Finally bought our piece of land in Tennessee!

[snowwolfe]

Ever since we moved out of Alaska we been searching for a place to retire to and middle Tennessee quickly became a front runner. Low land prices, VERY low land taxes, and a decent year around climate made TN our choice. The land had to be covered with trees and the two main requirements were it had to contain a suitable home site and afford us the opportunity to hunt and shoot on OUR property.
Couple of months ago we found what we thought was the perfect spot. Made an offer that was contingent on us inspecting the property in person. Flew to TN last Sunday, inspected the land with the current owner on Monday where we walked the borders and he showed us his deer hunting spots, salt lick, etc. We could not of been more pleased with the layout and the lot is covered with old oak trees and acorns and squirrels everywhere. Some of the old big trees were cut down in the 80's but for all purposes the entire lot is covered with old forest. Turkeys are present as well but not sure if we will hunt them.
Small lake on the property is just about one acre and is stocked with bluegill, crappie, and channel cats. Plan on adding some bass later this year to help keep the little bluegills in check. Total size is 42 acres and the land is shaped nice with about 500 yards of road frontage and about 400 yards deep. Two creeks run through the property as well. Road is already in place to the middle of the property where the land is already cleared for a home site that overlooks the lake.

Property is located about half way between Cookeville and Crossville and we spent most of the week in Crossville. We fell in love with this town and the people were so friendly we almost could not believe it. Now I know why Tennessee is considered the number 1 state to retire to. Taxes are only about $300 a year!!!

We are still about 4-5 years away from building a house on the land but will be spending time on it at least twice a year doing small improvement projects such as planting berry bushes, fruit trees, etc. Also plan on clearing an area so we can have a 100 yard range. Took our entire life to get what we wanted so just hope we live long enough to enjoy it for another 25 years:)

[Wag]

Congrats!

The wiff and I have bought a couple of places in Arizona and New Mexico where we feel we could retire when we're ready. Vacant land is a peach for buy and hold, whether you actually move there or sell it for something you like better, it can provide for you in your retirement if you jump on it well in advance.

One thing we take a caution about, though, is we always pay cash. No financing.

"Don't wait to buy land. Buy land and wait." --Will Rogers.

--Wag--

[MrWolf]

Congratulations. That sounds like what my dream place would be if I could just convince the wife. If you don't mind my asking, what did the 42 acres go for? Ballpark is fine. I have told my wife our next place will have my own range, a pond, etc. - basically everything you found.

[snowwolfe]

MrWolf, I sent you a pm with the price we paid.

Cash is king in todays market for sure. Found out sellers prefer it as well due to financing being to tight for buyers to acquire and deals falling apart at the last minute. Land financing rates can run 6-7% compared to earning less than 1% by keeping your money in the bank.

[Bzcraig]

Congratulations indeed!

[Blacksmith]

Another early project is put in an asparagus bed because they take several years to get to be harvestable. Fresh asparagus right from the garden cant be beat.

[DeanWinchester]

Welcome!
Have fun with the intellectually challenged peons of the Cumberland plateau. LOL

I've lived all my life not far from you. You'll love it here. I will say, Crossville is COLD for TN. You'll be fine coming from Alaska but its still cooler there than anywhere. ......also, I have family there. That is the creepiest town! I ain't been there in years but I always got this foreboding feeling of something dark, just below the surface. I spent a lot of time up there as a kid and have some great fun memories. Some too that make me shiver. LOL

Anyway, hope I didn't scare ya, welcome to Dixie!!

[MrWolf]

^^^ you make it sound as if it is straight out of a Steven King novel :wink: Sounds like a slice of paradise and I will freely admit I am jealous.

[DeanWinchester]

Mr King could easily spin that town into a number one seller if he spent a few days there.
The locals are generally very good people. I just always got a feeling though, like something they're not telling people. Even as a kid my (much) old cousin would take me to a little diner and then we'd go roller skating, I always felt like.....well, I dunno. I guess I'm an idiot. But I ain't the only one. I know a few people here in my town with family there and they got wide eyed when I mentioned it and totally agreed.

[Muskyhunter1]

Congrats - been there done that.

I was going to buy some Retirement Bonds a number of years back. Then I saw the very poor return from the banks - go figure. I took that money and went and bought 27 acres of bush that is surrounded by 100 of acres of private bush and strawberry fields. Lot of deer and bear. My Son and I take 3 or 4 every year off of it. A great investment and now i have a place that is mine. 5 years later now it is paid in full. When I am old and can't walk anymore I will sell it and there is money for my retirement. In the mean time I really enjoy owning it. Win = Win I say. Take the plunge now because the land never seems to get cheaper.

[AkMike]

That sounds like a great spot Randy!
Especially with 2 creeks handy for making some of that moonshine! You could hide it in the berm for the range and if someone was snooping just start target practicing!

[wlc]

Congrats!! I'm officially jealous. :) Sounds like a really nice place to call home.

BTW, Did you used to live in Eagle River?? I only ask as your screen name is familiar to me and I think I bought some 223 brass off you one time.

[WILCO]

Congratulations. That sounds like what my dream place would be...

Same for me!

[buckwheatpaul]

snowwolfe, congrats....owning your own place is a joy as well as a labor of love. Will you have to run cows, do wildlife mgmt, or farming to keep the taxes low....in Texas your school taxes freeze at age 65.... county taxes are low....school taxes are the pits.....be sure to check so you can keep your taxes low.....hope the deer are plentiful and life is great for you and your family.....Paul

[C. Latch]

My wife and I have a farm not terribly far from there (Columbia area) and we, too, cannot wait to move there. We're moving back in state this summer, but not to our farm. At least we'll be a step closer now.

[snowwolfe]

Thanks ya'all. Yes I am the guy you bought brass from.
We don't plan on to many projects although the asparagus bed sounds like a great idea. I am going back in April to plant fruit trees and berry bushes.
Good idea Mike, maybe we can make some wine then onto shine!

[AkMike]

Make sure that the trees and berry bushes are easily seen from where the back porch will be for early morning plinking at the four footed berry robbers with antlers! ;)

[wv109323]

I have an uncle and two cousins that live in Crossville. You did very well however they did have a bad flood a couple of years back. You might want to see if your property was involved.

[Hogtamer]

that's a real milestone, couldn't be happier for you. lot's of history to catch up on---folks been shootin' cast there a loooong time! think Davy Crockett!

[357maximum]

Congrats, buying acreage and marrying my wife in my mid 20's was about the only "smart" things I did in that decade......still living in the decrepid old farmhouse that came with it, but someday I will get the joy of smashing this "house' with a large trackhoe after moving into the permanent(new) residence. In the meantime I keep planting flora/killing fauna and dreaming of the new house.

[white eagle]

I bought a little piece of property in my younger days
I have always wanted land of my own
the price has grown 6 fold from the time I bought
congrats on your find and enjoy the piece of mind

[schutzen]

That is a very nice area. But be careful considering those locals intellectually challenged. They may be educationally challenged by todays standards, but they are very long in common sense and the skills of general rural living in Tennessee. I've worked with many of those boys on complex rotating machinery and I've seen them embarrass engineers with degrees from prestigious schools. They may not have a formal education, but do not consider them stupid.

[oneokie]

A word of caution on putting bass in a catfish pond. Bass love fingerling catfish.

[CastingFool]

Congrats on your new place! Sounds like a great place. I have a small piece of property in the country, and I love being out here. I only wish I had been able to buy a larger piece when I was younger.

[leeggen]

Just a heads up make sure the land is survey and the line staked and marked. This state is a buyer beware. Just cause he said the line is here and there is 40 ac. does not mean that is the truth. I know he wouldn't lie about that but even the realistate people will strech the truth.
Congrats on the land but really trust nothing not in writting.
CD

[snowwolfe]

Not worried about any floods and not concerned about the property markers. The details outlining the boundaries are pretty specific and clear in the title insurance paperwork and like I said the previous owner walked the entire plot and examined the markers and other stuff and its all good. If I felt the need to get it surveyed I can later but at this point I feel it is an unnecessary expense.

Schutzen, Good points and like I mentioned before everyone we met was super friendly. I don't value a man by how much education he has, I just judge him on how he conducts himself. Crossville was selected as one of the ten best places to retire in 2010.

Crossville is cold? One of the reasons it was our choice is because it is on the Cumberland Plateau which means slightly cooler and less humid summers. Any place we live in is a compromise. Perfect summers in Alaska gives you cold and dark winters. Nice warm winters in Austin Texas gives you blistering hot summers. If we build a house on the site that is cleared for a house and it floods the rest of you will be washed out to sea, lol. Our property sits at 1,992 feet and the house site is on a hill.

We are pretty happy with our choice and the people we will be living around.

[aspangler]

Welcome to the State of Tennessee. I live near the Bristol Motor Speedway just a little to the North and East of you. Again welcome!

[John Allen]

Snowwolfe, Congrats my wife and are looking in the same area. We are in PA right now but figure we want to retire down there in a about 10 years. Where did you go to start looking?

[Firebricker]

Lot,s of feral hogs around there to use some boolits on! FB

[MaryB]

Sounds nice, tired of MN winters but a little snow is fine.

[snowwolfe]

Locals say there are no hogs around which I view as a good thing. We started our search using Mossy Oak relators but to be blunt, they were basically a waste of time. Contacted about 6-7 different agents concerning various plots in Arkansas and Tennessee and they just basically blew me off and didn't return phone calls or emails. Am guessing we looked for about 3 months and then some nice guy on another forum showed me a link to the land we ended up buying. He was gracious enough to walk the property and give me his candid thoughts. This is the property we purchased:
http://www.landwatch.com/Cumberland-County-Tennessee-Land-for-sale/pid/272423588

I think net working and talking to people in the area and then using craigslist is the best way to go. Landwatch can also work.

[starbits]

The wife and I looked at some land about 25 miles north of crossville last July. 145 acres for 200k. Beautiful, but it was all steep slopes with only one small spot to put a house. We passed, but liked the area enough to head back this coming June to look for a piece of land to settle on. We have 35 acres in Colorado, but as the age creeps pass 60 a Colorado winter at 9400 feet elevation becomes less attractive.

About your pond, check out the forum at pondboss.com Tons of information and very family friendly like CB.

Starbits

[RED333]

Welcome to the 3rd most free state in the Union.
We live about an hour and a half back Nashville way,
little place called Mt Juliet. Ya ever get this way, let me know.
Crossville, Cookeville area is a great place, nice little collage in Cookeville.

[WRideout]

I lived in Knoxville from 1990-1998 when I worked for the Department of Energy in Oak Ridge. One of my favorite places to hunt was on the edge of the Cumberland Plateau, next to the Rockwood Airport off I40. You could get the big fox squirrels there. One morning I saw a grey fox, a flock of turkeys, and two does with fawns in the same general area. I didn't bag any squirrels, but I felt it was one of my most successful days in the field.

I loved TN, but when the federal government shut down a lot of the funding, many of us had to leave town. I took a job at a manufacturing plant in Greensburg PA; definitely swimming against the current when everybody else is moving south. After fifteen years in SW PA, I still think people talk funny here.


Wayne

[DRNurse1]

Congratulations! We have a sarcasm font so maybe we need an "I am so jealous" font, too. (That one hurts my eyes, so a better suggestion is in order.)

[oldred]

Howdy neighbor!, I am a few miles East of your new home on 46 acres "back on the ridge" where we can't see our nearest neighbor about a mile away, lot's of turkey, deer, squirrel and (unfortunately) coyotes. We retired here over twenty years ago after I was injured in a coal mining accident and we couldn't be happier, I think you made a good choice!

[Wag]

Just looked at your link. That property is what I would call bada$$. Wow! My envy factor is very high right now!

Ya done good!

--Wag--

[snowwolfe]

The minute we stepped on the land it felt like home. Buying land was an interesting exercise in frustration. Many of the plots we looked at were irregular in shape which caused confusion as to where the borders where. Then we looked at some plots that were double in size and priced less per acre but the area was covered with really steep hills rendering most of the land not useable.
Then you could find a lot of acres but the area was recently timbered off and the land looked terrible. Not my cup of tea to wait another 20 years for the timber to start coming back. Tennessee has extremely low taxes, super low vehicle registrations fees, no state income tax. The catch is there state sales tax is high, about 8-9% I think. Cheap gas, regular in Crossville was $2.95. One morning for breakfast I had 2 eggs, toast, ham, and hash browns at a little place in a strip mall and it was $4.95.

Wrideout, we do talk funny! I was born and raised in the Mt Pleasant/Scottdale area and I still have my stupid accent.

And thanks for the welcome. This is what I was referring to when I mentioned how friendly the people were:)

[quilbilly]

Congratulations!!! We did similar things before we bought our land. You have no idea how good you will feel when you get you house built and move onto your piece of paradise.

[MT Gianni]

A word of caution on putting bass in a catfish pond. Bass love fingerling catfish.

+1, catfish should keep the bluegill in check.

[jonp]

If you have oak/beech have you ever thought of planting Ginsing? It grows by itself and you can harvest it for sale. Good money in it also

[jonp]

Sweet property. That hill overlooking the pond screams log cabin

[AkMike]

From the little I know of the ginseng deal it takes 50 years to get a decent sized root. 5 years old is minimum by law and 'older is better'. (But don't tell my wife)

[gmsharps]

The real joy is in the sculpting of your property. You buy a diamond in the rough and spend the next several years getting it to what your vision of what you want it to be. It's fun, frustrating and in the end very rewarding.

gmsharps

[snowwolfe]

We already know where the home and additional garage will be built. And most importantly I already know where the shooting range will be:) Making a trip back to the property in a couple of months to plant an assortment of fruit trees, pecans, and black and raspberry bushes. With luck most of them will be fruit bearing by the time we have the house built.

[LNK]

Congratulations on the best kept secret in the U.S. Wife and I bought a house on 5 acres and added the abutting 16 acres last year in the Loudon county part of Sweetwater. Small farm with a nice place for a personal range. We go down every couple of months and plan to stay there in a few years. Best of luck.

LNK

[popper]

You must visit the original Crackerbarrel south of Lebanon. FIL had a place there - get ready to GROW stuff. Anything near flat was old tobacco land - VERY fertile. Maybe if I got a place there she would visit her sister in Fairview. Locals are nice but you still have to watch your back until you're broke-in.

[jonp]

From the little I know of the ginseng deal it takes 50 years to get a decent sized root. 5 years old is minimum by law and 'older is better'. (But don't tell my wife)

It does take a little while but not 50yrs. You dont have to do much but plant and leave them. Its free money in my view

[wlc]

From the little I know of the ginseng deal it takes 50 years to get a decent sized root. 5 years old is minimum by law and 'older is better'. (But don't tell my wife)

I've never heard of a law stating that ginseng had to be 5 years old. Its been several years since I fooled with it though so things may have changed. Wild or wild simulated ginseng can be harvested in give or take 8-10 years. Woods grown (cultivated) can be harvested in 4-6 years. Artificial shade grown is usually harvested in 3-4 years. The wild or wild simulated will bring higher prices because of the slow growth. My grand dad taught me to hunt and find wild ginseng as a kid. Its more fun than squirrel hunting and if you have a good day can be quite profitable as well. Never dig a wild root that is less than a three prong plant or if it doesn't have red berries. Always replant the berries where you dig the plant unless you take them somewhere else to establish another patch. My grand dad had a small patch out behind his house he had transplanted over the years. Some of them were over 20 years old and were some whoppers as they were growing in good loose soil next to the river bank.

[gmsharps]

I bought a small piece of land in Texas 6 years ago. Nothing on it but 2 stock tanks and a good fence. Since then I have built a barn, drilled a well, brought electricity in, had a half mile of road put in, purchased the necessary equipment to maintain the land i.e. Tractor with bucket, bush hog, drag harrow, disk, tiller, Z-trak and a RTV to get around on the property. Just finished the house a couple of months ago. In the process of getting the road crowned and small gravel on top since all of the big and heavy vehicles should be just about done. This coming summer I hope to get one of the stock tanks enlarged and the suplus dirt to use a a back stop. It seems like it never ends but that is just part of the fun. This coming summer I most likely will be there full time so I can actually enjoy it a bit.

gmsharps

[Lefty SRH]

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the area! My mother and grandfather live in Monterey. My wife and i both visit often and we both love the area. We likely wont move there as we just bought a new home with a little land ourselves. Ill have to look you up next time we visit my moms place.

[Hogtamer]

look into planting a few sawtooth oaks! they are a deer magnet! quick growing, prolific bearers of large white acorns that drop early.

[jonp]

I bought a small piece of land in Texas 6 years ago. Nothing on it but 2 stock tanks and a good fence. Since then I have built a barn, drilled a well, brought electricity in, had a half mile of road put in, purchased the necessary equipment to maintain the land i.e. Tractor with bucket, bush hog, drag harrow, disk, tiller, Z-trak and a RTV to get around on the property. Just finished the house a couple of months ago. In the process of getting the road crowned and small gravel on top since all of the big and heavy vehicles should be just about done. This coming summer I hope to get one of the stock tanks enlarged and the suplus dirt to use a a back stop. It seems like it never ends but that is just part of the fun. This coming summer I most likely will be there full time so I can actually enjoy it a bit.

gmsharps

Nothing like running your own equipment on your land to improve it and work on it.

[oldred]

Making a trip back to the property in a couple of months to plant an assortment of fruit trees, pecans, and black and raspberry bushes.


I live about 40 to 60 miles East of there and I have been growing fruit trees here for the last twenty or so years so a word of warning, choose your trees for disease resistance! I encountered a LOT of frustration by simply buying what looked and sounded good to me but this area is somewhat difficult to deal with as far as fruit. Stone fruits such as peaches, sweet cherries (sour or "pie" cherries seem to do ok), plums, etc are usually devastated by brown rot fungus by the second or third year and no amount of spraying or preventative measures have been able to save my trees, we finally just gave up trying to grow any stone fruits except for sour cherries. This insidious disease became prevalent in the area about 15 years ago and is rapidly spreading over the entire state, a relative that had no problems near Knoxville only 3 years ago has had his entire peach orchard wiped out despite his best (and expensive!) efforts! Apples can do well IF you choose the right varieties, and while most any apple can be grown here some are so pesticide intensive (for fungal disease, insect control is easy) they simply aren't worth the effort. Some varieties however can be almost carefree and are excellent choices, Johnafree is one example of these that are easy to grow while Granny Smith for example is almost impossible. The two biggest problems with apple is cedar apple rust which is fairly easy to control with spray and black/bitter rot which can be nearly impossible to control on some varieties so you would do well to avoid any types that are susceptible to these "rots". Growing fruit in this area can be a challenge, but also very rewarding with the right choices, and I wouldn't want to see you suffer the same disappointment I did by making the wrong choices, I spent several years and a lot of money watching and caring for my trees only to find that when the fruit finally appeared it was next to impossible to get some of it to the edible stage. My point is that with the exception of stone fruits most will do well here BUT only if the right disease resistant varieties are chosen, you can save yourself a lot of disappointment by avoiding apples that are susceptible to these "rot" fungi that are so prevalent to the area.

[snowwolfe]

Thanks Oldred, sent you a pm to pick your brain for more information.

[Blacksmith]

You might want to contact the County Agriculture Agent where your land is. They have a wealth of information available.