Relocating to Eastern TN, which town is better...? (Kingsport, Morristown: best towns, home)

[Halfback]

Originally Posted by gcman

I own 6 acres on Chestnut ridge Rd brought it in 1988, and then bought 1
acre on top of mountain in 1992 bought from Angus himself. I am now on our third so called builder. Hire one man to clear the lot, after two month said he didn’t have time. Hire a man from Pikeville, Did what he said he would, but didn’t pay attention of what I wanted, ended up with a hole 10 ft deep instead of 4fr for basement. Hire one builder, quote one price charged something else. Ask for written for further work. I agreed on price, price changed. Okay hired another builder out of Dayton, tn. Started out good, said other builder screwed up. Got written quote, work was performed and charged as quoted. Then when ask for quote for framing, man was it way out line. Told them for the amount of money I could bring a crew from Florida and pay motel bills for six weeks. Now I have a new builder named Gary Conway Construction. Not only the price is reasonably, he knows what he is doing. The sad about the second builder, he has been in TN for 15 years and was from Brooksville, Fl
I am not country bumpkin or some rich [moderator cut] from Florida, just learned some expensive lessons. The first set of builder put slab in 4/29/06, took them until 8/01/06 for block work. They have never called back, never told them that they were fired.

I hope to have cabin dry in four weeks, new guys are kicking butt.

I just got my deed from Angus Greene investments, on mountain top lot it stated that no commercial activities allowed or non working cars or trucks, HAHAHA

When I brought this lot in 1992 Angus said that, there was going be no mobile homes, etc allowed. I guess he was half right.
One more funny thing , been trying to get a 911 address, need one to get a electrical inspection to get tempory power, the woman from the county who gives the address out, said she doesn’t go to Lumairy without a deputy.

yeah dozer work by the hour was a claim- it was more like by the job or lane way once on site .i was thinking of buying a gravel dump truck and dozer to pull behind seeing as there is only one on the mountain since the other retired last year and this guy is booked sun up to sun down 'its hard to get a load of gravel. rent a bob cat if you can but dozer is better for tree and stump removal.
log cabins built with knee walls as the last few logs are not uncommon fixes when they forget to ship a log or two from the factory so said one local contracter after the roof was already on! count your logs as you near the top and stop work, get logs from factory ,would make sense , but not if you need a check from homeowner i guess. get r done ?
oh and the deed restrictions from the hasting/greens are thrown out as soon as the land is paid for in full .no permanant camping?junk cars? no clear cutting of land? its all agriculture land with mineral rights i see the creeks and hill sides being quarried.

[Halfback]

to get an electrical inspection you use to only need a septic permit,the inspecter perk tests the ground and marks the spot where it will go, then the electric company drops the power pole.
i guess since the roads are now county owned or maintained ?with the hasting /greens help? i am unsure who realy does it, we use to have everyone on the lane put money together in spring to have gravel spread. they now require a real address not just a mailbox route number .
the little old ladies in pikeville at the county are really nice . I know when an ambulance is called Luminary voluntary fire dept with a 4 wheel drive shows the driver how to traverse the roads. maybe they could help since they are right there on shut-in gap .or maybe its required for the deputy to see the physical address.It may also help keep out people with arrest warrants or others hiding from the law that camp up there from setting up a real house.

[Halfback]

oh are you in rhea or bledsoe county? you may have more trouble with rhea county politics than bledsoe . not sure though .

[Judie37421]

Originally Posted by Bubba on my mountain

My wife and I recently moved just outside Chattanooga and we have gangs running around especially on the mountains. They carry shoutguns and say they were here first. We are looking elsewhere

Bubba honey, I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience with my "hometown"! You didn't mention what area of Chattanooga? I was born and raised in Chattanooga, moved to Nashville for a few years (less than 5 actually) then moved back here to get married and raise my family. Parents are still alive and here in Chattanooga. Youngest child is in the Navy and is stationed up there in the wild "frozen north" but my oldest is still at home. Husband is a long-haul trucker therefore is away from home a LOT but I'm not a bit nervous for daughter and/or myself to stay home alone, at night or any other time. BTW, I've lived in E. Brainerd for 25 to 30 years now.

Judie in Chattanooga

[gcman]

Halfback

Finally got a 911 address , I am in Bledsoe county , Volunteer Coop. wanted me to run underground conduit over 300 feet, I said no, you put in the poles, still wanting.

I just received my deed from the county clerk office and on it it said no non working cars, trucks etc.
I did not know is going to enforce this. Angus still has a lot of property for sale up here.

[Halfback]

gcman,
good to hear you got your address and 911 listing ,still no power? I hear they are making it harder for people with pull behinds and unproperly tied down trailers from getting temporary poles . but with a real building such as yours,nonsense?
I heard of a lady from alabamba with a pull behind trailer was told they needed a $1,600 deposit. I would have paid and been done. But she refused and its been another month of no power for her.They are tired of people running up a bill defauting on their land contract and driving their pull behinds away with unpaid electric bills i guess .
my brother ran underground power from his temporary pole to his house with a rented ditch witch. but with all the surface rock its not always possible .
Is the power ran to your property line yet. mine was thanks to my neighbor who had to pay $3,000 for power poles that now line the
poorly maintained community road .

[Halfback]

the neighbor needs 8 things corrected to her temporary power pole before she can get power hooked up to it . my brother knows someone who installs teporary power poles for a living . but says i should get exactly what the power company wants in writing before i install a temporary pole and box .
oh yeah i am moving up to the mountain sunday . my house finaly sold . maybe because i sold it for a realistic price . two other houses sold before mine and two other houses in here are still vacant after two years.(a few more have poped up for sale) and rumor has it one droped $100,000 off the intial asking price because their new home is finished.
mine was on the market for only a couple of months.
I sure will miss the lakeside neighborhood weekend parties and i will also miss my new job building docks, boat lifts and boat houses with a friend who is a liscensed contracter. what a laid back job . Daily boat rides (setting pilings with a barge) an ocassional swim (with the alligators )sometimes even laying down on the job( while trying to nail in hard to reach places) .
well best of luck to you .

[JMT]

The Tri Cities is indeed a beautiful area. It's got a half-million people, but it doesn't seem like it because there's not a big central city. So you've got lots of beautiful countryside with the amenities of a big city -- malls, airport, etc. And it's not "booming" in population, so the cost of housing hasn't gone through the roof. Sullivan County (Kingsport, Bristol) actually has a net outmigration (more people move away than move in) so you can usually find a bargain in real estate. And the schools are really good.

Greeneville is also a nice town with a historical downtown and isn't too far from Johnson City.

Avoid Morristown like the plague. It's a dying industrial town full of empty factories and a decaying downtown.

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Boris

Avoid Morristown like the plague. It's a dying industrial town full of empty factories and a decaying downtown.

I'm unsure of where you get your information or why you dislike Morristown, but it is not dying nor decaying. Matter of fact most of the industries are expanding. Today's paper, 12/8/2006, shows the groundbreaking of Howmet's expansion. I don't mind an honest opinion, but you need to be fair. Matter of fact you actually pointed out that Kingsport has a larger outmigration. That may be a bad sign, people leave for a reason. However, I like Kingsport. Just remember there are two ways to view things

[chaffindm]

We found some property in Luminary Its not completly built the home like no power well etc is it really hard to get someone out there to get r done