I have been hearing a lot of great things about Knoxville lately. We are in a long search for a vacation home area,and like the Smokey mountain area and found NC to be a little too expensive. Any areas near Knoxville that are around lakes that are reasonable. Any recommendations of where to take children at the age of 9 and 4 would also be appreciated

Places to visit with 9 & 4 year old: Dollywood, SplashCountry water park, Knoxville Zoo.

Sounds like an area we would like to visit. I can not find direct flights from the Tampa airport. Are you familiar with any areas around there near a boating lake that is not too expensive yet. Our main home in Sarasota is very expensive,we do not want another home like this,just a small vacation home with a decent view around entertainment like you posted and some sporting events for my 9 year old. Nice to see some helpful people on these boards.

While I have no personal experience in shopping for waterfront property, I can tell you that lake/riverfront lots/properties are very pricey. I would suggest doing a realtor search (Google it). My guess is that the minimum price would be $500K. Of course, it's all relative, as I don't know what homes/lots go for in your area, so there might not be such sticker shock to you. I can tell you that we have lived here for about 12 years & we have loved it. It just takes a little effort overcoming the BIG ORANGE complex that the natives have around here!

You said it, Deb . . . most folks have never seen such support as Knoxville's love of Orange! We were amazed by it!

We have an expensive home in Sarasota. We do not want two of them. We are looking for a small vacation home or condo with a nice view. Does not have to be directly on water,but we would like to be near a big lake,one that we could boat on. The water lots here are extremely expensive also. Thanks for the responses,if you know of any areas like this please let me know. Anywhere within 30-40 minutes of the city would be fine.

I believe Knoxville has waterfront property near the airport -- one town would be Louisville (pronounced Louis-ville, not like the place in Ky) -- zip code is 37777 -- two college buddies lived there for a whlie and I always remembered that.

There are many lakes in East Tennessee. Norris Lake is north of Knoxville. Douglas Lake is near Sevierville and Dandridge and would be close to Knoxville. Watauga Lake and South Holston Lake are in Northeast Tennessee and would likely be the least expensive choices.

I just found this website that may be helpful to you: http://www.tennesseelakeinfo.com/

Look at Tellico Village on Tellico Lake just outside of Knoxville.
http://www.cooperhomes.com/village_tellico.asp
It is a planned community with over 40 miles of shoreline.

Interesting you write about Tellico village. I thought about looking into it then someone told me that when Eric Estrada or others do commercials on these places that they are usually over-rated. What are your thoughts on that? Someone else told me it was beautiful!!

Probably better take a look at the price. Might be too much. It is beautiful.

Gretchen on the TN site. You have been to this area also? I am checking out Wattsbar,Douglas and Cherokee Lake areas also. You are correct,the Tellico area has gone up a lot I was told.

Happytourist,one of the realtors,who happened to be extremely honest told me that approx.80% of Tellico was retirees and Rarity Bay nearby 70% retirees. Do you still think that would be a good area with a 4 and 9 year old?

But BigAl, you are only going to be there 2 or 3 week-ends a year and will want to rent it the rest of the time--non?
My mother was from Knoxville.

I could change that to 2 to 3 weeks a year.

"...approx.80% of Tellico was retirees and Rarity Bay nearby 70% retirees. Do you still think that would be a good area with a 4 and 9 year old?"

Let me respond with several points.
1. I live in a Cooper Community similar to Tellico Village (Hot Springs Village in Arkansas). It is not an age-restricted community--we have 14,000 people with about 600 kids in the Village. Obviously, the golf and water create an attractive lifestyle for retirees, so that will be the majority. We have two families with young kids (ages 5,5,8,10,16) on our street and they chose living here for the family lifestyle. At HSV, we have a recreation center for kids that has lots of activities, both daily and seasonally for visitors (grandchildren). We also have a fitness center, two pools, 8 golf courses, 2 tennis courts, basketball, bocce, miniature golf, walking trails, lakes, etc. so there is never a lack of things to do. All of this is available for a nominal fee and is part of the privileges you have through your monthly assessment to the Property Owners Association (ours is $32 a month and pays for professional police, fire, the streets, etc.). The kids here at HSV say that it is a wonderful place to grow up because of the amenities and peaceful environment.

2. Being surrounded by mostly older people means you have very little crime. You can safely leave your home for long periods without worrying about it.

3. You're talking about a vacation home anyway, not a fulltime home, so pick a place that will be fun and enjoyable for the whole family. At least take a look at TV. Your Realtor probably does not sell at TV, as they would have several real estate companies in the area that sell only at TV, so contact a Tellico realtor.

4. Erik Estrada is doing commercials all over the country for different communities, including ours. However, he works for National Recreation Properties, a company that buys up excess lots from owners and resells them. I've seen his HSV ad and he's not exaggerating or misrepresenting anything about HSV. However, some local realtors believe that NRP has marked up the lots too much. We are in a housing boom, so the ads must be working. We've got tons of people from Florida, California and New York moving in.

Keep us all informed about your research and choices!

Thanks,that was a well written message,whick makes a lot of sense. When I first moved to the Sarasota area,I was told that we may not like it because there was many older people. I thought the same thing,it would be safer and as long as their were some families I would be ok. We found a lot more families are moving here now,and we are happy. But the fact that we would not be there year round,like you said,would not matter anyways as long as there are enough things for the kids to do. Thanks again.