Eastern Tennessee (Johnson City, Bristol, Erwin: sales, real estate, car insurance)

[rmadara]

Can anyone point me in a good direction for an area for relocation. I'm a retired New Jersey police officer who is now actively searching for a retirement home. My wife and I like the eastern portion of the State and want a small piece of property or someplace kind of away from the more populated areas. We both love hunting, fishing and riding motorcycles and have no need for school systems. I have a buddy who lives in Dandridge and that area is nice but I was looking further north in the State. Small house with a little room to roam, and cheaper then Jersey. Well I think anyplace on the planet will be cheaper then Jersey...but Thanks in advance.

[NJJo]

Hi-I am a newly retired Jersey 'stater' looking to relocate/retire to eastern TN as well. I've visited the Tricities area and found Johnson City, Blountville, Jonesborough, Gray, and Piney Flats very much to my liking. Johnson City was on Money's 'Best Places to Retire' list in 2006. Lots of construction going on down there even with the housing market the way it is. ETSU is there if you like college athletics, and the Bristol NASCAR Speedway is in the area also, if that is your thing. No income tax, property taxes about a quarter of what I pay in Middlesex County, but there is a 10% sales tax on everything. I've been down there several times now. Everyone is friendly. They have most of the stores and things I am used to from here in Jersey, and the area is beautiful for the outdoorsy person. I don't know what part of Jersey you are from, but I can say the area reminded me of what Spotswood, Monroe, and Englishtown here in central NJ were like when I was a kid. Good luck finding a place!

[rccrain]

What kind of population do you want, and how far do you want to be from it? What amenities (health care, walmart, etc) do you need, and how close do you need to be to them?

[rmadara]

Well I would really like to be someplace with no neighbors, have some land to hunt on or hunting land close by, a Walmart someplace in reasonable driving distance, the same for gas station and some little stores for the everyday kinds of stuff. I'm lucky, my wife hates malls and shopping and we never go into the cities here(Philly/New York). Both of my children are grown so no school stuff anymore. I am retired and Jersey is to $$$$ to live here unless I go back to work full time. We don't need much of a house but would like a little land, wooded area to cut firewood, hunt and that kind of stuff. If my wife has it her way we would be moving to Alaska....but it's a bit to chilly for me. I'm lucky that I started my job at a young age so I retired in my 40's, so no retirement village for me..not yet anyhow. Just outside of a small town would be fine with both of us, cheaper then here. I pay over 6K for property tax, over 3k for car insurance on 2 cars, one car full coverage one just liability, it's nuts. Then next year the State of NJ will start to tax my pension. I'll have to move into a cardboard box.

[Ted Bear]

Get in your car and drive West on I-78 (or the Penn Turnpike Extension by Phily if you are in South Jersey) to where it meets I-81. Go south a few hundred miles and get onto I-26 South. Get off at Johnson City. With a State ID you can stay in the Carnegie Hotel for $70.00 or so a night. Best around.

Contact a local realtor (PM me and i can give you a couple) and tell him/her what you posted here. They will spend as much time as you need exploring the! If it takes a few days, they will keep going until you are exhausted or you find the perfect place. There is an abundance of things to choose from...all sorts of property, housing, communities, etc.

Good luck..and enjoy the trip. If you wait til spring, make sure you spend a few hours up on the Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway along the way. Spectacular doesn't begin to describe it. The speed limit is now 70 in Virginia...but be careful on 81...they use it as a revenue stream for the local communities...but maybe you have 'professional courtesy' on your side ;-). Whatever else comes from your trip, the drive is spectacular all the way.

[Jim37680]

Looking at your wish list I think you might find something to your liking in Johnson County or eastern Carter County (not to say exclusively). Johnson County is the most north and eastern county in Tennessee and is the one with which I am most familiar. It is close to Boone, North Carolina and Abingdon, Virginia (and Interstate 81). I don't live there but I do have family there with roots going back 200+ years. There is one incorporated town, Mountain City, and a number of unincorporated places such as Shady Valley, Butler, Trade, and Laurel Bloomery.

You can find more information and many links at these sites:


The Original Johnson County, Tennessee Genealogy Page

Mountain City/Johnson County Online

Welcome to Facebook

[rccrain]

I'll throw out some areas you definitely want to talk to your Realtor about:

Rogersville
Hampton
Mountain City
Flag Pond/Erwin/Unicoi
Anywhere on South Holston Lake (between Bristol and Shady Valley)
Limestone/Chuckey

These should have everything on your wish list.

[Tony1790]

Originally Posted by rmadara

Well I would really like to be someplace with no neighbors, have some land to hunt on or hunting land close by, a Walmart someplace in reasonable driving distance, the same for gas station and some little stores for the everyday kinds of stuff

Well you are in luck, that description is the definition of a ton of areas around, when you say no neighbors, I'm assuming none with in the immediate (next door) variety, if it's a matter of not actually seeing another house, you can find that too, but it gets harder, home are on hills sometimes and you can see in the distance, etc.

So far your posts have been fairly vague, (looking for house on land). What size house, how much land? To give a rough idea of budget, house size, lands size. You can see whats available on a real estate search engine or just come down and spend some time as has been previously mentioned, sounds like you have time as you are retired right

But here's something to think about, depending on if you are paying cash or financing, the annual reduction in taxes and insurance should pay your monthly mortgage for a modest home......$5500 less in tax and $2500 less in car insurance = $8000 or $667 a month mortgage or approx $132,000 at 4.5%. That's pretty close to what I paid for my older 2900 sqft foot brick home a few months ago.

If you aint picky about how close to Johnson City, there are plenty of homes on acreage in Greene county and in Chuckey, Telford, etc between $110,000 and $160,000. I was looking there, but I'm still working FT and don't want to drive more than 10 mins to work. Just tell the realtor your budget, what you'd like to have and I'm sure you'll find it here, especially if you don't have to be within 15-20 min of town. But I'd definitely would come for a visit regardless, especially as you are less than a full days drive from here.

Good luck

Tony