Need help selecting a lake to retire near. (Knoxville, Philadelphia: property taxes, transplants)

[knoxgarden]

Also look in Roane County, Anderson County west of Knoxville.
Lenoir City South of Knoxville and Grainger and Hawkins county East of Knoxville.
Or live in a loft condo in downtown Knoxville and be on the river.
The Island Home neighborhood in South Knoxville is a wonderful place right on the water.

[john t]

bbkaren,
I wanted to give you some info on the Lake Awana neighborhood. We looked at some properties there last year. I don't know if you've visited it or not but I have to say it's a bit scary there. The area surrounding the neighborhood is pretty run down. The realtor photos looked nice but getting there in person was a totally different story.

[bbkaren]

Wow...that's odd.

We spent a couple of days driving around there and found the area pretty charming.

There was the occasional trailer-in-a-quarry-pit (yes, including the guy next door--what's with that, anyway? Don't they like grass?) but we liked the area generally. All the rest of the places looked very nice, and the neighborhood was absolutely quiet. We saw 3 cars in the several hours we spent at the property--and one of them was a pickup with goats in the back lol!

I wonder if there's another section we didn't go into. One area we found way too congested was the Little Dogwood area, I'm not sure if that's still Lake Awana...I think that area's called Dogwood Shores or something like that. The lots were tiny and the houses were stacked in there.

But the neighborhood we're looking at (with the exception of the one guy, who happens to be very nice, just...sloppy) is quite nice. (Powell and Valley Drive, Loudon address). The other neighbors' homes were quite a bit off the street but were neatly kept and as I mentioned, quite quiet.

The route there from the highway was rolling hills and a lot of farmland.

If you have additional info, I'd welcome anything you'd like to share! And thanks!

[Mytown]

Okay, here is the scoop of what I know about Knox lakes. The Knoxville area has 6 surrounding lakes: Ft. Loudon, Tellico, Watts Bar, Norris, Melton Hill, Douglas and Cherokee. All area lakes are controled by TVA and have dams on them. You must get a permit from TVA for any and all docks and not everyone gets one. They tell you what you can build and what you can and can not do in as much as TVA owns the land next to the water and they dictate if you can cut anything down or build anything on the area they own. It depends where you are on the lake as to how much of the lake front is theirs. Bottom line is to find out all about this concerning the lot you choose before you buy. All the area lakes are lowered in the winter to prevent flooding in spring.

Ft. Loudon, Tellico, Watts Bar and Melton Hill are lowered the least by about 5 or 6 ft. These lakes also feed into the TN River and from them you can travel by boat through the locks all the way to the Gulf of Mexico if you like. This also means there is some barge traffic along these lakes for commercial purposes. The lots around these lakes are a little more level than the other lakes as well.

Norris Lake (one of the most pristine lakes in the country and one of the top 10 bass fishing lakes according to enthusist) is lowered about 19 ft. in the winter but is still navigable on the main chanel in the winter (in some places Norris Lake is over 250 ft. deep). Most folks there have floating docks and they let them in and out on a cable system to keep them in the water.

Douglas and Cherokee Lakes have the most marvelous views of the mountains, but the lakes are pulled down quite dramatically in the winter months.

Finally, TVA owns most of the property around the lakes and has recently decided to allow no more developement. In other words, they aren't selling so anything you buy will have to be from an individual and they are not not going to be any new developements coming along other than what is in the works at present. I would say if you want to buy something on the lake you had better do it NOW because this is going to drive the price of lake property through the roof.

I hope this helps.

[loudoncountyrights]

Erie, Huron, Michigan, Superior, and Ontario are all pretty big lakes you could retire near.

[Deborah53]

Can you say cold? We presently live south of (about 2 hours) Lake Erie. Winter hangs on in this area anywhere from 4-6 months. We have many sub zero days each year. The lakes can create really deep 'lake effect' snow, luckily we are too far away to receive that. Also the Great Lakes are not good for small boat fishing or water skiing. It can be done there but the waters are rough most of the time.

[bbkaren]

Hi think Loudon guy doesn't want people moving to Tennessee at all; I think he's just got a really sophisticated sense of humor and we're too simple to get the sarcasm in there...

[Deborah53]

Could be, that is why I asked if he could say cold.
I can understand why people don't want a bunch of newcomers to an area, but that doesn't stop my wanting to move where it is warmer.

[gemkeeper]

I wouldn't worry about it, Deborah53. There's one in every crowd. You will love TN; we are anxious to retire at the end of the year and get moved ourselves to the Knoxville area. You will find natives and "out-of-staters" to be very friendly, warm and welcoming if our experience visiting the area is the norm. We spent 16 years living on a small island (Grosse Ile) at the mouth of Lake Erie and it is cold. We often still had Nov.- plowed snow trying to melt in May. I don't think that God gave warm climates to a chosen few. There is room for all. I know many people who have chosen to retire to Maine, the upper peninsula of Michigan and even Alaska. We all have our preferences, so come on down and see how you feel about Tennessee and its beautiful lakes.

[john t]

Watts Bar lake is a good choice to retire on. It's huge and property is much more reasonable there. It has a much slower and easy going pace. Center Hill lake near Cookeville, TN offers some beautiful lake properties and great mountain views. The costs there are a fraction of what they are around Knoxville. Cookeville is a smaller quaint university town on the Cumberland Plateau. It has all the amenities and it's under an hour from Nashville. Chickamauga lake near Dayton is probably the most reasonably priced lake in east TN. Beautiful properties to retire on and great views. It's only 30-40 minutes to Chattanooga.

For now TVA isn't selling lake area but everything changes at TVA. I have a friend who's job was selling their holdings, he told me they will sell again. He officially retired when they were winding down, he's now looking at going back part time.

Last spring we looked at moving to a different house. One realtor told me we should buy now or would be priced out forever. Really? Forever? Lol! She is still sitting on that property after a year and a half and has reduced it 3 times. Don't believe the "buy now" hype. The overall market is in decline. I'm not trying to sell you anything.

Ft. Loudon and Tellico are ridiculously priced, Norris, Cherokee, and Douglas are more reasonable, Watts Bar, Chickamauga, and Center Hill are the most reasonable. Look around Spring City, Smithville, Cookeville, and Dayton, you'll find beautiful land on the water and in the $100K range or less. They are flooded with lake properties there. More than they will ever be able to sell.

Best Wishes!