Help! I need info about Johnson City and surrounding area

[hiknapster]

Wow. Those rents are great.

We live in a 2/2 mobile home. It's 20 years old. No frills. The window broke due to a hail storm. That was a year ago and he never fixed it. Washing machine broke. He brought another one in from another trailer and put the old one on our deck. Now the deck is not usable. He promised to put in screens. No screens. He just bought a new mobile home and put it across the street. Installed screens.

Our air-conditioning broke a couple of weeks ago and we fixed it ourselves.

Here's the kicker: We pay $485 a month and it includes nothing. We pay for water and sewer. It use to include trash but he did away with it.

But wait, it gets better...We have never been late on our rent and he likes us so he has never raised our rent. Remember how I said rentals have really gone up? Well, the new people moving in around me are now paying $650 for the same kind of places.

So...I think the Tri-Cities area may be more affordable.

[KML13]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Wow. Those rents are great.

Here's the kicker: We pay $485 a month and it includes nothing. We pay for water and sewer. It use to include trash but he did away with it.

But wait, it gets better...We have never been late on our rent and he likes us so he has never raised our rent. Remember how I said rentals have really gone up? Well, the new people moving in around me are now paying $650 for the same kind of places.

So...I think the Tri-Cities area may be more affordable.

Yea - I would say that these prices are much better! Someone needs to give your landlord a kick in the rear!

Originally Posted by TNBound

I love exploring....
I never get lost, we go on adventures...
You can find really great stuff, when you go on adventures.

I love going on adventures - do it all the time. Eventually you come across a street you know or something like that and then you've just learned a new way and found about 10 new places to go along the way.

Well it is looking like JC is going to be a go. Still working on a time frame, but it may be sooner than I expected - like maybe I should start packing! I have been doing a lot of research (houses, apartments, daycare, scools). I'm thinking that I will try to find a nice 2-3 bedroom apartment for when I first move, and then take my time looking for a house. I had called a couple of apartments in the Fairmont school district, and those prices seem to be up my alley. It's nice to know that it is a good school.

What else is there in that area? What other good schools are there? Does that seem to be THE school for a good rent price/good area? I know that there are other places, but I would assume that the places closer to the lake are more expensive - like that would be the richer part of town, and the downtown area might be the poorer side of town. What are the other middle-class areas/schools, and which school is the best? Opinions please.

Thank you to everyone so much all this info is a REALLY big help

[mbmouse]

IF you found a good rental in the Fairmont school district take it! (Well, after you look at it of course) That is probably the best school in an area of decent rental prices. You could also look at Gray, there are a few townhouses available for rent, I am just not sure how much and that school is awesome, but I am biased as that is where my kids go
As for being closer to the lake (Boone) that is in Boones Creek school district.....just a so-so school and some don't like it at all.
Cherokee elementary is another good school but seeing as they built several developments in south JC it is getting a bit crowded.

[KML13]

Awesome thanks for the info, MB! Don't know what i would do without this forum, and you!

[brandiw1]

Fairmont Elem is a good school. However, as a single mother myself, it's really less expensive to live in Gray (15 mins from the middle of JC) and just commute back and forth. My daughter attends a Christian based Preschool in JC and has since she was 10 mths old, she loves it there, and they are wonderful with her, she starts school this coming year too. The apartments I lived in in Gray were 2-story and rented for around $475. (3bd 1 1.5 bths) Of course that was almost 2 yrs ago. So even with inflation you're probably looking at $500 or so. And I believe that included the water/sewer bill as well. Just a tip. I think they were managed by Blue Moon Properties.

There is a great contemporary church in Boones Creek (I know you're getting bombarded with different area names but basically they are all little suburbs that surround Johnson City). The name is Calvary Church. I don't know if they have a website, but I have been there before and they have a large membership and seem to be very friendly. I also think they have a lot of things going on in the way of "classes" or whatever you want to call them. I know how hard it is to move to an area where you don't know anyone, so maybe that'd make you feel more at home.

Good luck on the job!