Thinking of moving to East Tennessee

[MrWolf]

My house is going up for sale in a week or so. Hopefully will be sold by the end of the year and my divorce can be finalized. I was thinking about moving to SC but see some really nice places in TN plus have heard some nice things. Also saw in a thread that some of the smaller towns may have issues with possibly corrupt law enforcement? Not sure if any of it is true but would like to hear from folks on the eastern side. Will probably look toward the NE side to stay closer to my daughter in Philadelphia.

I am looking for at least 30 (hopefully a lot more) acres with hunting, fishing, shooting, etc allowed plus a 2-3 bedroom ranch and a big shop/garage. Suggestions on which counties to look at?

Thanks,

Ron

[snowwolfe]

Oh boy, be prepared to be overwhelmed. And may I suggest you join our forum:
http://www.tndeer.com/forums/index.php?sid=20dcb2d3fb0401d5db05c45ec2532dab

I have only lived here for about a year so cant be of much help other than to tell you how much we love it. We bought 42 acres in Cumberland County and built a house right in the middle of it. Some great fishing over this way. No state income tax, and LOW LOW LOW property taxes. Best of luck in your search.

[Houndog]

I know where a 38 acre farm is for sale in the Sulphur Springs community in Washington County, but it won't be cheap! I live in Sullivan County in the northern tip of Tennessee. Land in these two counties will cost you the most. The best bang for your buck will be in either Carter, Greene, Johnson or Unicoi counties and the hunting and fishing will be better in those four counties. Next on the list would be Hawkins county if I were looking. If you get real serious about moving here send me a PM. I have a cousin that's a realtor with Remax and I'm sure she could help you find what you want.

[aspangler]

I too live in Sullivan county in the NE tip not far from the Bristol Motor Speedway. (3 miles) As long as you are in the county, (this one anyway) you can shoot anytime from 6 am to 10 pm. Several lakes in the area and some good sized deer also. Come on down and look me up.

[MrWolf]

Thanks for the info guys. How much is the farm listed for Houndog? How are the winters there as temperature charts don't always tell the story. I hate cold but love my kids and am really debating whether to be within a day's drive or go farther south and see them less but via flights. Thanks for the invite asplanger, may take you up on that if I decide on that area. With the timing, I am going to need a place on whatever property I get.

[snowwolfe]

We live on the Cumberland Plateau, 2,000 feet up. A really cold day in the winter would be 20F. Normally it will hit at least 35-45 every day. Exceptions to every rule however. Very little snow, and within a day or so its all gone. I do a lot of walking for my daily exercise and 95% of the time can still wear shorts during the winter months.

[thegatman]

Stay out of New York State to keep your sanity.

[DougGuy]

East TN is mostly mountainous so you will pay for the beautiful scenery in wintertime. The only place that escapes snow is the Piedmont region between the mountains and the coast, from Raleigh, NC on down to the Florida panhandle. We don't get much.

I for one would put up with the winters for all the other benefits of TN.

[Smoke4320]

coming from a NC resident with many friends in TN and SC I would go TN all the way ..
Many reasons .. taxes, laws, hunting, nough said

[Premod70]

Wherever you decide to live do yourself a favor and spend a couple of weeks in the area before you buy. People from your neck of the woods can suffer from culture shock. Eat at the local diners, browse the local businesses and churches as well. It will surprise you the difference in folks from one side of the county to the other, a two week tour is money well spent.

[Houndog]

Wherever you decide to live do yourself a favor and spend a couple of weeks in the area before you buy. People from your neck of the woods can suffer from culture shock. Eat at the local diners, browse the local businesses and churches as well. It will surprise you the difference in folks from one side of the county to the other, a two week tour is money well spent.

Mr. Wolf,
I'm not sure of the price but I'll try to find out for you. Take the quoted advice to heart! Compared to where you live we are in a completely different world. That's not to say either is better, just totally different and that's what most Northern transplants have the most trouble adjusting to.

[Mk42gunner]

Wherever you decide to live do yourself a favor and spend a couple of weeks in the area before you buy. People from your neck of the woods can suffer from culture shock. Eat at the local diners, browse the local businesses and churches as well. It will surprise you the difference in folks from one side of the county to the other, a two week tour is money well spent.

This strikes me as very good advice; no matter where you are moving from, or to.

Robert

[Smoke4320]

Wherever you decide to live do yourself a favor and spend a couple of weeks in the area before you buy. People from your neck of the woods can suffer from culture shock. Eat at the local diners, browse the local businesses and churches as well. It will surprise you the difference in folks from one side of the county to the other, a two week tour is money well spent.

great advice as well .. But Would say a month at least.. Talk to cops, firefighters ask where they eat for local food not the chains
used to travel from Canada to Florida out to TX and SD .
Always got the best advice on local foods and some truly amazing finds by asking several cops and firefighters ..
One of my favorites was what looked like a dive right out of the 50's called Perinos boiling pot in LA
some of the best crawfish I have ever eaten ..
Another was a very small pizza place in Jim Thorpe PA Looked about like Perinos .. Don't think the windows had been cleaned in several years..
Pizza to die for ..
don't be afraid to talk to anyone you can .. Really need to get a local feel for the place
and make SURE you ask about local and state laws concerning shooting on your property

[shoot-n-lead]

I am looking for at least 30 (hopefully a lot more) acres with hunting, fishing, shooting, etc allowed plus a 2-3 bedroom ranch and a big shop/garage. Suggestions on which counties to look at?

If you can do all of this on 30 acres in TN...I will move there.

[Smoke4320]

Well I do it on 36 in NC .. so yes it can be done..
I have also found its much easier to get the lay of the land in the winter (with the leaves off)
You have to look long and hard and have some luck finding property that's not surrounded by other houses that may cause you some issues ..
Build you a 1 acre pond and stock every 3 to 4 years .. Don't let anyone other than YOUR family fish it and you will be good

[MrWolf]

Thanks for the great advise. I am hoping to actually get double that acreage but like everything else depends on the price. Snowwolfe that is just what I wanted to hear. Basically the only exercise I can do now is walk. I walk around our lake community everyday and it is 2.3 miles. Not in a typical NJ area like most think. Plenty of trees, farms, finger lakes, etc. here. Plus with my back I really will not be doing much driving around and being a home body kinda suits me. Actually looking forward to just putzing around with my hobbies, daily chores, and generally just living. Had always figured on retiring to someplace like TN but was not counting on the back and divorce. Depends on what I am left with which will determine what I can afford. Hopefully still be ok in the $150-$200,000 range but that has to include a house and garage/workshop. Not paying $12,000 a year in real estate taxes will be nice! Have a lot of tools that are in semi storage that I want to use now that I will have time; back permitting of course.

[snowwolfe]

What land sells for is public record in Tennessee: http://tnmap.tn.gov/assessment/
So I will not be bashful, shy, or boasting about what we just paid and hopefully it will help you out with your decision.

2.5 years ago our 42 acres cost us $165K. We are located within 15 miles of two decent sized towns and halfway between Nashville and Knoxville and just a few miles away from I40. It is all old growth timber, mostly oak. The previous owner put in a 1 acre lake, cleared the spot for the home site and installed the driveway which is approximately 550 feet long. We paid about $10K to have natural gas, electric, and water lines installed from the main road to the home site. All are buried.
Next up was our work shop which is 32x32, 10 foot ceilings, 12 foot wide garage door plus a side entrance, heated, lights galore, something like 16 outlets including 220, concrete floor, etc. Hardie board siding, insulated, etc. In other words, pretty fancy but no water to it. Cost was $55K.
House was next. I will not bore you with the details but its a really nice ranch, upscale on the inside, brick and stone exterior, custom wood stove, you get the idea. Ended up just under 2,300 sq feet, 3 beds, 2 baths, heated over size 2 car garage, 8x8 walk in pantry. Final price worked out to be $290K.
Here is the great part. Our property taxes on everything run about $1,000 a year. And even with built in AC that runs off electric our highest electric bill this summer was $115 a month.
We can shoot off the back porch, hunt deer, turkey, and squirrels anywhere on the property. The treestand we hunt deer out of is a 200 yard walk from the house. This morning was typical and we watched 4 different deer and a flock of male turkeys from the back porch. Lake holds bass, panfish, and catfish. But we generally leave them alone and just feed them.

The best part about Tennessee? Hands down the people. Most are super friendly without being nosy.
The biggest negative? High sales tax. But no state income tax. And with sales tax it is equal, we all know what we are paying every time we have to pay it.

Good luck in your search:)

[Circuit Rider]

MrWolf, PM inbound, Circuit Rider

[MrWolf]

Snowwolfe thanks, that is exactly the kind of information I needed. Thanks also everyone for the PM's with great info. The difference in sales tax rates from what I currently pay is less than 3% so not a major issue as I will only be buying things for myself. Lot of unknowns at this point but suggestions are helping to narrow down the area I will be looking at. Really helps to have that local knowledge.

Ron

[owejia]

MrWolf, am on the other side of the state but lived and worked at Oak Ridge in the late 60's, haven't been over that way in several years but liked the area when I lived there. We have a TNGun owners site that you can visit and get good information from locals there, lots of transplants from the North moving there all the time.The folks at TNGun owners should be able to answer your questions. Good luck.

[2HighSpeed]

We live live on the border of Montgomery and Cheatham counties. 4 1/2 acres, most definitely not enough but home prices are a little steep here. We purchased a ADA accessible ranch that sits 300 feet from the road back in the trees. We are very rural, we can't get high speed Internet or phone service out here (1,124 feet from charters pole and 1,812 feet from AT&T's pole), were right in the middle. We have a unlimited wireless data plan with a modem that sits on the wall through 4GHS, keep that name in mind if you go rural. Hughes.net out here sucks, as does dish, and T-Mobile.



My house is going up for sale in a week or so. Hopefully will be sold by the end of the year and my divorce can be finalized. I was thinking about moving to SC but see some really nice places in TN plus have heard some nice things. Also saw in a thread that some of the smaller towns may have issues with possibly corrupt law enforcement? Not sure if any of it is true but would like to hear from folks on the eastern side. Will probably look toward the NE side to stay closer to my daughter in Philadelphia.

I am looking for at least 30 (hopefully a lot more) acres with hunting, fishing, shooting, etc allowed plus a 2-3 bedroom ranch and a big shop/garage. Suggestions on which counties to look at?

Thanks,

Ron

[2HighSpeed]

I'm Kind of from there. (Born in Punxatawney PA, army brat, dad moved us to F Drum in 88 and we just kind of stayed) And I agree. Each time we go home to visit, it makes me sick at the people, the prices and the laws. NY is a no go. Thank the lord my parents are selling their home and moving here to TN!



Stay out of New York State to keep your sanity.

[MrWolf]

That is a good point about cell and Internet service. Guess I will have to see what the coverage is like when I actually look at places. Checked the Verizon coverage map for the area and there were only a few dead areas. My luck my ideal place will be in one. Anyone use dish type Internet? Kinda spoiled with Verizon FIOS.

[bremraf]

My wife and I are scheduled to close on 14.5 acres near Hartsville TN this week, about 50 miles NE of Nashville. Moving from communist Illinois down there will be awesome! Land prices at home are in the 8-12k an acre range, In the greater Nashville area they vary from 2-5k(and more of course the closer you are to civilization) Ours boils down to $2300 and acre, and taxes on the bare land will be around $300 a year. After all improvements are made they should still be around $1000 or less.

We chose Hartsville because its convenient to jobs, price per acre of land is great, and income level in Greater Nashville area is about what it is in Illinois. I agree with above posts about spending time there, we made several trips before we settled on Hartsville.

[plus1hdcp]

That is a good point about cell and Internet service. Guess I will have to see what the coverage is like when I actually look at places. Checked the Verizon coverage map for the area and there were only a few dead areas. My luck my ideal place will be in one. Anyone use dish type Internet? Kinda spoiled with Verizon FIOS.

First of all, I believe you will be pleasantly surprised with how far your money will go in East TN vs. NJ. Hands down you will get more for your money here. An added benefit should be lower taxes going forward. I live in Hawkins County TN after living in the DC, Atlanta and Memphis markets. One downside is in the services and I am glad someone cautioned you to check internet services. There are places where cellular services are suspect at best but these are in remote areas so this is to be expected. Check to ensure cable is provided to the address you select for internet access. I did try a dish type internet in a rental property and was not too happy with it but take that with a grain of salt. I have two teenagers and had to keep a constant eye on the data limits which accompany a dish type internet. This is a great place for outdoor activity. For your info, in Hawkins County I am about 20 mins to Kingsport, 30 mins to Johnson City, 40 mins to Bristol and just under 2 hours to Knoxville. I have found this to be a good central locations. Good luck in your search and be happy to PM me if you have any questions

[MrWolf]

One of the many reasons I am leaving NJ is due to the taxes. I currently pay about $12,000 a year in property taxes for 4/10ths of an acre on a finger lake. Assuming I get my disability pension I will be taking a significant financial hit along with what my soon to be ex will be taking. The lower cost of living along with that kind of beautiful country, gun laws, no state income tax, etc. are all pluses. I will probably be living alone or my son may join me until he finds a job he likes - just graduated from Rutgers with a biology degree. Sales tax is within three points of what I currently pay so not a major issue. I am not a big data user mostly surfing, but will use Netflix or such to watch occasional movies. Pretty much a low maintenance person with a bad back that can't really travel so will be home most of the time. Not worried about schools, etc. so the boonies are fine with me.

[Omega]

Not in East Tn, I am more in the middle ish in Clarksville. But I do know many from out that way and most love it there. I retired from Fort Campbell and decided to stay put, was not about to go back into a city like Denver where I grew up. I have found TN quite pleasant enough though lately the heat and humidity has been high, the people are decent for the most part as long as you stay away from the big metropolitan areas. While 2A laws here are decent for the most part, we can always use more supporters moving in...as a matter of fact we will trade Jersey 20 liberals for just one 2A supporter.