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Hi everyone I'm new to this site so i hope i'm doing this right. looking to make a move to northeast tennesee in the summer of 09. Tired of the COLD,(wind chill today -22 degrees)TAXES ( $5000.00 for a doublewide on five acres without even a tree) and high cost of living that upstate NY has to offer. would appreciate any input we can get on this area, schools,crime,work,people etc. I'm 42 years old and an RV technician by trade. with a commercial construction background.
My wife is 38 years old and in the retail management field, she also has fibromyalgia and just cant handle the cold anymore.
Son is 16 and loves the outdoors hunting,fishing,riding 4 wheeler.
Daughter is 9 loves the outdoors and animals and would like to have a horse after we make our move.
We all would like to live near the mountians but still within 1/2 hour of our jobs.
Can we find a home with at least 10 acres for under $150,000? would be OK if it was an older farmhouse in need of improvements.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Hi and welcome to the TN forums. I am also from NY, Long Island, and haven't been there in over 12 years. There aren't many RV dealerships in the mountains if you are trying to stay in your trade. I would suggest a town like Elizabethton or Johnson City. This is beautiful country. If you can I would also suggest you visit before you make any kind of move. I'm not sure about real estate prices in that area but if you stay outside of the city limits you have a better shot.
It just depends on exactly where you want to be in the area and how big of a house you need, etc. With all the national forests, etc. around here, you may also be able to buy a home on a couple acres which borders the national forest which would give you the privacy you want
Too Cold: Also Ex-upstate , Troy & Poughkeepsie, 13 years ago, who had partical foot frost-bite from every weekend ski racing in the Catskill mtns.
. Living down in the S.E. part of state , (Hamilton Co). However was quite impressed with the Greeneville region,(Between Knoxville & Johnson City).
Sort of close to the Smokey tourist region of Pigeon Forge, etc for the Camper RV trade you mentioned. Also along I-81 expressway.
.. Construction should also be in demand thru here. I-40 (Knoxville) was widened this year. Below should be a ATV link telling of WIN ROCKS, Oliver Springs west of KNoxville, BIG daily use fee area. Also lower West Virginia has Hatfield McCoy trail network . Both LINKS can be Clicked on this page.
.LOts of Farm property in this region & this spring prices should be the lowest in years along with mortgage rates. Again WATERFRONT will always be the highest $$ no matter what county you select.
.. Keep us posted. AMERICA’S BEST RIDES ATV FESTIVAL GUIDE | News | Dirt Wheels Magazine
...........
Wow, the weather and taxes up there sound depressing!
We were in the lower 60s today with sunshine!
It gets cold here, but the cold spells are much shorter and less harsh.
I think you and your family would love it here. You could live in the metro areas if the Tri-Cities and be only miles from the mountains.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tocoldinNY
Hi everyone I'm new to this site so i hope i'm doing this right. looking to make a move to northeast tennesee in the summer of 09. Tired of the COLD,(wind chill today -22 degrees)TAXES ( $5000.00 for a doublewide on five acres without even a tree) and high cost of living that upstate NY has to offer. would appreciate any input we can get on this area, schools,crime,work,people etc. I'm 42 years old and an RV technician by trade. with a commercial construction background.
My wife is 38 years old and in the retail management field, she also has fibromyalgia and just cant handle the cold anymore.
Son is 16 and loves the outdoors hunting,fishing,riding 4 wheeler.
Daughter is 9 loves the outdoors and animals and would like to have a horse after we make our move.
We all would like to live near the mountians but still within 1/2 hour of our jobs.
Can we find a home with at least 10 acres for under $150,000? would be OK if it was an older farmhouse in need of improvements.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
To the OP, I think your price is just not going to be found. Who knows, in this climate you may find a bargain, but to find 10 acres for $10k an acre is going to be a normal-to-good deal, depending on the land and location. That leaves you $50k for a house, which is doable, I guess, but it's going to be an older trailer or a REAL fixer upper.
I would HIGHLY suggest finding jobs before you move, or having enough cash on hand to live 1-2 years while supplementing yourself with menial retail work. Many other posters have found jobs difficult to come by here and/or are shocked by the decreased wages. Yes, it's true that many things are cheaper in TN (your property tax will definitely go WAY down), but basics like electricity, water, and food will be more or less the same as upstate NY. Also our sales tax (including food) is more or less 10% in most NE TN locations.
Sorry to sound like a downer, but I really want to make sure you understand before you begin looking to move.
There are several gigantic RV dealerships in the area, a few in Greeneville, several in JC/Kingsport/Bristol. You could also check out Bluff City-Piney Flats and Elizabethton. Or you could go as far south as the Knoxville area and maybe find more jobs. You'll be farther away from the mountains (today I drove 20 minutes to the Flag Pond area and was in the middle of nowhere in the forest), but there are more accessible jobs. As far as commercial construction goes, there are projects here and there (Johnson City is building a new hospital and a few retail development projects) but overall construction for the Tri-Cities metro has slowed down considerably.
There is quite a bit of retail in this area, but I don't know how often management-level positions open up. Each of the three main cities have all of the regular stores like Walmart, Kmart, Sears, JCPenny, Belk, Target, and then there are TJMaxx, Ross, Michael's, Hobby Lobby scattered here and there, as well as Books a Million and Barnes & Noble.
One site that may help you is bettertcjobs.com. If you just click the "search" button without putting any data in any fields, it will bring up all jobs posted.
It will be easy to live within 1/2 of your job and be near the mountains, because everywhere here is 'near' the mountains. It will be easier, though, if you line up jobs and then househunt because driving from Erwin to Bristol everyday will be a somewhat tough commute, likewise Greeneville to Kingsport.
I would HIGHLY suggest finding jobs before you move, or having enough cash on hand to live 1-2 years while supplementing yourself with menial retail work. Many other posters have found jobs difficult to come by here and/or are shocked by the decreased wages. Yes, it's true that many things are cheaper in TN (your property tax will definitely go WAY down), but basics like electricity, water, and food will be more or less the same as upstate NY. Also our sales tax (including food) is more or less 10% in most NE TN locations.
I agree with this person. I am also orignally from upstate NY (Syracuse). I personally didn't mind the snow and cold, I moved here due to job transfer. I like it here but also like upstate NY.
Be careful assuming that this area is cheaper just because it doesn't have
state taxes. Your wages are going to be less in this area, sales tax is much higher, and the cost of living is about equal to the cost of living in Upstate NY. I know that state tax can be a pain in the rear but also remember that you get a lot of social and local services for that money. Because there is no state tax here you will find that services such as schools, health insurance, local civil service, and others are no where near as good as Upstate NY.
I am not trying to bad mouth TN because I really do like it here. But I always try to remember that every area of the country has it's plus's and minus's. If you really can't live with the cold during winter and taxes then this area might be what your looking for. But I agree with the other person and suggest coming and spending some time in the area and having a job before making the move.
As far as landscape, this area looks very similar to Upstate. Mountains, farms, small towns. Very beautiful. Winters are no where near as harsh as upstate but it does have it's days of cold. To really get away from the cold you would have to go somewhere like Texas or Florida.
Yeah, for less than $150K, he may have to settle for less land, or a poorer house. I would be lost on 10 acres of land. We do not even have an acre here, but its plenty for us and I have tons of trees. I have every type of "southern pine" in existance. My grandfather next door has about an acre and it seems like a huge field compared to ours.
I think 2-5 acres would be sufficient for most people and MAYBE be able to find a nice house for the $150K range.
My uncle lives in Piney Flats in a farm house that I think he paid $110K for, but its only about 2 acres of land. His old house he is selling (he has considered moving back) is in east Bristol - not far from Holston Lake and not too far from Holston Mountain. It has about an acre (maybe more), a nice 3 bedroom house for I think $79K. The house has a living room and two bedrooms on level one, then there is a "3-step up" from the living room that goes up into the dining room, then has another bedroom on one side of the dining room, with an open kitchen on the other side, then a bathroom/laundry room on the other side.
To add to Beckys comment - yes, winters can get cold here, but nowhere near as prolonged or as brutal as New York. To have really mild winters that would have to be the coastal southeast (from eastern North Carolina, points southward, Florida, southern Gulf coast states, or southern Texas), but then you have to deal with the dreadfully muggy summers (and strong hurricane threats) - the mountains here provide some relief from the extreme heat and the strongness of hurricanes. Instead of the upper 90s to lower 100s, its typically in the upper 80s-lower 90s here in the summer, depending on your location and elevation. Occasionally we may get into the mid-upper 90s. I remember a couple of summers ago, it hit 102° at my house on three different days and I am at 1500 ft. elevation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jabogitlu
To the OP, I think your price is just not going to be found. Who knows, in this climate you may find a bargain, but to find 10 acres for $10k an acre is going to be a normal-to-good deal, depending on the land and location. That leaves you $50k for a house, which is doable, I guess, but it's going to be an older trailer or a REAL fixer upper.
Last edited by Tennesseestorm; 01-04-2009 at 08:35 PM..
We all would like to live near the mountians but still within 1/2 hour of our jobs.
Can we find a home with at least 10 acres for under $150,000? would be OK if it was an older farmhouse in need of improvements.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Farmhouse - probably not. Stick with a double wide and I like your chances. Of course, all 10 acres will not be "usable" at that price. It will likely be 9 acres of mountains with a 1 acre building site, but that may be exactly what you're looking for. Just saying that mountains are cheaper than flat land.
Well, here's my experience.... so far..... we moved here in mid October, from extreme northeastern Vermont..... the same reasons you are mentioning.... very high property taxes that just kept climbing, high cost to heat, and got sick of shoveling snow off the roof of the house and barn...... not to mention plowing out a driveway ! We have met several people that have moved here from upstate New York.... the climate is so wonderful .... we can't believe it's winter time !! Taxes are a LOT lower, and yes sales tax is higher but the exchange off is more in our favor than not. We have horses and 4 Labradors, and moved them down here too. We have 6 acres with a very nice double wide that had been updated ..... VERY private, with cedars along all property lines and we don't see the road from our house. We even have a wonderful view of the valley and hills...... we bought a foreclosure .....I'll just say it was a hell of a deal.... and I think you might be surprised at what you find..... you are going to have to explore the real estate market..... I scoured over that before we decided to make the move..... we had to wait until we sold our place in Vermont which took over 6 months and we took less than what we wanted to, but atleast we got out before the winter......
Now, jobs...... there aren't any...... this seems to have been a town full of manufacturing facilities..... but they have all gone over seas...... we have enough cash for a couple years but we don't want to entirely eat that up. My Husband is a freelance photographer and plans on starting his wedding and portrait business in our garage...... me, I want clerical type work, so it's just a wait and keep looking scenario for me.
We love the area, it is very similar to northern Vermont, and the people here are very warm ..... you will have to get accustomed to being call "Hon".....LOL ! We absolutley love the people here..... and I think you will too. It's big horse country here, everywhere you turn, there are horses in the pasture.......
Good luck with your venture.....
Melissa
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My grandfather next door has about an acre and it seems like a huge field compared to ours. 
