New Apartment Fees in South Carolina's Fastest-Growing Suburbs

What Was Checked and How

Each community's own pricing, FAQ, or fee-disclosure page was reviewed directly — not a secondary aggregator or a search-engine summary. Where a page could not be accessed (some returned an access error, and a small number rate-limited repeated requests), that is reported as such rather than filled in with an estimate. Every figure below is dated to when it was verified: September 2026.

Communities That Publish a Full Mandatory Fee Schedule

• Camellia at One Nexton (Summerville) — $147.12/month combined: internet service ($75), doorstep trash ($35), a community amenity fee ($25), pest control ($7), and a utility billing administrative fee ($5.12). One-time: a $15 utility account fee at move-in, $15 at move-out.
• The One at Columbia — $126.06/month combined: internet service ($75), pest control ($5), doorstep trash ($25), trash hauling ($15), and a utility billing administrative fee ($6.06). See the $17 fee callout below for its one-time-versus-monthly resolution.
• Eastwood (Ladson) — $47.12/month combined: pest control ($7), doorstep trash ($30), trash hauling ($5), and a utility billing administrative fee ($5.12). One-time: $17 at move-in, $17 at move-out.
• The Ames Nexton (Summerville) — $42/month combined: valet trash ($35) and pest control ($7). One-time move-in costs: a $75-per-person application fee, a $250 administrative fee, a $100-per-person community fee, and a $15 technology fee; security deposit starts at $300.
• Covey Homes Wescott (Summerville, build-to-rent) — a single bundled "LiveMORE" package at $115/month covering smart-home technology, landscaping, trash service, and pest control. One-time: $75 application fee, $250 administrative fee, deposit $650-750 by bedroom count.
• Icon @ Park Circle (North Charleston) — $85/month combined: a $50 community fee, $15 trash fee, $15 liability waiver fee, and $5 pest control fee. One-time: a $500 move-in fee, a $300 holding fee, and a $50-per-applicant application fee (a $250 admin fee was waived under a September 2026 promotion).

The Goose Creek Fee Claim That Didn't Hold Up

St. James at Goose Creek's own pricing page discloses only pet-related charges: a $400 one-time fee plus $25/month pet rent for a first pet, and a $200 one-time fee plus $25/month for a second pet. No general community fee, trash fee, or pest control fee is itemized anywhere on the community's own site. A third-party listing aggregator circulates a higher combined required-fee figure for this community — but that figure does not appear on the community's own page and could not be independently confirmed. It is not published here as a reliable number. Where a third-party aggregator's total is higher than what the property itself discloses, the primary source is what governs a comparison, not the aggregator.

The $17 Fee at The One at Columbia: One-Time, Not Monthly

A figure like this is easy to mischaracterize when it gets summarized secondhand. The community's own pricing page states it in full: "Utility - New Account Fee $17.00 per unit One-time, due at move-in." A separate $17.00 "Utility - Final Bill Fee" applies at move-out — also one-time. Neither is a recurring monthly charge. Where a fee's timing matters as much as its amount, the primary source is worth reading in full rather than trusting a summary of it.

When "Total Monthly Price" Isn't the Same as Rent

ABODE at Summers Corner (Summerville, build-to-rent) advertises its Flynn floor plan with two figures: a "Total Monthly Price" of $2,475-2,510/month and a "Base Rent" of $2,310-2,345/month. The gap is $165/month at both ends of the range — consistent, not incidental. The page states the difference covers "all mandatory monthly fees" without breaking out what they are, which means the $165 figure is itself the useful disclosure, even without an item-by-item breakdown.

Communities That Publish Rent but No Itemized Fees

Solay Carnes Crossroads and The Village at Carnes Crossroads (both Summerville-area) publish detailed starting rents by unit type but no mandatory fee schedule on their pricing pages as of September 2026. Slate Nexton publishes an application fee ($75), an administrative fee ($250), and a security deposit ($700), but no mandatory recurring monthly fee beyond rent. Eller Mount Pleasant publishes three floor-plan starting rents ($1,828-2,270/month) with no mandatory monthly fee itemized on its own site. None of this means no fees apply — it means none are itemized on the page checked.

Communities That Publish Neither Rent Nor Fees

Two build-to-rent operators in Blythewood — Tricon Residential and Comet Communities — published no rent figure and no itemized fee schedule as of September 2026. Tricon's Blythewood page carries a general disclaimer ("some features are subject to additional one-time or recurring fees") with no amount attached; Comet Richland's site returned an access error on every page checked. The Assembly at Park Circle (North Charleston) and Residences at Cooper Bend (Hanahan) list floor plans and amenities but no pricing of any kind, directing prospective residents to contact the leasing office. The Park at Hanahan — an age-restricted (55+) affordable senior community financed through the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program — lists every floor plan as "Contact for Pricing," with no rent figure disclosed anywhere on its site. In all four cases, the only way to get current numbers is a direct inquiry to the leasing office.

Optional vs. Mandatory: A Distinction Worth Reading Closely

Covey Homes Wescott's page also mentions a "Rent Reporting" service at $8.95/month, explicitly described as optional rather than part of the mandatory LiveMORE package. Pet rent ($35/month per pet, where applicable) is similarly conditional rather than a base charge on every lease. A fee schedule is easiest to compare across communities when optional add-ons are read separately from what applies to every resident regardless of choice.