Looking to move from WI to TN....or carolinas (Knoxville: for sale, real estate)

[shooyman]

We are looking to move to a warmer climate as my husband was just diagnosed with copd..the cold is really bad for him..

We love our country living now..and our gorgeous fall colors..we have 5 horses and dogs & cats, are on 5 acres, our community is approx 500 strong....we are about 15 min to the nearest small walmart and hosp, 30-45 minutes to large Mall, drive 30 min. to work...would love some acreage with woods...any help would be appriciated...looking for somewhere also to be able to ride the horses..trails, state parks etc...

Price range: up to 130,000.00 prefer no Moble Home
Have been looking at Saltillo or maybe Cookeville...
Anything important also would be helpfull ie: wells , septic, generators, bugs, dry counties (as we like our Bud lite nights(hahaha), sales tax,

Thank you so much in advance
I'm on the comptur every night researching and still not sure where to go...

[nashvols]

Well, it's really kind of wide open....

$130k is reasonable in a lot of rural or semi-rural areas. Sales tax is going to be 9.25-9.75% on most items, and I think 7-7.5% on groceries. No state income tax.

Despite popular belief, it can and does get cold here in the winter...usually just not for more than a few weeks at a time. Occasionally we have a bitterly cold month, but usually the weather breaks and we have a 50-60 degree day every few weeks. It doesn't snow much...usually just a few inches throughout the whole winter. A big snow here is 3-4 inches (which creates traffic nightmares. A shut down the town snow is anything 6+.

The alcohol laws in this state are bizarre...there are a lot of dry counties, but most cities and towns of any real size either serve or allow package sales...so you're best bet is probably located not too far from a decent sized town.

Cookeville is probably a good place to start your search. Nice little college town of 30,000, located an hour from Nashville, an hour and a half from Knoxville, and an hour and a half from Chattanooga...so you're centrally located among the "bigger" cities, but Cookeville is big enough to offer most needs for the average person (it's the "hub" of the Cumberland Plateau region).

You might also look into Upper East Tennessee, around the Tri Cities (Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol). All 3 are pretty good sized towns (40-60,000). It's definitely a pretty area...but you should probably ask one of the locals about living there.

[as3369]

Sounds like this may fit the bill. Ten minutes outside of Cookeville and right off the highway...

13334 Center Hill Dam Rd Silver Point TN - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - MLS #148741 - Realtor.com®

[shooyman]

Originally Posted by as3369

Sounds like this may fit the bill. Ten minutes outside of Cookeville and right off the highway...

13334 Center Hill Dam Rd Silver Point TN - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - MLS #148741 - Realtor.com®

Thank you for this...i will be checking it out!

[Stone1]

Shooyman,
We are from WI as well and have been planning on moving to TN at Retirement time for me which is now down to 2 years or less. At first the sales tax in TN will scare you since we are used to 5.5% in WI but if you add the savings on income tax and property tax which WI is high on, you will find the pay check goes much farther in TN.

It is May 2nd, I come home from work and took the dog for a walk at 5:00PM and it was a balmy 37 degrees!

[2mares]

You didnt mention what type of work you do. I assume you will be looking for work and finding jobs should be high on your list. Taking that of the equation and being that you are accustom to small town, you might try the Jamestown area if riding is high on your list. Many of the more rural farm areas have existing wells and septic. If you plan on building be sure to get a perk test.
Generators are not a necessisty unless you build in an area that electricity is virtually impossible to get to.
Bugs, we have our share, but I guess that is al relative to what you are use to. Ticks and chiggers are my favorite. You can buy beer outside the city limits in Jamestown. There is a nice little winery and you can gravel to Crossville for liquor. Most counties are no longer dry for beer, but my not serve liquor. Or sell liquor by the drink but no package stores.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by nashvols

Despite popular belief, it can and does get cold here in the winter...usually just not for more than a few weeks at a time. Occasionally we have a bitterly cold month, but usually the weather breaks and we have a 50-60 degree day every few weeks. It doesn't snow much...usually just a few inches throughout the whole winter. A big snow here is 3-4 inches (which creates traffic nightmares. A shut down the town snow is anything 6+.

I'm from New England, my husband from Chicago. The locals will tell you that it gets cold. They don't know what cold is.

In my hometown - up North - it was snowing last week. A big snow season around here is about 10 to 20 inches for the year. That's huge to them. However, that's unheard of in Yankee country. Unheard of. Fifty inches is a season without much snow up North. True!

Over in Knoxville, we've had beautiful weather since the middle of February. At we had a brutal winter.

Originally Posted by Stone1

At first the sales tax in TN will scare you since we are used to 5.5% in WI but if you add the savings on income tax and property tax which WI is high on, you will find the pay check goes much farther in TN.

It is May 2nd, I come home from work and took the dog for a walk at 5:00PM and it was a balmy 37 degrees!

So, so true. Everyone likes to complain about the sales tax. But you will come out far, far ahead. TN is 47th in tax burden. That means that only three other states have less taxes.

Originally Posted by 2mares

You didnt mention what type of work you do. I assume you will be looking for work and finding jobs should be high on your list.

There is an enormous difference between rural up north and down south. Best advice I can give you is look for jobs in the larger cities. I live in the city of Knoxville and it seems more like a large town. Unemployment numbers can be quite high in some rural areas and depending on where you are looking, due to traveling back roads you could have a one hour commute or much, much more. You need to visit to get a feel for the area, first. And don't do anything without securing jobs.

Also, there is a difference in atmosphere down here. The liquor laws should be giving you a good indication of that.

[JAKE CHRISTIAN]

I would recommend east tn. Housing prices are good. If you make a purchase that is not on city sewer. You will want a copie of the sewer permit. You will also want to know the last time it was pumped. I would want to see a document to prove that. If there is any doubt i would want an inspection of the system. Most inspections consists of a walk around. This can tell you nothing. The tank lids should be removed to see if it is working properly(this would be a good time to pump if needed) 2th i would core drill the beds. The core drilling could be useless if home has not been lived in for a while. When i speak of core drilling a post hold digger will do the work.

[strumpeace]

To the OP -- When you mentioned Saltillo, were you referring to the Saltillo on the Tennessee River in West Tennessee? (I only ask because Saltillo is a very common name, and iirc, there are multiple spots on the road in TN that go by the name Saltillo.)

If you're referring to the Saltillo in West TN, that is definitely a very rural area. It's pretty, and you can find nice homes for great prices right on the river. However, you would be more than an hour from the two closest towns of any real size -- Jackson TN and Florence AL. You would be half an hour from Savannah (to the south) and Lexington (to the north), both of which have Wal-Mart, grocery stores, small hospitals, etc.

Again, it's a pretty area, but it really is far, far from much of anything.

If you're interested in West TN and living near the river, I would strongly recommend looking north to Paris. It's a half hour to Murray KY (mid-size town) and an hour to Clarksville (pop. 100,000+). Plus Paris has all the necessities (grocery stores, hospital, some retail, etc.).

That's just a quick look at options along the Tennessee River. This board leans very heavily toward Middle and East TN, so there are only a handful of us who can/will answer questions about West TN.

Best wishes.