Rural Fringe-Hipster/Gen-X Northerners Moving to a City in the South. Our two year plan (Chattanooga: sales, condos)

[TheBreeses]

The kids are about to graduate from college , and it's time for us to move to someplace warmer, longer duration of the shoulder (spring/fall) months. We’ve been enjoying our time together as empty-nesters by turning off the TV and turning on the radio. Our number one reason for moving south is that my wife (almost 50) has cardiomyopathy and a failing mitral valve and needs a less humid climate to live in. Compared to Ithaca, NY we understand anywhere south is going to be more humid, though in June/July and first part of August we are near 90% humidity and above 80°F, with a couple weeks above 90°F. I think someone on this forum put it in a good way that there’s two summers in TN…hot and July hot. Well, compared to Ithaca’s cold 4 months of below 32°F and me being the car starter for her…I’m ready to compromise with precooling her car for one month


Our backgrounds are rural in that we live without cell service, cows randomly escape and like to come to our pond, a veritable animal sanctuary (fox, grouse, fisher-cats, coyotes, deer…) and park like settings is outside for us to enjoy for 4 months out of the year. For Christmas Eve we typically invite 30-50 or so people over for Hors d’Oeuvres and then there’s the grillin’ on the deck. I am a HVAC/Energy Engineer (not licensed though) for an A/E firm that has offices as far south as Charlotte, NC and East as far as Madrid Spain, and she is a Communications/Event Planner/Admin. Asst. at Cornell University. We’re both turning 50 in a couple years, not quite ready for the 55+ communities unless the accept us Gen-Xr’s. We like to go for walks, especially with our 3 JRT’s, healthy restaurants (college vibe is good), biking, day trips, Planet Fitness, and most of all VW GTG’s so we like to hang with beard and tat’d people, but do not have tat’s ourselves (fringe-hipsters). Which brought us to an Air B-n-B in Portland OR two Octobers ago to check out how life was out there. Well, it was soggy and expensive, but don’t get us wrong the PNW was amazing and reminded us of home, but bigger. In the Spring I typically get in a mood and want to bugout of work/NY/daily minutia so I tell my family at the same time I tell my boss that we’re taking off in a couple weeks. Last fall we drove down the east coast to Chincoteague Island (think Misty, Breyer horses, and wild horses on an island). Other places we’ve went south to feel the heat is Myrtle Beach, Richmond VA, Lake Lure in the Blue Ridge Mtns, DC for cherry blossoms, and Daytona (her parents live there). Piecing together that we’re getting old, don’t like the cold, and looking for adventure in our next chapter of our lives, I’ve been checking out Tennessee.


Here’s where my wife and I differ…she’s thinking low maintenance so I’m not outside all day on the weekends mowing 2hrs, gardening, and detailing cars (my excuse for some tunes in the garage and having an IPA)…I’m looking for less maintenance so 1/2hr lawn/garden care, but would like a garage still to maintain and detail our VW’s. We’re in agreement that we’d like the master bedroom on the main floor so we don’t need to do many steps. A split level ranch or ranch would be best with a small lawn. Condos/TH’s are a possibility. We do not want to be downtown, but would consider it if it’s in proximity to our jobs and it was a brick/wood floor/exposed duct industrial look in a good neighborhood. We’re not into Country music, more alternative, but like to support local talent of any style. And we like the farm to table ideology, especially small craft breweries. Looking for something move-in ready up to $120k, but can go up as much as $180k if it checks all the boxes and has a few perks. We need a place that we can walk our dogs safely and not run into loose dogs or too much traffic.


This pains me to say (VW vs Nissan), but it looks like Nashville is a better fit for us than Chattanooga only because Nashville has one of the best cardiovascular hospitals, but we need to look into it a little more pertaining to the future transplant she will need. The job availability for me in my field of HVAC Engineering looks better in Nashville than Chattanooga. We’re planning on visiting and checking out the local vibe this spring.


I'm sure I missed a few things, but primary concerns and introductions first. Thanks for listening and in advance for any insights.

[nashvols]

I'll try to address the rest of the post later, but have you taken a look at the housing prices here? Your budget is......low.

[TheBreeses]

We're seeing a dozen or so nice looking houses in the Smyrna/Murfreesboro area under $180k. It's understood that we'll need jobs to narrow down the areas. For now though, hopefully getting to know some locals, things to do, burgers&beers, jobs, all that and then some.

[BirdieBelle]

While it would be super fun to talk about the various craft food and beer options here, your dealbreakers would make those ideas moot. I honestly would look in the NC mountains.

Your budget is VERY low for this area, and the humidity here is a year-round problem, except for only a couple of winter months. The "July hot" here can even begin in April and extend through October.

Duke and UNC have excellent cardiac care options.

[TheBreeses]

Thanks for the suggestion Wmsn4life. You must know my fav college men's BB team...'Cuse comes in #2 for me. It's all about the coaches. I am referencing this http://100tophospitals.com/Portals/2...rdio-Study.pdf for Saint Thomas West Hospital, Nashville which sounds similar to our Strong Memorial in Rochester, NY.

As far as our low budget of $120k up to $180k. We're downsizing from what we currently have of 20acres and 2,700sf house, ponds...I'm sure we can work out more once we pay off our student loans at the time of the move, but for now we're looking to stay at the same mortgage payment ±$200/month. Again, seeing plenty of houses in our budget...and just my brief observation it looks like older stock homes are closer to Nashville...Smyrna may be dated homes, but tighter together....and Murfreesborro has the same houses as Smyrna, but more elbow room from your neighbor in a housing development. Also checking out Old Hickory/Hendersonville.

[BirdieBelle]

Climate concerns notwithstanding ...

You may always find **some** homes in your price range; the question is ... would you want to live there?

The average home sale price in Murfreesboro is right at $200K, so for comparison sake, I would find out the average sales price in your current area and see what homes are available at a comparable percentage below that number.

As with any community, there are good and bad areas here. But the housing market is crazy, and with prices closer in to Nashville being insane, even the outlying counties are seeing high prices.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by TheBreeses

Thanks for the suggestion Wmsn4life. You must know my fav college men's BB team...'Cuse comes in #2 for me. It's all about the coaches. I am referencing this http://100tophospitals.com/Portals/2...rdio-Study.pdf for Saint Thomas West Hospital, Nashville which sounds similar to our Strong Memorial in Rochester, NY.

As far as our low budget of $120k up to $180k. We're downsizing from what we currently have of 20acres and 2,700sf house, ponds...I'm sure we can work out more once we pay off our student loans at the time of the move, but for now we're looking to stay at the same mortgage payment ±$200/month. Again, seeing plenty of houses in our budget...and just my brief observation it looks like older stock homes are closer to Nashville...Smyrna may be dated homes, but tighter together....and Murfreesborro has the same houses as Smyrna, but more elbow room from your neighbor in a housing development. Also checking out Old Hickory/Hendersonville.

Then let me suggest that you look about an hour east of Nashville. In that same report of the top 50 cardio hospitals in the country you'll find Cookeville Regional Medical Center. Cookeville is a college town with much lower housing costs than what you'll find in Nashville. It's on a higher elevation which means its summers are slightly less muggy, and its summer nighttime temps are a few degrees cooler. Cookeville is surrounded by lakes, waterfalls, gorges, miles upon miles of hiking trails, places to canoe, camp, go caving, etc.

There's one small craft brewery in town but two more about to open and another one just south of town. There are several farm-to-table restaurants in town. Cookeville has two symphony orchestras, some nice museums and galleries, several restaurants and clubs with live local music (not all country, either), a very walkable downtown, a green market, farmers market, and a healthy job market. Cookeville is also a popular retirement area, so you would certainly not be the only 50-something Northern retirees in town. Far from it.

Check out the Cookeville photo thread and see if it's the kind of place you'd be interested in. It seems to check off pretty much all your boxes.

[jabogitlu]

I'm concerned that you're looking at Middle TN and want less humidity than you find in upstate New York. I'd also suggest the WNC mountains (although housing in Asheville also is not overly cheap, but maybe you could push further north into Madison County, or further south, to get a bit cheaper). Otherwise, maybe the southwest?

[TheBreeses]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

Climate concerns notwithstanding ...

The average home sale price in Murfreesboro is right at $200K, so for comparison sake, I would find out the average sales price in your current area and see what homes are available at a comparable percentage below that number.

Ithaca is about the same $200k per City-Data. Another aspect I see is that we pay almost twice the property taxes so maybe we could afford more house than we think.

[N.Cal]

[SIZE=5]TheBreeses[/SIZE] - You really should listen to these people.....