Fairfield Glade VS Tellico Village (Knoxville, Cookeville: rental, mortgage, houses)

[TN Tin Man]

Originally Posted by DBB

The Shadow,
Have you moved to TV yet? We are also thinking about moving there. We'll be taking our second trip to check it out the end of October. It is very pretty there and I find all the activities very attractive.

If your in FFG... swing down too Cumberland Mountain State Park.. They have a restaurant with daily specials.
Just 5 miles south of Crossville on 127 Coming out of the Glades on Peavine drive straight ( 392 Miller Ave. ) till you hit 127 then left... where 68 / 127 meet bare right.. the park is just a short distance on your right. Great place to relax and just enjoy nature..

[Shenandoah]

Well, the original poster posted a little over 2 years ago. I'm wondering where they did settle?

blessings, Shen

[2LongIslanders]

Hi all! We are looking to leave the sky high taxes of Long Island and move to a better location for our early retirement. We are in our early 50s and may need to work a few days a week. I've done lots of online research and we have narrowed it down to 2 communities. Both Fairfield Glade in Crossville and Tellico Village in Loudon look pretty good on paper. Prices look very reasonable, hubbys pension wont be taxed and medical facilities also seem convenient. The 9% sales tax is a bit high but we think the property tax will make up for that. Anyone have any more input on these 2 communities...or on income taxes or anything else we havent considered about eastern TN? Thanks!!

[TheShadow]

Do a search in the "search forums" box above^^^^ on Tellico Village and then on Fairfield Glade. There should be several threads with many detailed posts. I'm A TV resident and have been to both places. TV is larger and is located on a large lake. Fairfield Glade has several small "lakes" or ponds. Fairfield Glade is at a higher elevation, which means it's 5 to 8 degrees cooler in summer. FFG is closer to Crossville, which is a smallish city compared to Knoxville. TV is a half hour from Knoxville. Both have a large percentage of transplants from other states. Both have upscale homes, golf and other sports, and amenities. You can visit the websites of both and compare that way. I can answer ?? about TV, but have only been to FFG twice and have limited knowledge. Perhaps a FFG resident can reply.

[memphobuckeye]

My wife and I spent 3 days visiting both places earlier this week. We had previously ordered the materials from the respective websites and looked over everything we could a priori. Each place put us in contact with a realtor, with whom we made appointments to show us around. Here's a couple thoughts ...

- Both places were nice with plenty of active recreational facilities, boating, and golf. Lots of social clubs at both places and it sounds like you could be as social as you want to be.
- Both places have a wide range of home prices. I think we only saw one house in either place that didn't look like it was well taken care of. Lots were generally smaller than what we are used to, but there are a wide variety of views to select from (lakefront, lake view, wooded, golf course, etc).
- Tellico Village Lake/Reservoir is much bigger. The big lake at Fairfield Glade was nice and very clear (spring-fed, we were told).
- In contrast to what Shadow said above, Fairfield Glade seemed *much* bigger to us (in fact, to a fault). Google searches confirm Fairfield Glade is about 3 times larger in area. Seemed a bit overwhelming to us on a first visit. Tellico was plenty big enough.
- Neither place is what I would call diverse in terms of population.
- Views of mountains/hills at various places in Fairfield Glade were awesome, but these views seemed a bit scarce. At Tellico, we could see the Smokies in the distance, but only from the southern most Kahite subdivision.
- Lots of construction/road-widening coming into Fairfield Glade. We were told there's a bit of revitalization going on.
- Fairfield Glade is out there a ways - Tellico is closer to Knoxville and the things it provides. I didn't really notice it being cooler at Fairfield Glade being on the plateau, but have no doubt that's true.

I left thinking that I could probably be happy at either place, but we had a preference for Tellico. Hard to tell with a short visit - I suspect we'll do the 3-day visit at Tellico that they advertise and try to get a better feel.

[TheShadow]

I stand corrected! FFG IS larger then TV! As I said I've only been to FFG once or twice. It seemed smaller to me, but perhaps because we had a specific destination and didn't tour the entire community. TV may "seem" larger because it is strung out along a narrow north-south orientation along the lake shore and is about 11 miles long, but less than a mile wide from east to west. At one time, about 2010 I think, they were about the same population (6000ish) Now we are undergoing a building boom in TV, as a bunch of lots that were tied up with tax issues were released to builders. I think there is a wave of later baby boomers just coming into retirement that is causing the recent influx of new people. We are now working on a new long term plan to prioritize new amenities, and improvement of older amenities to handle the additional residents expected in the next 10 years. I assume FFG is probably undergoing something similar.

Regarding your need to work a few days a week, there are numerous places to work in the Loudon /Lenoir City area, and many have "now hiring" signs up year round. You might even find work at some place within the village as some people I know have at the local bank, financial services offices, realtors offices, the golf course, the fitness center, etc. Further afield you have Maryville, Oak Ridge, and Farragut as possible places to find employment within a 25 or so mile radius. And Knoxville is about 35 miles away by freeway.

Home prices in TV run the gamut from around $200k to 2 mil+. Property tax on a $350K home = approx $1500 annually.

Really, I think that both communities are very nice (I'm biased to TV naturally, as a resident) and only you can decide which works better for you. Come on down for a visit. Visit the websites, send for info, reserve a "Discovery package" to spend time staying in TV. You can also rent a home for a few days to a few weeks through Key Rentals. FFG is a Wyndham property, so I'm sure you can reserve a condo there and take a tour.

[jane2lee]

This is helpful. We have been researching for several years and are still two years, maybe three from a move (semi-retire). We are visiting TV in October for 6 days (Discovery plus add-on) and staying in the Village. Also considered FG but came to conclusion that closer to large city (and to son in Charlotte) was preferable.

Real estate is an important concern and will spend time with a realtor in October. Understand Lots are dwindling? We could purchase a smallish lot now but don't want to jump the gun. Otherwise will have to sell here first to purchase a home when the time comes as we are and will remain, mortgage free. Wish we had that magic ball to predict future of real estate there. Don't we all?

We own a small tile and stone contracting business and my husband is a master craftsman/artisan. He will want to continue to work after our move (although scaled back). Once again, real estate comes into play. Thinking that many of the homes are old enough to warrant remodeling so maybe even opportunities within the village for his craft? We have a very loyal high end client base here so this is one of the challenges in "starting over" somewhere else. Looking forward to our visit.

[grampaTom]

Do not forget to look at the Kahite (Kuh-HEE-tee) neighborhood of TV -- it is over by Vonore a few miles away on a different part of the lake. It is growing quickly and has it's own 18 hole golf course and boat docks (if you are boaters).

When we moved here our realtor didn't really seem to care much about showing Kahite but we are glad we chose it and bought here.

[jane2lee]

grampaTom (what they called my Dad by the way), Thanks for that. Have read a bit about it. Why are you glad you landed in Kahite? And yes, we are boaters but not golfers. We will definitely check it out.

[grampaTom]

Originally Posted by jane2lee

grampaTom (what they called my Dad by the way), Thanks for that. Have read a bit about it. Why are you glad you landed in Kahite? And yes, we are boaters but not golfers. We will definitely check it out.

The lots are more open with nice views of the mountains or lake. There is just a different 'feel' to the neighborhood and because we are smaller we tend to know a lot more of our neighbors. It is another option that is available to you and you should definitely check it out.