Where is a good area? (Knoxville, Maryville: mortgage, loan, house hunting)

[dwillis]

If I bought a house for about 75-85k, where would be the best/safest area for the house to be located at? Also, I would like to be somewhat near (20 min commute) to Mcghee Tyson Airport. Thanks for your help!

[knoxgarden]

At that price, it's going to be a small fixer-upper or an older condo.
You'll also see a lot of older double-wides on large lots in that price range.
Look in Friendsville, Tallassee, Walland for small former vacation homes with acreage like this one:
realFocus - Knoxville Area Association of Realtors®
Alcoa, Maryville will have some small fixer-uppers like this one:
realFocus - Knoxville Area Association of Realtors®
May be hard to get a loan for them, though.
You'll find some Condos closer to $90,000
realFocus - Knoxville Area Association of Realtors®
These would all be relatively safe areas.

[Cassie7]

Hubby and I bought a nice 1500sq/ft home in a good neighborhood in north Knox (Whittle Springs area) two years ago for 85k. But we took our time and it took us over a year of house hunting to find it. We lucked up and were the first to view the house when it went on the market.

You will also want to do a lot of phone work with mortgage companies. I lost count of how many we dealt with before deciding on the one we chose as most...and I DO mean most, tried using hard sell tactics on us and tried to raise the rate quote when the paperwork was ready to sign. This would have made a mortgage difference of hundreds of dollars/mo.

Moral of the story is that you have to take your time and shop around for both the house as well as a mortgage company. And be sure to read AND understand everything before signing. Trust me, they'll wait for your signature because they want their commission.

[pdq]

Originally Posted by dwillis

If I bought a house for about 75-85k, where would be the best/safest area for the house to be located at? Also, I would like to be somewhat near (20 min commute) to Mcghee Tyson Airport. Thanks for your help!

I would say just rent for a while until you get to know an area. That will give you time to find out all the perks and shortcomings and to find a sweet deal on a house. The market is dropping and a year from now you'll get much more for your money.

Good luck to you.

[ausblake]

I look for deals in that price range to flip and I haven't seen any in awhile unless they were in the bad part of town.

[Brian]

Probably in the Farragut part of Knox county and small portion of Bearden in Knoxville. They are much nicer than rest of Knox County including the city of Knoxville.

[hiknapster]

I doubt that you'd find a home for that price in Farragut or Bearden!

[Brian]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I doubt that you'd find a home for that price in Farragut or Bearden!

You're right about that. I have misread the OP's thread - my bad.

[hiknapster]

No problem!

[Brian]

Thanks, hiknapster.