Whitwell, Jasper, or other??? (Chattanooga: foreclosure, mobile home, income)

[mikenorris]

We are a family of four and my wife just got a position at Parkridge Hospital in Chat. I'm a electrician with 16+ years experience so hopefully job hunting won't be too difficult. I'm trying to figure out where to look for a house.

Here is our wish list:

Under 75,000 definitely and hopefully closer to 50,000(we can afford more just don't like being house poor).

3 bedroom or a 2 bedroom that I can tease out another bedroom with some elbow grease

within 30 or 40 minutes of Parkridge hospital for wife's on call days

No restrictions about animals/gardens/etc...

And the more land with the house the better!

So far I've found some properties near Whitwell, but I have a question. Does the mining near whitwell cause water/air quality problems? What impact does the mining industry have on that area?

I'm not trying to be funny, but I have lived in Iowa and don't know much about mining.

Are there other areas that might fit the bill? What about north like signal mountain, walden, or west to jasper?

Thanks for any ideas, we are trying to get something fairly quickly.

[mikenorris]

wow no replies? Did I scare everybody away?

[Creekcat]

It's only been 3 hours since your first post. Whitwell would be out of the time of travel for your wife and Jasper would be really close to that as well, but most of that drive would be interstate. The price you are seeking would make you look further out from Chattanooga.

[Rick26]

Mike,
I fully agree and understand your desire to spend as little as possible on housing. However, your $50-$75k price range is what I would consider to be 'minimal' accomodations. About the only thing you're going to find at this price is: (a) a decent mobile home; (b) a low-end foreclosure; or (c) a HUD repossession. It's doubtful there will be any land other than the typical 1/4-1/2 ac. lot. Now, there's a chance you might get lucky and hit upon a great deal but, this is about what you should expect. As for actual location, I guess you could look just about anywhere outside the general Chattanooga metro area for some bargains and, who knows, you may find just what you're looking for. I assume you're using the web for your searches? For what it's worth, I'd restrict your search to TN and not get into GA because of state income tax issues. Best wishes.