Fairfield Glade vs Tellico Village for Retirement? (split from another thread) (Knoxville: hotels, new house)

[DGlenday]

I just stumbled on this thread.

Interesting, since I'm visiting FFG right now.

This is our 3rd trip here, and I we just decided to start negotiating on a lot in the Stonehenge area. We're only just in our 50s, and are looking for an area where we will eventually be able to retire in place.

We're very aware of the potential drawbacks to the area. Incidentally - there's a lot of development in Crossville right now (half a dozen new hotels on I-40), so we assume that there will be good growth in the medium-term future - especially when the boomers start migrating to areas like FFG.

To my mind, problem #1 is the fact that resales are awful, and the investment value of your property is a joke. Buy if you want to live here, but don't bank on getting your equity out in a hurry.

So for all that, here we are, happy with our decision, and then someone throws a wrench in the works by telling us about Tellico Village.

Anyone know about that neighborhood, and more important, how it compares with FFG?

(We're driving home to Maryland tomorrow, and hope to do a quick turn through Tellico on the way up.)


Thanks!

[Shenandoah]

DGlenDay:

I did a quick search on the Tennessee Forum for Tellico Village conversations:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/searc...archid=8157077

Hope some of these help!

blessings, Shen

[JMT]

Originally Posted by DGlenday

I just stumbled on this thread.

Interesting, since I'm visiting FFG right now.

This is our 3rd trip here, and I we just decided to start negotiating on a lot in the Stonehenge area. We're only just in our 50s, and are looking for an area where we will eventually be able to retire in place.

We're very aware of the potential drawbacks to the area. Incidentally - there's a lot of development in Crossville right now (half a dozen new hotels on I-40), so we assume that there will be good growth in the medium-term future - especially when the boomers start migrating to areas like FFG.

To my mind, problem #1 is the fact that resales are awful, and the investment value of your property is a joke. Buy if you want to live here, but don't bank on getting your equity out in a hurry.

So for all that, here we are, happy with our decision, and then someone throws a wrench in the works by telling us about Tellico Village.

Anyone know about that neighborhood, and more important, how it compares with FFG?

(We're driving home to Maryland tomorrow, and hope to do a quick turn through Tellico on the way up.)


Thanks!

If I absolutely had to choose between Fairfield Glade and Tellico Village, I would choose Tellico Village without hesitation. Not only does it have everything FFG has (golf courses, insular retirees) but it's also right on a big lake with lots of marinas, it's next to the Smoky Mountains, and it's a lot closer to more and better shopping (Maryville) than what Crossville could even dream of having.

[Beretta]

If I had to choose between Tellico Village and Fairfield Glade for retirement purposes I would choose Tellico Village.

[DGlenday]

We're leaving FFG for Tellico right now, to have a glance at it on the way home to Maryland.

(If you're in Tellico and see a black Volvo looking lost, stop us and say "hi"!)

More later...

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by DGlenday

We're leaving FFG for Tellico right now, to have a glance at it on the way home to Maryland.

(If you're in Tellico and see a black Volvo looking lost, stop us and say "hi"!)

More later...

A recon mission! This is so exciting!

[Tek_Freek]

Music to accompany your mission!


YouTube - Mission Impossibe- Theme Song

[DGlenday]

LOL@Tek_Freek!

Well we only managed to spend about 2 hours in Tellico, and we're now in a quandry. Like Tek_Freek we've looked all over the country, including some of the same places (Oregon, Utah, etc.) And we'd set our hearts and minds on FFG. In fact we've already selected a great builder (I think), a good floor plan, and after this weekend's visit, we hope to negotiate on a lot that we like.

BUT ... Tellico looks more like our kind of place.

So we're going to delay our decision and visit Tellico again, maybe spending a few days there. We've also arranged to meet with someone in about 2 weeks time who knows a lot about the Tellico area, we've requested a package of info from some online service, and we met a realtor from Coopers while we were there and she'll also be mailing us some info.

At this early stage, my un-informed opinion seems to be that there are many advantages to Tellico, and 2 distinct drawbacks:
- Hotter summers
- More expensive houses

Can anyone validate, or refute this? We'd appreciate your insights!

Regarding more expensive houses, here's what we're hoping to get:
- New or nearly new house
- 1,700+ sq ft on the main level
- Walk out basement (unfinished is okay, but of course, finished would be ideal)
- Privacy in the back - so maybe a wooded lot or something
- Neighbors whose houses are at least as good as ours, preferably a lot better
- Close vicinity to lake / golf
- Budget : $250,000

I know I can get this in FFG. I'm not sure if I can get it in Tellico..?

[Tek_Freek]

Now I'm paying attention. Sounds to me like if either one of us finds a good place we should let the other one know. We are looking for the same place!

May we ask what builder you found in FFG?

Our budget sounds about the same. We can go higher, we just don't want to. We'd rather spend the money on travel. One of our biggest concerns is neighbors. Ours are 15 feet away. We refuse to do this again. If we can't keep at least 30-50 feet clear on each side we won't bother building.

Wife and I were talking again this weekend about all this and here are the locations that came up for reconsideration:

Jacksonville, FL - Hi Karla! It's no hotter or more humid than it is here in the summer and one heck of a lot warmer in the winter. COL is comparable with no state taxes. Atlantic Ocean. Caribbean cruises. Visited there twice - her on business, me goofing off. It's... different. Plants are strange, smells are strange, people are nice, no basements. I still feel weird about not having a basement.

Eugene, OR - Not so far north that it's complete loss in the winter. A day from Sacramento, an hour + from Portland. Close to the Pacific. Salem is close, too. Would have to check out what stores, etc are there.

Las Vegas, NV - We would have to learn to reverse our seasons there: Stay in during summer, out during winter. We love Vegas and have thought hard about it. We would end up in Henderson, though. There are so many places to visit in that part of the country. Water does worry us.

Knoxville area - Still planning on going to TN in Oct, but what and where have changed. Do have concerns about not being on the plateau, we really like that area.

Oddly enough, I checked CD for COL in all these areas and the highest was FFG! Low to mid 80's except for FFG which is 90! Out of 100 for the nation.

Colorado - My wife did some on line research and found that some parts of CO aren't as cold and blustery in the winter as you would expect, so it's an option. One of my brothers lived outside Denver (Conifer) and we loved going to the mountains!

Southern PA. She found it on line also. Apparently it's more mild than we expected. We'll see. Southern edge is in line with Kansas City. Winters would have to be a lot milder than KC before I'll end up there!

My number one rule if I move for retirement: The snow blower gets sold on the way out of town!

Good luck in your search and please keep us informed!!!

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by DGlenday

I just stumbled on this thread.

Interesting, since I'm visiting FFG right now.

This is our 3rd trip here, and I we just decided to start negotiating on a lot in the Stonehenge area. We're only just in our 50s, and are looking for an area where we will eventually be able to retire in place.

We're very aware of the potential drawbacks to the area. Incidentally - there's a lot of development in Crossville right now (half a dozen new hotels on I-40), so we assume that there will be good growth in the medium-term future - especially when the boomers start migrating to areas like FFG.

To my mind, problem #1 is the fact that resales are awful, and the investment value of your property is a joke. Buy if you want to live here, but don't bank on getting your equity out in a hurry.

So for all that, here we are, happy with our decision, and then someone throws a wrench in the works by telling us about Tellico Village.

Anyone know about that neighborhood, and more important, how it compares with FFG?

(We're driving home to Maryland tomorrow, and hope to do a quick turn through Tellico on the way up.)


Thanks!

You might want to ask yourself, "How do we plan to fill our days in retirement and does the potential new location have the things we plan to do/like to do, in enough number, quality and/or variety to suit us/make us happy?" You could have a beautiful home, great weather, cheap taxes and a nice view but if you are bored in retirement, you won't be happy. This would be true, in my opinion, no matter what state retirees move to so maybe just think about it.