Tri-Cities area... (Knoxville, Johnson City, Kingsport: sales, home owners insurance, condo)

[pugluvr]

Yet another Floridian looking to get out of here. Lived here my entire life and am ready for a change. Things just are not the same here anymore.

Hubby and I have been talking about moving for a while. We have narrowed our search down to E Tennessee or out to Williamsburg, Va to live near his uncle & aunt. We like Williamsburg area. A bit pricey but not as expensive as Florida. I keep coming back to E Tennesee though because I just love the mountains. Don't want to be IN the mountains but near by with a distant view would be nice. We checked out the Knoxville area and I'm not sure if that was the area for us. We were thinking about the Maryville area but want some feedback about the Tri-Cities area. We are in our late 20's. No children and no plans to have them. We have 2 pugs that are our children so we would like a dog friendly area. Any dog parks in the Tri-City area? We want to purchase a piece of property (about 2 acres or so) and build a house on it. I would like for it to be a tree lot, not a lot where these new homes are building and rip all the trees out. Basically, a nice "country" area but close to the city. Where should we start to look? We want to be about a 10 min drive or so to shopping, grocery, etc. We don't go out much as far as nightlife goes so that's not much of a concern either. I've seen people mention Johnson City on here, Elizabethtown, Kingsport, and some other places that I'm assuming are "suburbs" of Johonson City? Just not sure where to start my search for some property so we can come and check out the area. Any suggestions? Also, a quick comment on taxes, insurance, gas prices, cost of living, etc would be appreciated as well...or a place to start looking. Thank you so much in advance. This board has been helpul.

[AppalachianAngler]

Elizabethton, Kingsport, and Bristol are not suburbs of Johnson City. All are nearby, though. I don't know if you can find a lot of tree lots in/right outside Johnson City, but I could be wrong. Your best bet may be Elizabethton, which is only about 15 minutes away from JC.

JC is pretty dog friendly. There is a PetSmart and a dog park: Johnson City Dog Park Website - Home

I think you have to pay a membership fee, but I believe the rate is pretty low and reasonable.

Gas is pretty cheap, especially comparing it to Florida - Tennessee is always in the top 10 cheapest gas states. Elizabethton always seems to have the cheapest gas. Sometimes it is 5-10 cents cheaper there than JC - not sure why. I know I didn't get to all questions, but I'm sure someone would know a little bit more than I do about areas to build a house. Good luck!

[jchometeam]

Taxes and insurance are also MUCH lower in this area than in Florida. Other costs of living are somewhat lower, depending on what part of Florida you are coming from. As AppalachianAngler said, JC, Kingsport, Bristol, and Elizabethton are separate cities, not really traditional suburbs. Jonesborough, on the other hand, is a more rural area 10 minutes from Johnson City. Likewise, Boones Creek and Gray are smaller areas right outside Johnson City. Jonesborough is more likely to have tree lots, while you are more likely to find many subdivisions and higher land prices in the Boones Creek/Gray areas. You are unlikely to find land you are looking for directly in Johnson City, as most of the available land is being sold as commercial or planned residential developments.

[mbmouse]

I would suggest you look to areas like Mount Carmel, Church Hill and Colonial Heights which are communities just outside of Kingsport where you could find that kind of tree filled land that is not on top of your neighbors. Just a note, very few areas outside of a development or subdivision will have small lots or homes very close to each other, the houses are built very differently than they way they build them on land in FL. I used to live in SE FL so I do understand.
I agree with the other posters about Jonesborough, there is also Sulfer Springs and Telford which are just to the west/and north west of Johnson City. You may also like the west Carter County area which is in between the cities of Elizabethton and Johnson City.
As far as costs of living, well property taxes and home owners insurance in comparison to FL is amazing! They are pennies here compared to there. I only pay less than 600 a YEAR for property taxes and less than 500 a year for HOI I have an average size house.
Electricity ranges anywhere from $100 a month to $200 depending on where you are and how you use it. Kingsport has the cheapest power rates around.
City water/sewage is from $60-$100 a month depending if you have garbage pick up included and again how much you use. Food is a bit cheaper than FL, I think but the higher sales tax (9.75%) evens that out. Gas, right now it is ranging anywhere from 2.76 to 2.90 depending where you get it, part ethanol or not. I find most of this area to be pet friendly, it is more "country" over all than city, lots of cows and farm animal around too.
If you want to get somewhat of an idea of what the roads and some of the areas look like you can use the search function and see a bunch of pictures myself and some other folks have posted in the TN and sub forums. Search for "pics" or "pictures". I will try to find some and put the links here.
Hope that helps.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/tenne...-pictures.html

Johnson City pictures

East TN Spring Pics!

New pics of Johnson City

http://www.city-data.com/forum/tenne...park-pics.html

JC pics, Boone lake/ Winged Deer park

Kingsport Pictures!

Rogersville pics continued

New East TN pics of 81

[jjbradleynyc]

I'd suggest you try areas just outside of Kingsport. My parents live in the city limits of Kingsport--in Sullivan county--but about 10 mins northeast of them, on Orebank road--you feel like you are in the country with large subdivisions here and there and large, wooded lots and farmland around. Kingsport has great shopping--with a Target under construction and a mall with JCPenny, Sears, and another dept store. The city has 2 Super Wal-Marts, and maybe 3--not sure. I haven't visited since 2005. Anyway, check it out. Also, any area outside of Johnson City may fit your bill--as previous people have mentioned, Jonesborough--the oldest town in TN. Also, Rogersville may be appealing to you--about 25 miles southwest of Kingsport and much smaller--about 5,000 people in the city. Very historic and quaintly beautiful downtown. TONS of rural, wooded lots and places to build around Rogersville. I have several aunts/uncles/cousins living there now.

[Ole Miss Rebel]

mbmouse-
I am considering transferring to work at the VA in Johnson City. Right now I work at the VA in Salem, Virginia, which is really just a suburb of Roanoke. I have to admit I hate Ronoake. The people are so backward, the traffic is pretty bad, the housing cost is very high for what you get, and the police are super anal constantly setting up speed traps to catch motorists going 40 in a 35 mph zone! Before moving to Roanoke I lived in Biloxi, Mississippi, where hurricane Katrina struck. Obvious as to why I left there. Also I lived in Knoxville for about thirteen years from 1987-2000. I still have some friends there and love to visit for the restaurants and shopping but don't want to deal with the traffic. I would like a nice condo or patio home with no more than a 20 minute commute to work. Is that possible? Do you know any good realtors in JC? Does ETSU have a big influence on the area - meaning is there intelligent life in JC? In other words, tell me why you like or love living in the Johnson City area!!

Thanks

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by Ole Miss Rebel

mbmouse-
I am considering transferring to work at the VA in Johnson City. Right now I work at the VA in Salem, Virginia, which is really just a suburb of Roanoke. I have to admit I hate Ronoake. The people are so backward, the traffic is pretty bad, the housing cost is very high for what you get, and the police are super anal constantly setting up speed traps to catch motorists going 40 in a 35 mph zone! Before moving to Roanoke I lived in Biloxi, Mississippi, where hurricane Katrina struck. Obvious as to why I left there. Also I lived in Knoxville for about thirteen years from 1987-2000. I still have some friends there and love to visit for the restaurants and shopping but don't want to deal with the traffic. I would like a nice condo or patio home with no more than a 20 minute commute to work. Is that possible? Do you know any good realtors in JC? Does ETSU have a big influence on the area - meaning is there intelligent life in JC? In other words, tell me why you like or love living in the Johnson City area!!

Thanks

Hi, I am on my way out the door for Fun Fest in Kingsport, but I will get back with you on this, in the mean time, I bet you will get some great info from others on here too.
I'll PM you Realtor info. It should be no trouble at all to find a nice condo or town home in West JC like off Walnut street area or Jonesborough, those are all in about 10-15 minutes to the VA. Yes, LOTS of intelligent life in JC, lots of not so too , all kinds of folks, most are nice too.
I'll get back with you later about why I love this area.