Tennessee for adults with an international accent (Knoxville, Franklin: fit in, transplants)

[VeCaKey]

Hello!!!
My husband (56 yo) and I (51 yo) have heard wonderful things about Tennessee and we are looking into a place to move to for retirement. Yes, we are planning ahead. We have the idea to buy a property now and move when we see it fit in about 10 years.
We have been in the US from South America and the Middle East for around 35 years. And this is the main question we have for you: how welcoming is the state of Tennessee regarding people with accents? We are very americanized; unfortunately, the accent has been impossible to get rid of. We've lived in Southern California for as long as we have been in the states and it was here where we met. We have lived in the San Fernando Valley and the Conejo Valley with our kids 22 and 21, both college students. My husband enjoys cars and he is a great handyman for our house; I enjoy nature, hiking, exercising, animals, sightseeing, food. I am a successful insurance agent and love what I do because it gives me the opportunity to see and help people.
We would prefer a one story house in a location that's near nature and business like supermarkets, coffee shops, restaurants. The budget is not very clear but I would say around $300,000.
A friend mentioned about Franklin.
Please helps us get a feel of how welcoming we would feel or what areas would match us better.
Thank you so much!!!

[JMT]

Originally Posted by VeCaKey

Hello!!!
My husband (56 yo) and I (51 yo) have heard wonderful things about Tennessee and we are looking into a place to move to for retirement. Yes, we are planning ahead. We have the idea to buy a property now and move when we see it fit in about 10 years.
We have been in the US from South America and the Middle East for around 35 years. And this is the main question we have for you: how welcoming is the state of Tennessee regarding people with accents? We are very americanized; unfortunately, the accent has been impossible to get rid of. We've lived in Southern California for as long as we have been in the states and it was here where we met. We have lived in the San Fernando Valley and the Conejo Valley with our kids 22 and 21, both college students. My husband enjoys cars and he is a great handyman for our house; I enjoy nature, hiking, exercising, animals, sightseeing, food. I am a successful insurance agent and love what I do because it gives me the opportunity to see and help people.
We would prefer a one story house in a location that's near nature and business like supermarkets, coffee shops, restaurants. The budget is not very clear but I would say around $300,000.
A friend mentioned about Franklin.
Please helps us get a feel of how welcoming we would feel or what areas would match us better.
Thank you so much!!!

Honestly, no one is going to care about your accent. The bigger issue is your budget. $300k won't go very far in the Nashville area, especially Franklin where the average price of homes on the market is $640k.

If you're a little flexible on where in Tennessee you're willing to live, I highly recommend you look at Cookeville which is an hour east of the Nashville airport. My elderly mother (now 88) moved from Knoxville to downtown Cookeville a couple of years ago and loves it. She walks to do most of her errands: supermarket, farmers markets, library, banks, doctors, post office, bakery, dry cleaners, even things like the symphony and Shakespeare in the Park. She doesn't eat out much, but there are a couple dozen excellent, locally owned restaurants, coffee shops, and breweries in downtown Cookeville. And $300k will go a lot further in Cookeville than any of the more desirable suburbs of Nashville. Plus, being home to the state's flagship technological university, there are people from all over the world in Cookeville; no one will bat an eye at your international accent.

In addition, if you want to be near nature, Cookeville is hard to beat, with 100 waterfalls, 1200 miles of lake shoreline, a dozen state parks, and a national recreation area within 40 minutes of town. You can be in downtown Cookeville one minute and kayaking a half hour later. (There are even stores in downtown Cookeville that sell kayaks and other outdoor sports gear.)

Here's a sampling of homes that have recently sold in your price range in the central part of Cookeville.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...82199166_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5...41991866_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...41987227_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5...81256884_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...0081351_zpid/?
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6...41991010_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3...41987896_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...3218576_zpid/?
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...70537710_zpid/

[VeCaKey]

Thank you so much!!! You've given me such useful info. I will definitely look into Cookeville.

[GWoodle]

Don't worry about the accent. With so many transplants there is a diversity of accents already, not native to Tennessee.

[VeCaKey]

Thank you!!!

[doylestange]

i believe you'd want to move to franklin like i have, i just purchased a home and move at the end of the month. franklin seems to be the most "city like" area.


but if youre going to house hunt in franklin w/ room for just 2, double your budget... there have been a few townhomes that have sold for 400k ish, however they'll be in heavily regulated HOA communities with heavy HOA fees to match.

[veg-gal]

Originally Posted by VeCaKey

Hello!!!
My husband (56 yo) and I (51 yo) have heard wonderful things about Tennessee and we are looking into a place to move to for retirement. Yes, we are planning ahead. We have the idea to buy a property now and move when we see it fit in about 10 years.
We have been in the US from South America and the Middle East for around 35 years. And this is the main question we have for you: how welcoming is the state of Tennessee regarding people with accents? We are very americanized; unfortunately, the accent has been impossible to get rid of. We've lived in Southern California for as long as we have been in the states and it was here where we met. We have lived in the San Fernando Valley and the Conejo Valley with our kids 22 and 21, both college students. My husband enjoys cars and he is a great handyman for our house; I enjoy nature, hiking, exercising, animals, sightseeing, food. I am a successful insurance agent and love what I do because it gives me the opportunity to see and help people.
We would prefer a one story house in a location that's near nature and business like supermarkets, coffee shops, restaurants. The budget is not very clear but I would say around $300,000.
A friend mentioned about Franklin.
Please helps us get a feel of how welcoming we would feel or what areas would match us better.
Thank you so much!!!

I know others responded saying similar things that I'm going to say, but I just want to give you my opinion, as a person with an accent as well as someone who's lived in TN before too. Tennessee is very welcoming. We moved here from CA, although SoCal was not our original home, and I wasn't born in the US either. To be completely honest, TN was much more welcoming to me than CA ever was, and this is my second time living in TN. I was here for school about 10+ years ago. Back then I lived about 60+ miles south of Nashville, and in a very rural county and even there I was welcomed and no one had a problem with my accent.

We bought a home in Franklin for a little over 300K but this was late 2019, before prices became hugely inflated. A similar home on our street just sold for 400K after being on the market for 4 days. We do pay an HOA of about $200 a month and that includes water and trash as well as some other minor outdoor maintenance that the HOA takes care of. We also get to use the facilities such as a clubhouse, gym and pool and we really enjoy those. Lots of parks and nice hiking areas in this area, and a great animal shelter if you like volunteering and helping animals. Lots of great restaurants and cafes here as well.

Most of Franklin is a great place to call home, and so is Brentwood if you're looking for other options. Btw if you end up thinking about buying in Brentwood, keep in mind that part of Brentwood is Williamson county (lower property taxes) and part is Davidson (higher property taxes). Other options would be Thompsons Station and Spring Hill. Part of Spring Hill is in Williamson County and part is in Maury, but those cities are really nice too and these days prices are very similar to Franklin / Brentwood prices.

All the best with your (eventual) move here and I hope you find a great home for retirement!

[VeCaKey]

Thank you so much for your helpful responses.
I read them all to my husband and we feel much more at ease.
We already bought our flight tickets for the middle of August; we are hoping to experience the weather then and see if we can bare it.
We are also looking into Hendersonville... any opinions?

[VeCaKey]

Just a quick update:
We have met with several realtors, it's been extremely helpful and educational... we should be making a decision on a realtor this week.
We have also decided that if we like something when we are there we will be making an offer, exciting!!!
So far, which can also change, we are concentration on Franklin, Herdersonville, Nolensville, Bretwood, Mt. Juliet. We think it is important to be somewhat close to the airport for family visits.
Any more ideas, suggestion or correction are so welcome!!!

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by VeCaKey

Just a quick update:
We have met with several realtors, it's been extremely helpful and educational... we should be making a decision on a realtor this week.
We have also decided that if we like something when we are there we will be making an offer, exciting!!!
So far, which can also change, we are concentration on Franklin, Herdersonville, Nolensville, Bretwood, Mt. Juliet. We think it is important to be somewhat close to the airport for family visits.
Any more ideas, suggestion or correction are so welcome!!!

Yes, Nashville is a hot market. Anything you can do with your bank/lender to preapprove a loan & have some cash on hand will be a plus. May make the difference for winning bid. If the family visits aren't as often location may not be so important. A lot depends on your budget.

To be close to BNA puts Donelson, Hermitage, Mt Juliet at the top of the list. Hendersonville/Goodletsville if you don't mind the time depending on time of day. Brentwood/Franklin could be fine once you learn the back way. Nolensville puts you further out in the boonies.