Cookeville Home Search Coming Up! Lots of questions inside :) (Knoxville: renting, new house)

[CSMor]

We're headed to Cookeville on Thursday to find a new house. We'll be there until Monday or so.

Are there any areas we should seek to avoid? Places we should look? There is a house on Brookdale that has us interested, and a few others, too. We're not really looking to spend more than 140,000 or so. We're also expecting to sell within 5 or 6 years. So, we need something that will give us a decent return.


Also, can anyone tell me about the YMCA? We're considering joining when we get there.

Does anyone have kids that play soccer? The United Cumberland Soccer Club season seems really short. Are there any other leagues for kids (u-5 and u-10)?

We went to Burgess Falls last time we were there, and will probably go again this next week. What other good hiking trails should we visit?


Any other info you have would be great!

Thanks in advance.
~SM

[Barbiego]

Gosh, I wish I could answer all your questions. But will say that we moved here last summer and love it. I think as long as you have a good realtor, they'll take you to the areas you can afford that won't be run down (let him/her know what kind of area you want). But really, Cookeville doesn't seem to have "bad" areas. It's interesting in Tennessee that you can find falling down houses or ones in bad condition next to very nice houses in some areas. In fact, we have an old house and shack that should be torn down right outside our subdivision. (Am I allowed to mention a good realtor? We loved ours).

We looked into the Y, but it didn't interest us. Guess we were used to our community center where we only paid for the services we used and didn't have to pay a membership fee.

We love Burgess Falls. We also like Rock Island (cut across the one-lane bridge and drive to the falls area) and Fall Creek Falls. Travel northward into Standing Stone State Park area and you'll come across some beautiful sights. We have hiked from Fall Creek Falls to the nature center area.

We don't have children, so can't help with those kinds of things.

Hope you find a house!

[firepower]

Originally Posted by CSMor

We're headed to Cookeville on Thursday to find a new house. We'll be there until Monday or so.

Are there any areas we should seek to avoid? Places we should look? There is a house on Brookdale that has us interested, and a few others, too. We're not really looking to spend more than 140,000 or so. We're also expecting to sell within 5 or 6 years. So, we need something that will give us a decent return.


Also, can anyone tell me about the YMCA? We're considering joining when we get there.

Does anyone have kids that play soccer? The United Cumberland Soccer Club season seems really short. Are there any other leagues for kids (u-5 and u-10)?

We went to Burgess Falls last time we were there, and will probably go again this next week. What other good hiking trails should we visit?


Any other info you have would be great!

Thanks in advance.
~SM

Well I'll start with #1...
Honeybrook is a great subdivision. I lived on Brookdale Ave. for the first 16 years of my life.My parents moved back to the same house 3 years ago(had been renting it out...).Usually very quiet.Only thing you might notice at first(especially on clear nights) is the hum of I-40, but you don't pay any attention to it after a short time.
#2...We like the "Y" although we're not presently members.They're talking about expanding it(indoor basketball courts I think..)
Very nice inside.
#3...The "Y" has several kids soccer leagues.My son played and loved it.Seemed to be well run.
#4...On the hiking,the previous poster said it all.There are SEVERAL state parks & natural areas within 1 hr. of Cookeville in every direction! I can add Pickett State Park & Big South Fork to the north & Cumberland Mountain State Park in Crossville to that list!

Welcome to Cookeville!

firepower

[CSMor]

Thank you both so much! I hope others have something to say, as well. We're really excited about our move. I've never belonged to the "Y", but we've never lived anywhere close to a decent one. I'd love to join for the kids.

Firepower, I'm glad to hear good things about Honeybrook. I'll keep it in mind as we look around next week.

Our realtor is Jane Flatt. She seems really nice, and she's been helpful so far. Oreck picked the realtor, but we certainly can't complain.

Thanks again!

[CSMor]

Another question!

I noticed the house we like on Brookdale appears to have a very SLOPING backyard. Is that a nuisance? Everything here is FLAT, so I don't have any idea what that would be like. I can just see the boys trying to kick a soccer ball...and that doesn't seem like it'd work. On the flip side, I guess that's what parks and stuff are for? Just curious. I know it sounds like a silly question...

[Shenandoah]

Originally Posted by CSMor

Another question!

I noticed the house we like on Brookdale appears to have a very SLOPING backyard. Is that a nuisance? Everything here is FLAT, so I don't have any idea what that would be like. I can just see the boys trying to kick a soccer ball...and that doesn't seem like it'd work. On the flip side, I guess that's what parks and stuff are for? Just curious. I know it sounds like a silly question...

Well, depending on how steep the slope is, you won't need to mow that section, so that's one good thing about it. Other than that, if the slope is above your home, then you need to worry about drainage and water problems. If it's sloping down away from your house, then you're ok. And as for the ball rolling down there, that's also a good thing. The kids will get nice and tired out chasing after that ball, and won't gripe about being bored.

blessings, Shen

[Ridgerunner]

Originally Posted by CSMor

Thank you both so much! I hope others have something to say, as well. We're really excited about our move. I've never belonged to the "Y", but we've never lived anywhere close to a decent one. I'd love to join for the kids.

Firepower, I'm glad to hear good things about Honeybrook. I'll keep it in mind as we look around next week.

Our realtor is Jane Flatt. She seems really nice, and she's been helpful so far. Oreck picked the realtor, but we certainly can't complain.

Thanks again!

Hi, CSMor. Is Jane Flatt related to music Hall of Famer Lester Flatt? He was from Sparta.

[firepower]

Originally Posted by CSMor

Another question!

I noticed the house we like on Brookdale appears to have a very SLOPING backyard. Is that a nuisance? Everything here is FLAT, so I don't have any idea what that would be like. I can just see the boys trying to kick a soccer ball...and that doesn't seem like it'd work. On the flip side, I guess that's what parks and stuff are for? Just curious. I know it sounds like a silly question...

HA! Ours was on a slope too! Obviously the house you're looking at is on the left hand side of the road...
Our house is on the back side near the turnaround so the slope wasn't too bad.Still mowed it with a riding mower & had a garden etc...
The only thing that got me was that if I was shooting hoops & missed it the wrong way the ball rolled down into the neighbors yard!You'd think that would've made me a better shot but NOPE!

firepower

[JMT]

Originally Posted by firepower

HA! Ours was on a slope too! Obviously the house you're looking at is on the left hand side of the road...
Our house is on the back side near the turnaround so the slope wasn't too bad.Still mowed it with a riding mower & had a garden etc...
The only thing that got me was that if I was shooting hoops & missed it the wrong way the ball rolled down into the neighbors yard!You'd think that would've made me a better shot but NOPE!

firepower

Oh man I used to hate shooting hoops at some friends' house in Forest Hills in Cookeville because of the same thing, if we didn't get the rebound often it would roll down the back yard into the woods.

But on the other hand, having a sloped back yard was AWESOME in the winter for tubing and sledding.

At any rate, CSMor, I go to the Cookeville YMCA periodically when I'm in town because I belong to the Knoxville Y. The Cookeville facility is beautiful. It doesn't have racquetball courts ( ) but they have just about everything else. It's not a huge facility, but it's very nice, and I always see hundreds of kids running around on the soccer fields outside so I think it's popular. It was built probably 15 or so years ago but still looks brand new.

[CSMor]

Thanks, guys, for your input! I'm getting more excited about our trip with each passing day. There are about 8 houses that we really like. 2 in Honeybrook, and a couple up on/near Shipley Rd. The others are scattered about. We'll have a decision by the end of next week, hopefully.

We're really looking forward to checking out the Y, too.