Where to land and put down roots? (Elizabethton, Unicoi: days on market, for sale)

[fafnir]

Plan on retiring to the area in the next few years. I already own
property outside of Unicoi in Limestone Cove, but it's pretty much
vertical (but good hunting). The wife is used to convenience and
not as adaptable as I am. I've been thinking about Elizabethton
and scouring the web for "craftsman" style homes in the area.
I've already looked into the cost of living and it's far lower there
than here. Any information on Elizabethton and the real estate
market woud be greatly appreciated.

[mbmouse]

Well...it kinda depends on what your wifes definition of "conveniences" as to how that should be answered hahahahaha.
Elizabethton has a downtown, a rather historic one in fact, lots of little local owned shops, which some prefer, but a bit limited. There is a Wal-Mart and a Lowes in Elizabethton but that is about it as far as "big box" stores.
How far is she willing to travel if she needs more than that? If she is ok with 20 to 30 minutes, then JC is close enough.
As far as Craftsman style house, yea there are a few around the area, not sure if there are any for sale though, you could take a cruse around any of the national MLS sites, such as Realtor.com or similar and see. But as far as the Real Estate market in general, the whole area is pretty much holding it's own and increasing a bit, we haven't lost any value. The Sullivan County MSA, just up the road a bit from Elizabethton was just ranked #3 in the country in appreciation rates, so I would say it is good.
The biggest question would really be, would you enjoy living here? Cost of living is good and important to look at, but besides hunting have you looked into the area for activities? Are there things you would like to do and be comfortable with the way of life in general? It is a lot slower than a lot of other places, and in Elizabethton...well a bit slower.



add: Was just sent this link and thought of you, so came back to post it for you.
http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/regions_homes_beat_u.s._appreciation_rates/21958/ (broken link)

[Tri-Cities Native]

Originally Posted by fafnir

Plan on retiring to the area in the next few years. I already own
property outside of Unicoi in Limestone Cove, but it's pretty much
vertical (but good hunting). The wife is used to convenience and
not as adaptable as I am. I've been thinking about Elizabethton
and scouring the web for "craftsman" style homes in the area.
I've already looked into the cost of living and it's far lower there
than here. Any information on Elizabethton and the real estate
market woud be greatly appreciated.

I don't know if this is what you're looking for but it might help.

Per our local MLS here's some numbers for Carter County excluding the Roan Mountain area:

For 2008 a total of 234 homes were sold with an average Days On Market (DOM) of 137 days. There were 65 - 2BR's at an average list price of 99,390 and an average sales price of 93,064, 140 - 3BR's @ 124,694/120,101, and 28 - 4BR's @ 385,775/361,139.

For YTD 2009, 45 homes @ 114DOM. 12 - 2BR's @ 70,591/67,499, 27 - 3BR's @ 109,224/105,370, and 6 - 4BR's @ 255,450/234,966.

Here's some links that might help as well: http://www.elizabethton.org/ TourElizabethton.com - Elizabethton/Carter County Tourism Association Watauga Lake Magazine