (127.0 mills operating plus 28.5 mills in bonds), for a combined total near 233.5 mills. Because DeBordieu is unincorporated, there is no separate town or city millage layered on top the way there would be inside Georgetown's city limits -- but a fire district or other special-district levy may still apply to a specific parcel, and this wasn't itemized down to the parcel level for this research pass. Georgetown County is also mid-cycle on a 2025 countywide property reassessment; state law requires the county to roll back its millage rate so reassessment itself doesn't generate a revenue windfall, and county-wide values reportedly rose an average of just over 9% in the most recent cycle, with the town of Pawleys Island area (DeBordieu's immediate neighbor) seeing one of the larger average increases at 13.4%. Confirm the exact current millage and assessed value for any specific DeBordieu parcel with the Georgetown County Assessor's office before budgeting a number.
DeBordieu Club Dues: A Real Cost This Page Could Not Fully Confirm
Beyond property tax, most DeBordieu buyers are also budgeting for some form of Club participation, since golf, tennis, and the oceanfront Beach Club all run through the separately governed DeBordieu Club rather than the Community Association. A golf-industry membership aggregator (bundle.golf) cites a roughly $91,000 initiation fee and approximately $8,640 in annual dues (about $720 a month, billed quarterly in advance) across four membership tiers -- Social (pools and dining access), Tennis (adds the Tennis Club), Golf (unlimited golf, tennis, pool, beach, and social access, with 30-day advance tee times and no separate greens or court fees), and a fourth tier this page did not fully identify. This figure was not confirmed against the Club's own current, official fee schedule, and club dues at private clubs typically change year to year, so treat it as directional only and get a current quote directly from the DeBordieu Club membership office.
This research also could not confirm whether Club membership itself is mandatory for every property owner, as distinct from the separately governed, clearly mandatory DeBordieu Colony Community Association covenants that apply to every property owner regardless of Club status. Multiple sources describe Club membership as being restricted to property owners (meaning only owners are eligible to join, not that every owner is required to), but this page did not find a primary-source Club bylaw settling the question either way. Ask the Community Association and the Club directly, in writing, whether the property you're considering carries a mandatory Club membership obligation before making an offer.
Windstorm Insurance: Coastal Georgetown County Coverage
Georgetown County is one of five counties -- alongside Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, and Horry -- named in the statutory coastal territory of the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association (SCWHUA), the state's insurer of last resort for wind and hail coverage when a standard homeowners policy excludes it, which is common this close to open ocean. SCWHUA eligibility is defined by specific mapped Zone 1 (closest to the coast) and Zone 2 territory within Georgetown County, not the entire county, so an oceanfront DeBordieu parcel and an inland Georgetown County parcel are not automatically treated the same way.
No DeBordieu-specific windstorm premium figure was found in this research pass. General published ranges for full South Carolina coastal windstorm coverage run broadly similar to other Southeast coastal markets on this site -- from the low thousands to low five figures annually depending on coverage amount, construction type, and elevation -- with deductibles commonly set as a percentage of coverage rather than a flat dollar figure. Get an actual quote from a licensed South Carolina coastal insurance agent familiar with Georgetown County wind-pool eligibility before budgeting a number.
Flood Insurance: Oceanfront and Marsh-Front Are Different Risk Profiles
DeBordieu sits on a narrow barrier peninsula between the Atlantic and the North Inlet estuary, and Georgetown County's flood maps use zone designations X, AE, and VE. As a general rule for this kind of geography, direct oceanfront lots are typically mapped in the higher-risk V or VE zones (reflecting coastal wave action), while marsh and creek-front lots along Debidue Creek and North Inlet tend to fall in AE zones (storm-surge risk without the same wave-action designation), and interior, golf-front lots may sit in lower-risk X zones -- but this page did not confirm a parcel-specific flood zone for any individual DeBordieu address, and flood zone assignment genuinely varies lot by lot on a peninsula this narrow.
No reliable DeBordieu-specific average flood premium was found this research pass -- premiums vary too much by elevation certificate, base flood elevation, and foundation type to responsibly state one number for a community that spans multiple flood zones. Confirm a specific address's flood zone through the Georgetown County GIS flood-map viewer or Georgetown County Floodplain Management, and get an actual NFIP or private-market flood quote before assuming a figure.
Adding It Up: A Framework, Not a Guaranteed Number
There is no single verified 'true cost of ownership' figure this page will state as fact, because the largest line items -- windstorm premium, flood premium, and confirmed current Club dues -- don't have a source this research could treat as authoritative and current. What can be said with sourced confidence: expect a combined county-plus-school millage near 233.5 mills (confirmed for tax year 2024, with a 2025 reassessment cycle in progress that will change the effective rate), assessed at either 4% (owner-occupied primary residence) or 6% (second home or investment property) of fair market value; a windstorm policy through the SC Wind Pool likely in the low thousands to low five figures annually; a flood policy that varies sharply by exact lot and flood zone; and, for most buyers, some form of DeBordieu Club cost that a golf-industry aggregator estimates near $91,000 to join and roughly $8,640 a year, unconfirmed against the Club's own current schedule.
Before making an offer, get current written numbers from the real sources: the Georgetown County Assessor and Tax Office for the exact millage and assessment on a specific parcel, a licensed SC coastal insurance agent for windstorm and flood quotes, the DeBordieu Club membership office for current dues and initiation costs, and a South Carolina real estate attorney -- required by state law to conduct the closing -- who can also confirm any Community Association assessments or transfer fees specific to the parcel.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Data sourced from: Homes.com, Zillow, and other real-estate market-tracker snapshots for median and average sale price and current listing-price range; the South Carolina Association of Counties and Georgetown County's own published tax-year-2024 millage table for county operating and school millage figures; South Carolina's statewide statutory 4%/6% owner-occupied vs. non-owner-occupied assessment ratio and Act 388 (2006) for the school-operating-millage exemption; Coastal Observer's reporting on Georgetown County's 2025 reassessment cycle and its rollback requirement; bundle.golf, a golf-industry membership-cost aggregator, for DeBordieu Club initiation fee and dues estimates, explicitly flagged as unconfirmed against the Club's own current fee schedule; general South Carolina coastal insurance guidance for windstorm and flood cost ranges, explicitly flagged as general ranges rather than DeBordieu-specific premiums; and the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association's own published eligible-territory description for Georgetown County. Facts not independently confirmed and not invented here include: a DeBordieu-specific windstorm or flood insurance premium; current, official DeBordieu Club initiation fees and dues; whether Club membership is mandatory for every property owner; any Community Association transfer fee or capital contribution amount specific to a resale; and the exact current combined tax bill for any specific parcel mid-reassessment. Confirm all current figures directly with the Georgetown County Assessor and Tax Office, the DeBordieu Colony Community Association, the DeBordieu Club membership office, a licensed South Carolina insurance agent, and a South Carolina real estate attorney before making a purchase decision. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or insurance advice.