Fairfield Glade, TN (Knoxville, Cookeville, Crossville: mattresses, crawl space, costs)

[lae60]

I live at Lake Tansi, but did look into FFG before I purchased in Tansi.

I was not interested in FFG because the POA fees were too high for what I wanted. The homes are not expensive, but that, over the years, to me, is off set by the POA fees. I also thought it was too much 'retirement' for my needs. I have two teens, though I am retired.

I have not heard of financial issues with the POA other than they have high fees and tend to spend the money where they want, not where some of the residents would want to spend the funds. You can likely read their board meeting minutes on-line and see what you think, or ask before you make an offer on a house.

There are many beautiful homes that you can get for well under what they would cost to build.

Most of the homes were used gently--older people, not many kids, some seasonal or part year, so even an older home I would think would be fine. There are lots of clubs and groups at both Lake Tansi and FFG, but FFG has way more of them. FFG also does have a medical clinic / facility right at their edge, and a grocery store and restaurant, but not a chain restaurant.

They do have a group of volunteers that will drive people to the store or to medical appointments. There are 2 pay services to go to the airport. I have used it 6 times. They were two competing services. One is a man that will drive you in his alternative energy vehicle. The other is an older man that uses his car or sometimes he has another person that drives. He was a little scary at times. He is quite elderly. He was trying to sell his service, but I do not know if he did yet. Both services were priced the same. I think it was about $115 each way to the Nashville Airport. They really do need a good airport service taxi or shuttle in this area!

I have heard that FFG does have a core group that kind of thinks well of themselves, and they take care of themselves first. BUT it is a big community, and I would thing that with all the different clubs, etc. anyone could find one they fit into. The local community does say things about people at FFG, but that is because they sometimes have residents that try to put themselves above the locals, or others. For example they asked for a check out line at Walmart for ONLY their residents. Walmart said no...but that they would think they deserve a special line for only them is elitist. (But personally I would have given it to them, but required that they only use that line so the rest of us would have less people in 'our' lines They do tend to use Walmart as a get out of the house field trip.)

There are older areas of FFG that are pretty neglected by the POA. They seemed to put their money in new areas, rather than the older established areas. So if you are looking at homes and the roads and public areas look rough, just know that they likely will stay that way.

We have gone to Harriman, on the way to Knoxville, to buy a boat and new car. We go to Turkey Hill for shopping, which is a little further than Harriman if we do not find what we want in Crossville. We like local restaurants, and are fine without a chain...so we stay local for eating out. Never went to Nashville for shopping, only for the airport, which BTW is nice. Only went to Cookeville for donuts--we like Ralphs! And for a car rental when we did not want to pay Enterprise rates--which is the only local car rental chain in Crossville.

The Hospice and Good Samaritans are both well thought of in the community.

[denglish33]

You can sell the lot for more than you paid if you have a buyer. FG guarantee only means they will pay at least what you paid, so you cannot lose ever. Geeze!

[denglish33]

Many residents are in their 50s at fg...there are NO age restrictions. There is even a family with children up the street from us (I wouldnt bring up children here).
As for jobs, there are a few, service mostly. Or you can go self employed with a service for retired people who live there.

[Further]

The biggest problem with FFG is little by little going away. Or should I say dying off. The bad reputation this place has is from the retired auto workers from years back. I live here and I'm ashamed by the attitude of these look down my nose at the people who grew up here. By the way...I work 50 plus hours a week and moved here from the north, I love the south and this area. It will get better and don't be afraid to move here.

[Radnurse]

Originally Posted by donsabi

Beamoc

It isn't the locals. Tennessee locals in the Crossville/Cookeville area are very nice if you treat them like people. Problem is most of the FFG people look down on the locals and they know it. I doubt you will find one local who will have anything nice to say about a FFG resident. Even one real estate wrote in one post, "whenever and person walks in our office and announces they are from FFG all the agents head to the back of the office trying to get away."

As an ex-FFG resident, if given a house in FFG for free I would still not move back to FFG. However I would gladly live in Crossville or Cookeville and surrounding areas.

What area of Crossville do you suggest?

[fishingupnorth]

My wife and I are here in FFG from today until 5/30. This is our second visit. We are going to be looking at homes in FFG, Lake Tansi and Tellico. I an wondering if their is an FFG resident who would be willing to have a conversation with us about their feelings regarding FFG. Send me a Direct Message and I will get back to you to arrange a date and time.

Thanks in advance.

[cfdigregorio]

While I'm not in FFG, I am curious to hear your thoughts on all three spots. If you have time (and the inclination), please post a quick summary of your thoughts once you've had your visits. Thank you!

[fishingupnorth]

Well we just returned to Wisconsin yesterday and here are our feelings.
Lake Tansi - This is more of a weekend resort area. There are lots of locals that have weekend homes. It is probably very quiet during the week but on the weekend it gets quite busy. Lot's of powerboats and younger partiers here. Home prices are very reasonable.


Tellico Village - The amenities here cannot be beat. However you are going to pay quite a bit more for a house here than you would elsewhere.


Fairfield Glade - This is our choice after visiting all three. The amenities are fine and the home prices are lower than Tellico.
We also liked that it is much closer to the Nashville airport. Southwest flies out of Nashville and their fairs are much lower than flying out of Knoxville.

[Chas863]

Originally Posted by fishingupnorth

Well we just returned to Wisconsin yesterday and here are our feelings.
Lake Tansi - This is more of a weekend resort area. There are lots of locals that have weekend homes. It is probably very quiet during the week but on the weekend it gets quite busy. Lot's of powerboats and younger partiers here. Home prices are very reasonable.


Tellico Village - The amenities here cannot be beat. However you are going to pay quite a bit more for a house here than you would elsewhere.


Fairfield Glade - This is our choice after visiting all three. The amenities are fine and the home prices are lower than Tellico.
We also liked that it is much closer to the Nashville airport. Southwest flies out of Nashville and their fairs are much lower than flying out of Knoxville.

As a resident of the Lake Tansi area, I would like to add my comments to your Lake Tansi observations. In my opinion, your observations are accurate for the big Lake Tansi itself and perhaps the homes that border the lake. However, unless you live right on the lake and unless it's a summertime weekend, you'll hardly notice the difference in activity from one day to the next.


Many areas of Lake Tansi are relatively quiet all week long... summer or winter. I suppose that it goes without saying that if you buy a place on a big lake in a resort area like Lake Tansi, then the activity level is going to increase noticeably during warm weather weekends because that's when working families have time to do their boating. For people who like to do boating activities, this increased participation is part of the fun. Also, some people get enjoyment from watching others have fun.


If your activity preference is more laid back, there are plenty of areas of Lake Tansi where you wouldn't know whether it was a summer weekend or not unless you looked at the calendar. If your sporting preference is golf, there are quite a few golf-front properties along the very nice Lake Tansi golf course and these home owners experience a steady activity level on the course throughout the warm weather months (roughly April through October).


It should also be noted that the Lake Tansi area has more than a few Snowbirds who live in Lake Tansi during the warm season and head south (usually Florida) during the winter. The cooler temperatures on the Plateau are attractive to people who are weary of the heat and humidity of Florida summers. I'm one of those Snowbirds.

[cfdigregorio]

Thank you, Fishingupnorth.
I'm glad you found a place you like. I look forward to the day when my husband and I can visit FFG and Tellico Village to determine where we'd like to be.