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Old 03-03-2010, 11:29 AM
 
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It looks as though the husband and I will be moving to TN from SE Georgia. We want to find a house to rent between Oak Ridge and Knoxville. The husband will work in Oak Ridge and go to school in Knoxville, so living in Oak Ridge or somewhere between the two cities seems ideal.

The only problem is I have no idea where to look for houses. I have been browsing craigslist and various sites that pop-up from a google search.

We are trying to keep rent around $600. $550 ideal and $650 max. A small 2br house would suffice. We also would like to live in a more country type setting.

Does anyone have suggestions on where to look for house rentals, or a suggestion on a town to live?

I know these type of questions have been asked several times, and I apologize for the repetitiveness. (Rest assured I have checked the other forums for answers to my questions before posting.)
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Old 03-03-2010, 04:32 PM
 
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The commute from Oak Ridge into Knoxville isn't too bad, especially since you'd be going against the traffic for the most part (a lot of W. Knoxvillians commute into Oak Ridge for work) but I don't know the quality of rentals you'll find in the area. I guess it also depends on which school. UT is a bit of a hike. PSCC and others, a bit closer.

Smack dab in the middle of the two, though, is Hardin Valley. Also W. Knoxville and parts of Farragut are within reach as well. Just check with the traffic patterns and the time of day you need to get around. Even at its worst, it's not DC or NY, but if you can skip the backups, why wouldn't you?
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Old 03-03-2010, 08:22 PM
 
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I am surprised to hear a lot of people commute from Knoxville to Oak Ridge and not the other way around. You would think more jobs would be in the city.

Farragut seems like a good choice location wise, but I haven't found anything listed to rent in the area. Just about every listing I've found for lower cost house rentals have been in South Knoxville. Based on what others have said on this site, I'm assuming South Knoxville is not a great area...?

I will be checking out the traffic patterns. Thanks for the advice!!
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Old 03-03-2010, 09:12 PM
 
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We live between Oak Ridge and W. Knox in the Hardin Valley area. I'm not sure you're going to find anything in that price range in this area.
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Old 03-03-2010, 11:08 PM
 
Location: America, Inc.
1,012 posts, read 2,778,889 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by orangelily View Post
I am surprised to hear a lot of people commute from Knoxville to Oak Ridge and not the other way around. You would think more jobs would be in the city.

Farragut seems like a good choice location wise, but I haven't found anything listed to rent in the area. Just about every listing I've found for lower cost house rentals have been in South Knoxville. Based on what others have said on this site, I'm assuming South Knoxville is not a great area...?

I will be checking out the traffic patterns. Thanks for the advice!!

I call it the engineer express. There are many jobs related to ORNL; many a physicist, nuclear engineer, etc. arrive in Oak Ridge at 8 and leave for Farragut and west Knoxville at 5. You will not find many rentals in Farragut; the area is mainly upper middle class with high property values and newer homes. I would suggest Hardin Valley if you were in the market, as this area is one of the newest suburbs with close proximity to Oak Ridge. Honestly, I'm thinking Cedar Bluff, or staying close in Oak Ridge as your most feasible options. Even my area, Bearden and Rocky Hill, is not more than 20-25 minutes to Oak Ridge via the interstate and Pellissippi Parkway and very convenient to UT. These areas fit the criteria of slightly older homes (few rental homes are new, but I'm sure you realize this) in nice neighborhoods with all of the shopping convenience of west Knoxville. Still, the 600 a month may not be easy in west Knoxville. Would you be willing to accept a longer commute? There are several nice areas of south Knoxville and 600 a month is much more feasible there.

Last edited by Kitties of Domination; 03-03-2010 at 11:20 PM..
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Old 03-04-2010, 12:15 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kitties of Domination View Post
I call it the engineer express. There are many jobs related to ORNL; many a physicist, nuclear engineer, etc. arrive in Oak Ridge at 8 and leave for Farragut and west Knoxville at 5. You will not find many rentals in Farragut; the area is mainly upper middle class with high property values and newer homes. I would suggest Hardin Valley if you were in the market, as this area is one of the newest suburbs with close proximity to Oak Ridge. Honestly, I'm thinking Cedar Bluff, or staying close in Oak Ridge as your most feasible options. Even my area, Bearden and Rocky Hill, is not more than 20-25 minutes to Oak Ridge via the interstate and Pellissippi Parkway and very convenient to UT. These areas fit the criteria of slightly older homes (few rental homes are new, but I'm sure you realize this) in nice neighborhoods with all of the shopping convenience of west Knoxville. Still, the 600 a month may not be easy in west Knoxville. Would you be willing to accept a longer commute? There are several nice areas of south Knoxville and 600 a month is much more feasible there.
Engineer Express. I like that. haha

You're right about Farragut. It took about 5 minutes on craigslist to see there is nothing in our price range.

I'll make a note to check out the towns you've listed. I have seen a good amount of properties in Rocky Hill that are in our price range, but it looked as though it might be a drive to Oak Ridge. It's hard to tell when you've never made the commute though.

Also, I actually like Oak Ridge. It looks like a nice place to live and offers a lot of the things the husband and I are looking for. I am just unsure of the commute to UT. We were told it's a 40 minute commute. That can add up in $$ when the price of gas goes up.

And just to note - Renting out an older home is definitely not an issue.

Thanks for replying!
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Old 03-04-2010, 05:52 AM
 
13,350 posts, read 39,938,649 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by orangelily View Post
Engineer Express. I like that. haha

You're right about Farragut. It took about 5 minutes on craigslist to see there is nothing in our price range.

I'll make a note to check out the towns you've listed. I have seen a good amount of properties in Rocky Hill that are in our price range, but it looked as though it might be a drive to Oak Ridge. It's hard to tell when you've never made the commute though.

Also, I actually like Oak Ridge. It looks like a nice place to live and offers a lot of the things the husband and I are looking for. I am just unsure of the commute to UT. We were told it's a 40 minute commute. That can add up in $$ when the price of gas goes up.

And just to note - Renting out an older home is definitely not an issue.

Thanks for replying!
I would be hesitant to rent a cheap house in Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge is a nice enough town, but there's not a whole lot of middle-of-the-road homes there; they seem to be either really nice or really scuzzy. My friends who still live in Oak Ridge tell me there's quite a drug problem in the lower-income parts of town. They could be exaggerating, though.

You said the 40 minute commute from Oak Ridge to U.T. is too much. Does that mean your husband will be at U.T. more than at Oak Ridge? If so, it seems to me you should live closer to U.T. and not worry about the commute to Oak Ridge.
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Old 03-04-2010, 09:06 AM
 
Location: Eastern TN
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A good in between location depends a bit on where you are going. Is school UT or something else? Is working in Oak Ridge in town or at ORNL?

The rent budget you have is low for the area. A 2 BR house out in the sticks where I am is going to rent for more than that unless it is truly rough.

You might get lucky and find something in a more rural part of Knox county that is in modest shape. The Karns area (east/northeast of Hardin Valley) might have something. I'd be getting in touch with real estate agents who deal with rentals. Since the market is slow, many are handling more property than they have in the past.
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Old 03-04-2010, 03:23 PM
 
Location: America, Inc.
1,012 posts, read 2,778,889 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by orangelily View Post
Engineer Express. I like that. haha

You're right about Farragut. It took about 5 minutes on craigslist to see there is nothing in our price range.

I'll make a note to check out the towns you've listed. I have seen a good amount of properties in Rocky Hill that are in our price range, but it looked as though it might be a drive to Oak Ridge. It's hard to tell when you've never made the commute though.

Also, I actually like Oak Ridge. It looks like a nice place to live and offers a lot of the things the husband and I are looking for. I am just unsure of the commute to UT. We were told it's a 40 minute commute. That can add up in $$ when the price of gas goes up.

And just to note - Renting out an older home is definitely not an issue.

Thanks for replying!
Orangelily, I live in Rocky Hill and can get to Oak Ridge in 20 mins if there is no traffic. It is not a bad commute and I would have no problem doing it. Even better, UT 10 mins from my house on secondary roads. There are many rentals in the area, mainy 50's and 60's ranchers. I personally like the area for its convenience and "Leave It to Beaver" charm (stole that one from Hik). Nearby Bearden also has the 50's/60's suburban charm with many unique restaurants and boutiques.
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Old 03-04-2010, 10:43 PM
 
Location: Knoxville, TN
62 posts, read 189,753 times
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Since you want to be between Oak Ridge & UT, ideally you'd want to live either off of Pellissippi Parkway or I-40 so you'd have direct and quick access to the interstates to cut down on commuting time as much as possible--Hardin Valley, the western part of Karns, Lovell Road area, Cedar Bluff, Westland, Concord, Bluegrass, Rocky Hill, West Hills, Papermll area, also some areas of Middlebrook Pike that are close to I-40 are also going to be convenient.

I would get on craigslist.org and just type in the word "west" and put in your maximum price of $650...I just looked and there are at least 15 of them on there...you have to sort through all the apartments being advertised, but there are some really cute houses there

Another thing you may consider doing is posting a want ad on craigslist. We did that before when were were inbetween building our house, and we had several landlords contact us about houses they were needing to rent out. Ours went something like this, "professional couple looking to do a 6 month lease for a 2+ bedroom home located in West Knox, under $800/mo, references furnished." We had 6 or 7 people contact us...

Also, you may want to consider a duplex or townhome as the price may be a bit lower for you.
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