What area? What area? Still banging my head on the wall! (Knoxville: to rent, live)

[hiknapster]

I rented for three years before I bought a house. All of the areas that I thought I would like; I realized that I didn't. Where I though I wouldn't, I absolutely love.

Three years might be a bit much, but you get the idea!

[Kitties of Domination]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

Have you looked at the Tri-Cities? It really sounds like it would fit you needs by everything you have posted thus far. It has all the shopping, major and minor, plus you are only an hour and a half or so from Asheville NC that has more shopping/specialty options and cheaper sales tax.
Lots less traffic and I believe more county tax only options in areas that you can feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, but less than 15 minutes to grocery, Wal-Mart etc. However, I will give you one word of warning: If you want to only pay county taxes, you will only get county services, which fixing an annoying dog barking issue probably won't happen, that is pretty much anywhere in TN counties, at least in the east part. It is pretty much a live and let live region, you won't find a whole lot of ordnances and such, but that is also one of the reasons property taxes are low, not a lot of enforcement needed.

Ok, Asheville is closer to Knoxville than the Tri-cities. Besides, why would you travel to a city half the size of Knoxville when Knoxville is closer? That makes absolutely no sense. And Knoxville has more shopping options than Asheville by far...

[LLuce]

So did you rent that three years in one area or did you move around during that time? If it was in one area, how did you discover where you did love when you lived somewhere else? I guess what I'm trying to say, without actually living and moving around on a daily basis in a particular area how does one find out if they love another area or not??

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I rented for three years before I bought a house. All of the areas that I thought I would like; I realized that I didn't. Where I though I wouldn't, I absolutely love.

Three years might be a bit much, but you get the idea!

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by Kitties of Domination

Ok, Asheville is closer to Knoxville than the Tri-cities. Besides, why would you travel to a city half the size of Knoxville when Knoxville is closer? That makes absolutely no sense. And Knoxville has more shopping options than Asheville by far...

Have you ever driven on 26 from the Tri to Asheville? I can get to Asheville a lot faster and easier than I can get to Knoxville. According to Map Quest it is 115 miles from Knoxville to Asheville and 60 miles from JC to Asheville. 26 makes a HUGE difference. I prefer to drive to Asheville than Knoxville for a few reasons, number 1 being that it is closer and 2 that there is less traffic and less spread out for shopping, but then again, most everything I need or want is right here in the Tri without all the traffic. It also depends on what you are shopping for, Asheville can have a better quality of stores than Knoxville by far, I was thinking furniture/clothing.
But the point was I was just suggesting to the OP that they might find what they are looking for in the Tri-Cities based on their descriptions.

[BarbG]

I can't answer for Hik, but my DH and I drove round and round the area. Spent most weekends exploring communities, going into stores, shopping in the area, checking out the parks, and for us, the distance to the Smokies.

You can find out alot about a community by spending time in it going to functions, stores, and parks.

We even had people who have lived here for 10+ years tell us that we knew more about the area than they did. LOL

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by BarbG

I can't answer for Hik, but my DH and I drove round and round the area. Spent most weekends exploring communities, going into stores, shopping in the area, checking out the parks, and for us, the distance to the Smokies.

You can find out alot about a community by spending time in it going to functions, stores, and parks.

We even had people who have lived here for 10+ years tell us that we knew more about the area than they did. LOL

That's exactly correct. Thank you so much for answering. I have a kid that is sick.

You can research the heck out of an area. I would take myself and get purposely lost. I have a good sense of direction, though, I wouldn't recommend that for everyone.

I mean, it is really, really tough to know about an area over the internet when you are hundreds of miles away, and I don't care how often you visit, until you live in a place you don't truly know it. That's why there are those legions of people stuck in Florida!

But living in one place, you will have plenty of opportunities to explore the entire area. And then when you pick a house, make sure to meet the neighbors. That's something that so many people forget, but it happens to be one of the most important steps.

Moving from neighborhood to neighborhood for three years? No, I wouldn't recommend that.

[SFLWR]

I've read that before too...about meeting your neighbors first....ok, let's say you found a house that you really like , you've been to some stores in the area ... would you just knock on the neighbors door and hope they don't come out with a shotgun or big dog ?? LOL....alright, personally I wouldn't worry to much about that but what would you say ? "hi, I'm checking you out to make sure your not a jerk before I move here " well, maybe that wouldn't exactly get me a pie for a "welcome to the neighbor" gift

[mbmouse]

LOL!! How about "Hi, I was thinking about buying the house down the road from you and wanted to stop by, say hello and ask you what you think of the neighborhood."
That will get the ball rolling and you will find out soon enough if you have a bunch of jerks as neighbors without right asking.

[SFLWR]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

LOL!! How about "Hi, I was thinking about buying the house down the road from you and wanted to stop by, say hello and ask you what you think of the neighborhood."
That will get the ball rolling and you will find out soon enough if you have a bunch of jerks as neighbors without right asking.

yeeeaahh, that would probably be the better way stead of my " let's get right to the point " approach !! uhhmm, and I like chocolate pie btw

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by SFLWR

yeeeaahh, that would probably be the better way stead of my " let's get right to the point " approach !! uhhmm, and I like chocolate pie btw

Well, that is kinda getting to the point. You want to know what the neighbors think. How they like it. And of course you are checking them out while they are responding.

The chances of someone being paranoid or hostile or not very high around here. I bought a house over a year ago and didn't hesitate to knock on doors. That's also how I found out what was REALLY going on with properties. The neighbors usually know the entire history of that house. EVERYTHING.