can someone point out difference betwen JC,KP, and Bristol? (Knoxville: sales, apartment)

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by NaturesFinest

What city has better schools? Bristol or Kport? I am having a really hard time picking....I just have no clue where to move to.

Since I don't have kids at all, I can't give a very informed opinion. I do know that when I finished high school (2004), Kingsport City Schools were thought of much more highly than Sullivan County, and I have some younger friends (2010-2012) who went to Dobyns-Bennett and were able to do well. You may want to review other sources around the internet for the individual schools for the zone in which you are considering living in.

[Page2]

Originally Posted by jchometeam

Ive been told that you are going to hear another major announcement regarding development downtown relatively soon. Yes, the revitilization is a long ways from being completed, but you have ALOT of momentum and private companies which are taking risks in downtown. That is something that you could not have said 3 years ago.

I hear the same thing. There is some momentum building.

[wombattver]

Originally Posted by NaturesFinest

What city has better schools? Bristol or Kport? I am having a really hard time picking....I just have no clue where to move to.

greatschools.org has a lot of information, test scores, parent reviews, etc. I've found that website to be very helpful.

[Sean_CLT]

What I find kind of sickly fascinating are the many-thousands square foot mansions built on the outskirts of these cities in the early/mid 2000's that are coming up for sale.

It's been repeated many times on this forum that high paying jobs are scarce... What were these builders/buyers thinking? Even if someone sold an overpriced house in Florida or New Jersey and put a million dollars down in Tri-Cities on new construction... who was going to repurchase it later?

I've gone through the pain of renovating/restoring houses in the mere 1200-1800 square foot range ... and that can get into the $ five figures easily after re-roofing, gutters, fixing siding and plumbing. Just the thought of maintenance alone on some of these estate houses makes me shudder.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by Sean_CLT

What I find kind of sickly fascinating are the many-thousands square foot mansions built on the outskirts of these cities in the early/mid 2000's that are coming up for sale.

It's been repeated many times on this forum that high paying jobs are scarce... What were these builders/buyers thinking? Even if someone sold an overpriced house in Florida or New Jersey and put a million dollars down in Tri-Cities on new construction... who was going to repurchase it later?

I've gone through the pain of renovating/restoring houses in the mere 1200-1800 square foot range ... and that can get into the $ five figures easily after re-roofing, gutters, fixing siding and plumbing. Just the thought of maintenance alone on some of these estate houses makes me shudder.

There really is only a very small market for homes in this price range here. Aside from high level medical professionals, a few senior management, and a few highly successful small business owners, there is no one here making the kind of money to afford these homes. Most of those homes have to be going to transplants who have equity in homes outside the area, sell out, and can scoop up these very nice homes at what is relatively cheap to them. I have absolutely no idea what the builders were thinking as this area simply does not have the earning power to support high-end development.

My uncle bought a house in the Grande Harbor neighborhood pn Boone Lake around 2006-2007 in the $400k range - he ended up taking a $100k haircut to sell the house, and much of that neighborhood was either foreclosed upon or unsold then. Granted, his lowest year of the last five years has been $250k, but still, that's a big hit.

Maybe what I'm saying on here is clicking with folks? There are some people here who are essentially Tri-Cities boosters who try to sugarcoat this stuff, but things are not good here. Not the worst in the country by any means, but there are better places to live.

[jchometeam]

There were 99 homes in Johnson City alone that sold between $300,000 and $600,000 in the last 12 months. 2009-2010 were rough years for those price ranges, but the level of activity in those price ranges is essentially back to the early 2000's levels.

The market in that price range is naturally smaller than other price ranges- for example there were about 230 homes in the $100-200k price range during that same period. But to say that we simply don't have the income to support these homes is a bit misleading- we sell over 8 per month of these high priced homes, just in the city limits. Add to that another 24 per year in Jonesborough, another 29 in Gray, etc.

[jabogitlu]

I agree. When I was a lowly employee at Target, my store manager made over $125k per year. Think about all the medical professionals, medical-education professionals, Eastman management, General Shale management, and yes the transplants that can afford a lot bigger house than the mostly lower-middle income population.

Not saying the area is rich by any means, but it might surprise us to see a full scale salary listing. I always think the same thing about Memphis, who has all this money to buy these huge houses... but once you start listing the area's assets...

[Page2]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I agree. When I was a lowly employee at Target, my store manager made over $125k per year. Think about all the medical professionals, medical-education professionals, Eastman management, General Shale management, and yes the transplants that can afford a lot bigger house than the mostly lower-middle income population.

Not saying the area is rich by any means, but it might surprise us to see a full scale salary listing. I always think the same thing about Memphis, who has all this money to buy these huge houses... but once you start listing the area's assets...

The income distribution in the Tri-Cities is basically following the pattern elsewhere. While the recession left many residents making less money others have done much better. According to the most recent Census Data there at almost 24,000 family households in the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol CSA had an income of $100,000 or more. Obviously that's not the majority, but their proportion is growing.

[Sean_CLT]

Another pattern I've observed is how empty lots in incomplete subdivisions will be for sale at rock bottom prices. I'm assuming the builder went bust and the foreclosing lender is selling the remaining lots for whatever they can.

That will be an interesting test for home values in half-complete subdivisions. The first buyers were paying $400-500K followed by construction at a more base level at half that price... or maybe even less if the HOA is defunct and not policing the site plans for review.

There is a subdivision on the NW side with several lots for sale around $30K that border the railroad. My guess is the owner would part with those much less, especially in a package deal. Then whatever is built there would have to cater to people who don't mind being close to the tracks. No way would it be compatible with the other homes there.

Just more cautionary examples to me that when buying new construction, do it in a neighborhood that is 80% or more complete. Stepping into an early phase can be an unintended gamble.

[jchometeam]

Vacant lots have been difficult over the past many years. However, I have not witnessed the trend that you have. This past year, JC had twice as many vacant lots sell as in previous years. Many of these had been on the market for years- the average days on market was over 600 days. But that is fairly typical of vacant lots, they usually take a year or two to sell.

Most of what I see is a developer who buys a piece of land and then divides it- they very often are not the developer, though sometimes they are. If they are not, they simply let the lots sit until they sell, and usually do not take much less than asking price. In my opinion, they sit without being bought because the developers are cutting up the land too small and creating too restrictive of HOA's than the culture of the area prefers. A different story for an individual owner who has simply had a piece of land for decades and decides to sell it. They typically do not have as much patience and cut the price.

One cautionary tale would be some condos in Bristol next to the racetrack. If anyone paid attention to what happened there, that was a mess. I know another condo unit that the developer went bust and the bank let the property sit for a couple years without finishing the complex and letting the grass grow up. That was on the local news about a year ago. Just another reason I cant stand condos.