Looking to relocate (Johnson City, Kingsport, Colonial Heights: sales, apartment, rentals)

[pima247]

Hello,
I am new to this forum (just tonight) I am looking to relocate to TN in March of this year. We have friends in Piney Flats who swear by it there, but wanted some other info about that area and the other areas around the Tri Cities... I have been looking in Kingsport as well and it seems nice there too. We will be coming from California (near Los Angeles) it is just getting to hard to live out here, housing is way to expensive and you are afraid to let your kids go out to play.

We are thinking we will come to TN and rent a house or apartment and then look for Jobs and a house to buy, how is the job market in the area? Are rental houses hard to find?

We are looking for a nice place to live, not in the city. We have 2 kids age 15 and 7.

Any help suggestions and advice would be appreciated.

Fed up in CA

Tammy

PS... anyone with photos of the area that could send to me or post would be great!!!! Thanks again

[donsabi]

Tammy,
I think you are very wise to rent first and there are a lot of rentals available. One source is "craigslist." I agree that Piney Flats is one of the nicer areas. I am not fond of Kingsport and I suggest looking elsewhere, but everyone has different tastes. This is why I strongly urge you to
rent first as it will give you plenty of time to get to know the area. You also must consider utilities because the cost can vary greatly from town to town.
Don

[marmac]

Originally Posted by pima247

Hello,
I am new to this forum (just tonight) I am looking to relocate to TN in March of this year. We have friends in Piney Flats who swear by it there, but wanted some other info about that area and the other areas around the Tri Cities... I have been looking in Kingsport as well and it seems nice there too. We will be coming from California (near Los Angeles) it is just getting to hard to live out here, housing is way to expensive and you are afraid to let your kids go out to play.

We are thinking we will come to TN and rent a house or apartment and then look for Jobs and a house to buy, how is the job market in the area? Are rental houses hard to find?

We are looking for a nice place to live, not in the city. We have 2 kids age 15 and 7.

Any help suggestions and advice would be appreciated.

Fed up in CA

Tammy

PS... anyone with photos of the area that could send to me or post would be great!!!! Thanks again

---"We are thinking we will come to TN and rent a house or apartment the look for Jobs "--

Great strategy if you bring plenty of cash $$$$$$ with to live on until you find a job.

Very risky moving anyplavce in the US if a job is needed to live after you get there.

You can't eat the scenery.

[rccrain]

"You can't eat the scenery."

Ditto that. The job market is as tough as I've seen it.

Your plan seems good and the area you are looking in is very nice. Further, I'd expect property in that area to appreciate well. My only concern is the school district. Piney (Mary Hughes -> Bluff City -> Sullivan East) is a significant down grade from North JC, North Washington County, or any of Kpt's schools. It's not that they are awful schools, but there are just more opportunities in the recommended districts.

[mbmouse]

I agree with the other posters except that I think the Colonial Heights area of Kingsport may suit your needs that you have posted thus far. (Give us more about your needs, likes and dislikes and we can point you in a good direction based on that.) What type of work do you both do? If you are looking for retail, medical or restaurant, you may find something rather quick ( big "might" these days though!) If you are in construction, engineering, manufacturing or other such specialized field, it will be very hard to find something right now. Suggest you have lots of savings or find a job before moving here. If you are not supper picky on a rental and don't have pets, you should be able to find a good rental.

[pima247]

Originally Posted by marmac

---"We are thinking we will come to TN and rent a house or apartment the look for Jobs "--

Great strategy if you bring plenty of cash $$$$$$ with to live on until you find a job.

Very risky moving anyplavce in the US if a job is needed to live after you get there.

You can't eat the scenery.

Thanks to all for the comments so far.... We need all the help and advise we can get!

Can someone tell me more about the utilities and the average cost of them? And how they differ.

We are somewhat fortunate to be bringing a set monthly income with us of $1900.00 per month that will not go away no matter where we move and are hoping we can squeeze by living off this until we both find jobs. He has been a retail manager for 16 years, I have been a National corporate credit manager for years but in planning for the move I am taking some medical management classes before we move.

I read in another post that there is no income tax????

I have so much to learn!!!!

[rccrain]

There is no state income tax in Tennessee, except for certain Dividends and Interest Income. To compare state income tax rates look here: Individual Income Tax Rates-2008

Looks like the top bracket in Cali was 9.3%! I would croak.

However, quoting mbmouse:
"the no state income tax is off set by the sales tax which is about 9.75% (or 9.25% in Piney Flats or 9.5% in JC) on everything, including food. Some people do not like that at all. I personally am very OK with the sales tax, especially when I am paying less than $600 a year on my property tax, $24 a year to get car tags, and pay no personal property taxes."

I would also add that your state sales tax can be deducted from your federal return in lieu of state income tax.

[jabogitlu]

Re: not wanting to live "in the city." Since you're renting first and not buying, this isn't a huge deal, but you may find that living in the city (be it JC or Kpt) will be fine with you. The "city" here isn't quite what the city is in SoCal. Just a tip.

You're lucky that you're bringing in 1900 a month. That's a whole salary+ here for some people and even some families. With two kids it could be difficult but I'd say you could squeeze by on that for a while. Plus if you sell your house, I'm sure you're going to find one cheaper here (one big plus in relocating from California or the Northeast).

Retail management is relatively easy to come by here. (Relatively, that is.) Is there any chance that he could transfer with the company? Not sure where he works. Medical management is good. Most of the job postings in Johnson City consist of medical receptionists, PT assistants, dental assistants, and (strangely) dietitians for the various hospitals and retirement homes here.

As for looking for a home, I just went through this too. I found Craigslist to be the best source for Johnson City, supplemented by the Kingsport Times-News' online classifieds (they aggregate better than the JC Press website's, with the same listings, so I preferred KT-N). Traditionally North Johnson City is the "better" part of the city with the preferred school districts. I found that you can get more bang for your buck in South Johnson City, staying away from the somewhat overpriced (for the age, condition and location) neighborhoods such as the Tree Streets and Hillrise Park/The Gump. Love those neighborhoods, but at first I would recommend looking elsewhere.

[pima247]

Sales tax in my area is set to hit 10% this year...... on top of all out other taxes..... And were still broke in the state of CA go figure!

[pima247]

I wish we had a house to sale here... but one of the main reasons were moving is we would never be able to buy a home here.... we both make good money but the houses out here are insane even with the market falling as it did. A 3+2 home with NO property in a area we would feel safe living in with the kids would run us about 550K easy.. with 40 to 50K down (haha) our payments would be around 3K a month not including property taxes and insurance.... there is just NO way!! if we could pull it off we would be working for a house payment and that is just no way to live... I want to spend time with my kids and have a life.

Right now were living in a 3 +2 1000 Sq foot apartment and paying 1900 a month.... were just not happy anymore. My kids need a yard ( the dog would not mind one either) I'm looking for a community... family things to do places to go, and a good place to raise the kids.... and time to enjoy it all with them, not watching them threw my corporate office window!