The Gardens RV Village Crossville TN (rental car, real estate, rental)

[yarddawg]

Originally Posted by NavyBob

Looking for an RV home in the Crossville area I found a new RV community - Cumberland Mountain Preserve. Looks to be about 8 miles NE of Crossville. I am looking for an area that is not too hilly and safe for bicycling on roads. Looks like from the name Cumberland Mountain Preserve and the curves in roads that the area might be hilly. I think that Cumberland Mountain Preserve is new and they have 2 houses built and for sale.
Does anyone know anything about the area?
Bob

OK, not trying to start any bike wars here, I realize they have a legal right to the roads. But. You are going to be hard pressed to find anywhere in the Cumberlands where it is safe to ride a bike on the roads. The curves and hills cause visibility problems, most roads don't have any substantial shoulders and the people around here just aren't used to sharing the roads with bikes. I came within maybe 18" of hitting a bike myself once, topped a hill and he was just there. It was on a state highway and I was traveling at least 10mph below the speed limit as my turn was about a half mile beyond that point. If anything the back roads are worse. If you're really into biking you might want to look for areas near larger towns or state parks where there are some bike trails and you don't have to take your life in your hands for a little afternoon fun.

[jbeletti]

Since my first post, I have done a lot of research on Gardens RV Village, spoken to the developer and more than one home owner there.

Aside from the cost, I am liking it more and more.

It is true, there is an HOA. I live in an HOA now, so I know all the good and the bad. At the end of the day, in any HOA, generally speaking, Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, Declarations and Bylaws are all about the protection of the residents.

I have downloaded and read all of these documents and have not found them to be onerous in any way. I am the president of my HOA in a new townhome development in the Chicago area and I am familiar with this sort of thing.

What I like about what I have learned about Gardens RV Village:
- A true community. Small enough that you can know everyone, large enough that it can sustain itself
- Built as an RV community, therefore it is 100% RV friendly
- Garages, not ports to house your RV completely indoors in garages up to 80 feet in length
- Ability to bring your own home design
- Basements allowed if the site does not have a lot of rock in it
- Landscape maintenance included in HOA fee

What I do not like about what I have learned about Gardens RV Village:
- Lot cost is high compared to the area (~$40-$50k for 1/4 acre)
- Home cost is high. I have not compared this with the area, but to my mind, it seems high
- Exterior home maintenance (painting, roofs, siding etc.) is not included in HOA fee

What my next steps are:
- We have a weekend trip planned to visit in person at the end of October
- We will meet the developer
- We will meet some current owners
- We will tour some existing homes
- We will look at resale lots
- We will look at the 14 lots in the new phase (6)
- We will spend time in Crossville, checking out the area
- We have a second trip planned to to visit the development and area again at the end of this year


This all said, we like what we see online, on paper and what we have heard from the developer and residents. We trying to justify the cost at this time. Who knows?

Thanks to everyone for their input. Especially those who live there that contacted me

Jim

[hiknapster]

Compared to the rest of the area, and the size of the home, something can be found for much less. Homes and property in that area is a dime a dozen.

[sassykat&joe]

Is there something online other than their website? I don't think there is much content on that, certainly not enough to make it look interesting or worth a pile of money. What is to keep a person from adding an RV garage to a 'normal' house in an ordinary neighborhood?

Admittedly, I have a horror of HOAs - I am out in the middle of nowhere, built a big pole barn to park my rv under, and nobody tells me what to do. heaven.

[jbeletti]

Originally Posted by sassykat&joe

Is there something online other than their website? I don't think there is much content on that, certainly not enough to make it look interesting or worth a pile of money. What is to keep a person from adding an RV garage to a 'normal' house in an ordinary neighborhood?

Admittedly, I have a horror of HOAs - I am out in the middle of nowhere, built a big pole barn to park my rv under, and nobody tells me what to do. heaven.

If local building codes allow you to add a 14 to 18 feet wide by 60 to 80 foot long garage - sure, do it.

Besides having your RV fully garaged indoors, Gardens RV Village offers you true RV Community living. That's surely not for everyone but for those really into the lifestyle, it sounds like an inviting environment. It's uniqueness in that regard drives its cost.

Like I said, it's not for everyone. Just another home/lifestyle option for those looking for it.

Jim

[jbeletti]

Well, we visted Gardens RV Village in Crossville, TN this past weekend.

Here was our plan:

• We have a weekend trip planned to visit in person at the end of October
• We will meet the developer
• We will meet some current owners
• We will tour some existing homes
• We will look at resale lots
• We will look at the 14 lots in the new phase (6)
• We will spend time in Crossville, checking out the area
• We have a second trip planned to to visit the development and area again at the end of this year

Here is my report:

• We did travel to Crossville from Oct 30 - Nov 1
• We met with the developer, Tim Wilson for about 5 hours
• We met several home owners
• We toured 1 home under construction, 4 homes for sale and 1 home of a current owners
• We looked at the 14 new lots in phase 6 that just opened up
• We shopped downtown, ate in local restaurants, went to a movie, drove around the town and area to get a real good feel for it
• We also drove out to Cumberland Mountain Preserve, just past Fairfield Glade. This is single family, detached home community with RV garages connected to the home, all in a very wooded setting.

Decisions Made:

• We liked what we saw and we purchased property within Gardens RV Village. We purchased lot 2 in phase 6

Jim

[grisabel]

I'm interested in relocating to this area as well. I would be interested to know your progress. Please keep in touch with all the pros and cons. I wish you good luck.

[jbeletti]

Originally Posted by grisabel

I'm interested in relocating to this area as well. I would be interested to know your progress. Please keep in touch with all the pros and cons. I wish you good luck.

Will do. We close on the lot in the next week or 2. Should go well.

Jim

[linkline]

To JBELetti:
We too are beginning to look for an RV garage&home. I have been seaching this area out on line. In the Crossville area I found a new RV community - Cumberland Mountain Preserve and Gardens RV Village. I have enjoyed reading your posts and want to congradulate you on your new purchase. Could you share the reason why you purchased at the the Gardens instead of at the Mountain Preserve. Just very curious? We want to travel to the area in the spring. Thanks for any info. Linkline

[jbeletti]

Hi linkline,

We researched Cumberland Mountain Preserve (CMP) at the same time we researched The Gardens RV Village (GRV). When we visited, we looked at both, although we did not tour either of the 2 model homes at CMP.

Here's a summary of the key things for us:

• Access to the developer
• Ability to drop into an "established community"
• Easier access to I-40
• Access to current owners to pick their brains
• Comfort level with the developer and with the community
• Town is close

And a bit more detail on those keys:

• Having unfettered access to the developer at GRV as we researched and he patiently answered our many, many questions was important for a couple of reasons. First, we just had a lot of questions we wanted answered. And second, through this process, we were able to get a read on and comfort level with the developer.
• GRV was well established as a community (17 years old) and we would be able to drop right into that, versus dropping into "community being created" at CMP.
• Proximity to the Interstate was a factor for us as we come "from the city" and travel by RV and Air quite a bit. In fact, I travel by RV for a living.
• We were able to make contact with a couple of current owners at GRV to ask them questions. And that was good information to have (do you like the development, the developer, your home, what would you do different etc.).
• GRV is "in town" and close to all that Crossville has to offer.

What it can come down to for some is the difference between have a true detached single family home as in CMP versus RGV, which are custom homes with their RV garage attached to the next door neighbor's RV garage. There is a full-length, full-height concrete block wall separating the 2. Think of them either as duplexes where the garages meet or separate homes on their own lots with an RV garage in the side yard.

Feel free to PM/Direct Message me via this forum with your email address and we can correspond offline.

Jim