Tennesseans, any Dave Ramsey followers, advice please. (Knoxville, Chattanooga: rent, credit)

[jkmewright]

Hey Tony. My family moved from Oregon just two years ago. They were amazed at how far your housing money goes here. My step father is completely retired and my mother is also attending on-line schooling as you are. They have fit in quite well and made some great friends. You are in your prime. Make this the year where you stop looking back and start looking forward! You can move up in Split's great neighborhood and teach at one of our high schools. Good luck on your interview!

[mbmouse]

Hi Again Tony
Yup, Debt free is the way to go! If you can do that, you are WAY ahead of the game, just remember to not deplete your reserves and you will be in a great position no matter what. I say go the debt free way too!
That will give you so much time to enjoy those ATV's, the mountains, the waterways and just about anything else you want to do. I envy you.

[Tony1790]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

Hi Again Tony
Yup, Debt free is the way to go! If you can do that, you are WAY ahead of the game, just remember to not deplete your reserves and you will be in a great position no matter what. I say go the debt free way too!
That will give you so much time to enjoy those ATV's, the mountains, the waterways and just about anything else you want to do. I envy you.

Thanks MB, how are the prices looking when you process the sales? I looked on Zillow and looks like they are still getting higher and higher. If I don't find something soon I'll need you to give me a loan, hopefully once I get there, I'll be able to look around and find a diamond in the ruff that doesn't cost an arm and leg.

Take care,

Tony

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Tony1790

Thanks MB, how are the prices looking when you process the sales? I looked on Zillow and looks like they are still getting higher and higher. If I don't find something soon I'll need you to give me a loan, hopefully once I get there, I'll be able to look around and find a diamond in the ruff that doesn't cost an arm and leg.

Take care,

Tony

I don't know how much land you're looking at, but I think you can get a pretty nice place out in the country for a lot less than $150k in many parts of East Tennessee.

[Tony1790]

Originally Posted by JMT

I don't know how much land you're looking at, but I think you can get a pretty nice place out in the country for a lot less than $150k in many parts of East Tennessee.

I hope so, I've been looking online, seems like prices are getting higher. I'd like to buy a stick built and not a trailer, nothing wrong with trailers, they just don't tend to hold value as well. If I found a run down trailer on 20 acres I'd take it and build a house later on, but I'd like a modest house on a few acres and maybe a barn, who knows. It'll be alot easier once there looking around. When I was there last month, I looked around for 2 days and didn't see a whole lot in my price range.

Tony

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by Tony1790

Thanks MB, how are the prices looking when you process the sales? I looked on Zillow and looks like they are still getting higher and higher. If I don't find something soon I'll need you to give me a loan, hopefully once I get there, I'll be able to look around and find a diamond in the ruff that doesn't cost an arm and leg.

Take care,

Tony

I honestly haven't seen a huge jump in the past year. We have maintained a steady 5%-7% equity increase per year and I think that is still the norm. I just think there are bigger houses being built or put on the market which makes it look like the prices are going up.
I think you should be able to find what you are looking for in your price range with out much difficulty. Remember, if you are buying with cash, that opens up many doors for you verses someone that needs a property to be approved by a lender. Get a good Realtor, they will know of things available that are not widely listed due to needing to be a cash only deal.
When is the big move planed for anyway? Lots of folks are waiting for winter to end to list. Although I noticed we now have 3 listed in our neighborhood and they are right about 150k. But there will be a lot more available come spring time.

[Tony1790]

MB,

My last rental house closes tomorrow and my personal residence closes at the end of the month. I personally can make the move at the end of March, wife and kids will likely rent an apartment here until June to finish school.

This will give me April, May and June to look at homes, schools, areas etc and with any luck find a decent place. Of course I could just wait till June and come with the family at the same time and spend the summer looking around.

I suppose the best thing would be to rent at first, but for how long? Should I plan on renting for a year, 6 months?? How long does it take before you "know" that a place is right for buying?

Tony

[mbmouse]

I think you would be fine with 6 months and the thing about that is that is about the least amount of time you can get on a lease around here. That way if you start renting in March, it will give you that time to look at school before they are out for the summer and give you till August to find somewhere and move in. School starts back up in August here.

[KC38506]

I had a friend who moved here from New York - Long Island. They loved Tennessee but moved without a job. They bought a house when they first moved here, but the job situation got desperate and they had to move. I said all that to say this - houses can move slow here in Tennessee. Dave Ramsey would say "rent first" to see if you like it so you won't get stuck in a place you don't love. How anyone couldn't love TN is beyond me, but you don't want to get in a situation you can't easily get out of. You can easily buy a nice 1500-1800 square foot house in my area of TN, but you'd be smart to rent for a year and be sure this is where you want to be!

[Tony1790]

Originally Posted by KC38506

I had a friend who moved here from New York - Long Island. They loved Tennessee but moved without a job. They bought a house when they first moved here, but the job situation got desperate and they had to move. I said all that to say this - houses can move slow here in Tennessee. Dave Ramsey would say "rent first" to see if you like it so you won't get stuck in a place you don't love. How anyone couldn't love TN is beyond me, but you don't want to get in a situation you can't easily get out of. You can easily buy a nice 1500-1800 square foot house in my area of TN, but you'd be smart to rent for a year and be sure this is where you want to be!

That is truly sage advice, I'm thinking two options, rent a house for a while or live in an RV that I can try out different parts of the state for a few weeks at a time and see what's best. My wife hates moving and just wants to buy and settle down without moving again, can't say as I blame here as we've been moving for 20 years with the military.

As far as jobs go, I don't have one lined up yet, we'll see what shakes out.

Tony