Property can be expensive in Maryville, RLA, but part of that is a reflection of the good school system and the prominity to both Knoxville and the Smoky Mts. You've heard this before - you get what you pay for.
However, if you are willing to trade of some of the extras you might have in mind for your house, like a nice size lot, newer home, lots of updates, you will still find a house in just about any price bracket.
If you like the area you might want to contact a realtor and have them show you some of the homes in your price range and see what you think. Nothing beats actually visiting the area and seeing various small towns and neighborhoods.
You might find one in the area that suits you just fine. You might want to check realtor dot website for available homes for comparison.
There are lots of natives and transplants who will give you lots of options and opinions on where to look. Meanwhile, if you use the search option on City-Data you will find out many nice towns on your own, as well as good advice from other posters.
I hope you find just what you are looking for. You are allowing yourself enough time, but do try to make a trip to TN for some exploring. There are so many nice areas to settle down with children.
Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
Moving in January
. We looked into Maryville because we heard that their city schools are the best around and it has a "small town" feel but all of the amenities of a larger area. That sounds similar to where we are here in Indiana. My husband would like to work as a police officer in Knoxville so we need to stay nearby but Maryville housing seems WAY to expensive 
for two recent graduates with a LOT of college loans to pay back, considering we'll also be needing new furniture, cars, etc that we haven't been able to replace while we've been in school! I need good schools for my children and a safe environment for all of us and our two dogs. Any suggestions on other small towns or parts of Knoxville that are desirable? We have fallen in love with Tennessee and are desperate to get there but all of "searching" on-line has left me frustrated and confused 
. Hopefully during my job-search I will get some good input but for now, I would like to be looking for areas that we would like to live so that I know where to begin applying! Any info. you have would be great. Thank you so much! SIDENOTE: We are looking to rent for now, so I'm talking about rental houses - sorry for any confusion!
Lots of nice towns and neighborhoods around Knox.
Linear Mode
