Relo 2 Knoxville

Old Sep 24th, 2005, 03:46 PM
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Relo 2 Knoxville

My husband and I are also looking to relocate to Knoxville. We have no kids, and are in our 30's. We are looking specifially for an area as close as pos, but willing to be up to 70 miles from Knoxville. We are looking for a semi new home on 5+ acres with mountain views. We are considering areas like Strawberry Plains, Jefferson City, Dandridge, Harriman, and pos Greenville. Any words about these places and if anyone has any other good towns/cities, I would love to hear it. I would be looking for office or retail work, and my husband works from the house. We will be there on Monday, for 10 days to check out the area in more detail. Hope to move there this fall. Thanks in advance for you help. Faythe
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Old Sep 30th, 2005, 12:09 PM
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My husband and I are in a very similar situation to yours, and are looking for a similar thing! I have been researching Maryville - it seems really lovely. In addition to others' suggestions on this topic, I would love to hear what anyone has to say about living in Maryville. We're looking for a nice place to raise kids, beautiful scenery, with nightlife and action somewhat close by. Fishing is a priority for him, a nice roomy house and reasonable cost of living is a priority for me.
Faythe, if you have 10-15 minutes to spare, go to findyourspot.com You take an online quiz about what you're looking for in a new city and it gives you results of matches that may be right for you. I don't put too much stock in these things, but I really enjoyed reading about the cities that came up in my results!
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Old Sep 30th, 2005, 01:22 PM
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I live in Maryville (originally from Louisiana), and depending what you like, there are lots of interesting neighborhoods in Knoxville as well as Blount County (county south of Knoxville that contains Maryville). I like living in Maryville; it feel small-townish but has all the conveniences anyone could need. If you are looking for mountain views and decent housing prices, Blount County is the way to go. Maryville/Alcoa, Townsend and Walland are in the Smokies, near the entrance to the Park. Maryville/Alcoa is a great location, in my opinion, because it is equal distance from Knoxville (all the bars, college sports, theaters, etc.) and the mountains (hiking, fishing, biking, etc.). If you want more info, I'll be happy to supply.
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Old Oct 6th, 2005, 02:43 PM
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acbrown, if your researching Maryville, don't forget to check out Knoxville as well. My husband and I just came back from Knoxville, Maryville, etc. yesterday. WE loved it. WE even loved the city of Knoxville very much. As far as country, there are lots of places we liked, for example Townsend and Walland were good (closer to Maryville) and then there was Green county. That's about an hour from the city, but beautiful. Maryville was more surburban than we like, but nice. If you want to live on a smaller but nicer properties with lots of neighbors, you will find it in both Maryville and Knoxville. I am no expert, but learning as I go along And from Maryville on the way to Surverevill, there we nice homes, until we came to contractor central. They are taking up properties with views and making developments there. Everywhere. We dont' like developments unless they make them larger lots (5+ acres) with trees - which costs too much, so they wont do that. Oh well, I hope they don't make the whole area that way. So we decided not to look in Maryville anymore. But we loved the whole area of east Tn. more than we thought we would. You pretty much have it all - shopping, night life (in a city that does sleep-which is good), hiking, affordable homes in just about any form you want. Acres, row homes, developments, city lofts, etc. Maryville is closer to the mountains, but Knoxville is not too far. It's like a dream driving in E Tn coming from NY. Wow, I can't begin to tell you. We really loved the city of Knoxville so much and felt safe at night. There is so much to do. There are more places to eat than I care to say, and stores, stores and more stores and a mall along Kingston Pike, in Knoxville (I forget if it's north or south Knoxville, my husband did all the driving). But the college football is a big thing there. Orange everywhere.
I'll put more info as I get it on this forum.
I will also get back to this forum with questions (for Tennessee girl) thanks for offering.
Faythe
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Old Oct 7th, 2005, 04:45 AM
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Thanks faythe and TennesseeGirl for both of your replies!

I am concerned about development - that's one of the reasons my husband and I want to leave Florida - way too much development going on and it's ruining the natural beauty of the area and making the cost of living soar. TennesseeGirl, do you see some of that happening in Maryville? I went to realtor.com to check out houses in the area and did see quite a few listings that are in construction. I'd be happy with a brand new house, but only if it's on a couple of acres and in an area where trees and the scenery are preserved.

Faythe, did you settle on a couple other areas around Knoxville that you are narrowing your possibilities down to? My husband & I won't be moving until next year, and we will probably take a road trip there in Jan/Feb. We'll do a lot of exploring then. I'm a research junkie, so I'm looking at all my options now : )
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Old Oct 7th, 2005, 01:50 PM
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acbrown, I can send you links galore, but going there makes all the difference. Although it did help us to know about it before hand and when we saw it - things came together nicely. There are so many area's, it sounds like were looking for the same thing. BTW, whey you look at homes online - you do not see what is around it, you really can't tell. Many new homes are in developments. AFter reviewing my notes, it seems Sevier county (the county between Knox and Blount) is doing most of the developing. Maryville had nice homes with decent properties, but smaller than what we want. The city is smaller than Knoxville, which makes sense. There is def. $ put into the city, it's clean and well maintained and cute but not cultural. As you drive off on different roads such as 321 that's where we liked it. It opened up and we came to Townsead and Walland. On one side of 321 you can take any street and it brings you to beautiful "wooded" homes (some log homes) and the roads are small. Across to the other side of 321, take any street and it brings you to beautiful mountain view homes (old and new) that are not wooded, so you have the view. It's weird, but cool. I don't know about the schools - it doesn't matter for us. I know Maryville has good schools, I don't know how far you can go to be in the schools, perhaps Tennesseegirl knows. townsead seemed to be a vacation area, but not all homes were vacation homes. I think it was Foothills Parkway where you have a mix of old and new homes - some off on a hill and some on streets. They were interesting.

I took a notebook and pen and jotted down notes as we went though each area, we covered 1800+ miles. Yes were crazy. We went all the way to Crossville (not our thing) and Harriman and Oak Ridge, not our thing either. But the way back was beautiful. The Cumberland Mts were unbelievable. As far as where we are going to look, we are trying to figure that out now. We loved the city so much, we thought of getting a loft there and a county home also, and live there on the weekends and such. but we are not sure. Also, we LOVED Green County. It's about 60 min from Knoxville (city), real rural, you think your in heaven. The city of Greenville was quite nice and very historic. Old -well kept buildings. It was on the way back from there on rte 349 to Knoxville is a must drive!!! Gorgeous. But I don't know about the schools. There are plenty of places that are right, if you find the right home. It's the way the property is laid out. You can't tell from photo's, but photo's are good to see inside the house, but it takes 2 seconds to see the property and know if it's for you. It's hard from photo's, unless they take a lot. The best thing is to describe the property you want and the cost, and schools, etc, and let the Realtors help you. Knoxville has a cool idea, for $10 per person, they will bring you to dif. peoples homes (real homes) from lofts to country, to suburban, etc and each family will tell you about their area. I will post it when I find the website or info- We have a huge pile of papers to go through. But be careful, there is this nice, but very expensive area called farragut that I hear all the realtors guide people from out of town to. It's crowded (very) and expensive, but it's near all the shopping (Kingston Pike) and they have great schools, but from what I hear from the locals - crowded. The roads and schools.
Also, I hear they wouldn't have bought homes there if they only knew, but all the RE people are guiding new comers there. So unless you want to spend a lot and the properties are only large with a larger price tag, I don't think that's what you want. We also liked Dandridge, I think you'd like it there. It wasn't too far from the city, but not around the corner either. Oh, in E Tn, the driving is wonderful. I'm use to NY traffic and we are 20 miles from NYC, it could take 2 hours to get there or 30 min, depending on traffic. So, in E Tn, you could get far fast. So distance isn't such an issue. There are other area's around Knoxville that you could find a home, it's a matter of the layout. Oh we stayed at a "Holiday Inn Expree" in Powel. It was prety new and reasonalble, but you have to book online, otherwise you pay more. And they wont bargain. So, I'd say book online, but it's a good clean hotel with a decent breakfast, 12 min's from the city of Knoxville. You might want to check Powell out too. As we explore, I will post more names. Well, that's long enough for now. Hope it helped.
Faythe
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Old Oct 10th, 2005, 06:08 AM
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Thanks for all that great info Faythe! Wow - you guys really did cover a lot in your trip. Just so I can compare your research with what my hubby and I are looking for, are you looking to be in a pretty remote area? Are small towns, pop of just a few thousand, a little more up your alley? We definitely would like a few acres with nice views, so we wouldn't mind being on the outskirts, but it would be nice to have grocery stores, restaurants/bars and other businesses of a decent variety within 10-15 minutes of home. It would also be nice to have neighbors our age close enough where we can meet people and be social, but not too close.

Also, I know there are several dry counties in Tennessse, and I don't know which ones they are. We would not want to be in a dry county : ) Do you happen to know if Jefferson, Green or Blount counties are dry? I tried researching that on the internet, but could not find any info.

Right now schools are not a priority because we don't have kids yet, but we are working on it, so we expect to move there with a baby and then schools will be important a few years from now.

I can't wait to take a roadtrip up there! We probably won't cover quite as much ground as you did, but I will definitely bring all your comments with, so we can check out some of the areas you mentioned that sound really nice.

What month are you planning to move? Are you going to make another trip back to look at houses that you want to make an offer on?

TennesseeGirl, do you have a general idea of the housing market there regarding how long houses usually stay on the market before they're sold? Do they get snatched up pretty quick, or do they sit for a few months? Where I live, houses sell fast - you have to get to them really quick and be ready to pay full price.

We have a budget of the mid-upper 200's and would like a house over 2500 square feet and either a big lot or a mountain/hill view. I hope that's not too unrealistic.
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Old Oct 10th, 2005, 05:47 PM
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Hi, first of all what you want should be no problem. You can get a house from under $100 for small homes with small lots, to mid $100's for a house in a development or "regular" property (I know my friends dad paid $110k for a house in a development with a view). But in the $200 range, no problem from what I saw. ironicall that is also our range, Depending on where you buy, the 3 best area's I saw IMHO were Dandridge, Green County (outside of the Greeneville) and Townsend. 3 totally dif. areas. But I think you could find that kind of property anywhere on a 3 or 4 didget road from any city. Maryville or Knoxville. DH said the higher the didget road the more rural it is, and it turns to a single lane (each way).
WE are unable to have kids, so we are not looking for schools to be that important. But if you dont' want to move twice, I would look for good schools now and then get settled before the baby comes. But I would check out school dist's online if I were you. Now I do know Oak Ridge had the best school district around, and they had decent homes, sidewalks, clean, etc. But all smaller (but nice) properties, but maybe we just didn't see them, although as we left the city, on 95 South it opened up and there were some nice homes with views- perhaps that is in the same school district as Oak Ridge, I would think so. They use to make etoic bombs there in the 50's - they cleaned up the area but people are still a bit slow to move there. Seemed to be prety populated when we went at the Walmart.
Oh, I want to correct something I said before: I mentioned the area that was being built up being Sevierville, but it wasn't. It was Seymour!!
Re: dry area's, I don't know what you mean. If it rains, it hits the whole area, there's no desert looking area if that's what you mean.
Jef City reminded us of Lancaster Pa, just less farms. The downtown was non descript.
We are having a meeting tomorrow with the others who plan to relocate and we will plan our next visit. We def. need to visit the area a few more times, and those times we plan to look at homes. Were going to contact a realtor before then. We are still discusing the areas to look at, but have 3 def. posibilites that I mentioned above. It is all depending on the house and the layout and if it has our needs, and such. My husband needs a recording studio (or he will build one) and I need a gym, and gormet kitchen. So that is a tall order with the view and space and all. We will know it if we see it, but the books don't help as far as the outside, just the inside so we do have to go & see them. faythe

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Old Oct 10th, 2005, 06:08 PM
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I am not one to promote a company or anything. I don't even put DH website on my signiture, which I should. But I did find 1 Realtor's website that actually has a # of RE agents (not just 1) and it's for all of E Tn and it has great photo's. You choose the area by county then, the city/towns then some other things - price, etc. and you get lots of photo's and that is the best website I've come across (out of many). Hope it helps. faythe
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Old Oct 10th, 2005, 06:09 PM
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I am not one to promote a company or anything. I don't even put DH website on my signiture, which I should. But I did find 1 Realtor's website that actually has a # of RE agents (not just 1) and it's for all of E Tn and it has great photo's. You choose the area by county then, the city/towns then some other things - price, etc. and you get lots of photo's and that is the best website I've come across (out of many). Hope it helps. faythe
http://public.kaarmls.com/
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Old Oct 11th, 2005, 06:20 AM
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I checked out that realtors website, and you're right - that is the best one I've seen too. I put in 3 counties and various criteria, and Walland and Maryville gave me the greatest number of homes that looked like what we want. I keep leaning toward Maryville in my research, particularly because my husband's company has a branch office in Knoxville, so if he can relocate to that office, Maryville is the best location (shortest commute). But I know going there and seeing those areas in person will make the biggest difference.

Regarding dry counties, that means counties where you can't buy alcohol. I've heard there are several in Tennessee, and I don't know which ones they are.

TennesseeGirl, if you are still checking this post, let me know. I'd like to ask you some specific questions about Maryville.
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Old Oct 11th, 2005, 07:34 AM
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Re:Regarding dry counties, that means counties where you can't buy alcohol. I've heard there are several in Tennessee, and I don't know which ones they are.
I didn't know that there was any place like that. Wow, I think that's great. DH and I don't dring but an occasional glass of wine with a meal. That's good to know. Well, good luck with your search.
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Old Oct 14th, 2005, 12:08 PM
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We are running away from Hurricane Katrina aftermath and are interested in Knoxville area. Does anyone have any names of up-scale apartments (attached garages, possibly gated, nice views) that would be worth checking out for my folks. Am also interested in building/buying a small (1200 sq. ft.) log cabin somewhere in the range of $150K - $175K. Is that possible in a pretty area outside of Knoxville. Maybe near a lake or something? I saw many properties for sale in the Pigeon Forge area. With so many properties for sale, can you ever sell your place if you decide to move? How fast do properties move near Knoxville?
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Old Oct 14th, 2005, 09:34 PM
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I've always liked Knoxville except for the traffic. UGH. No thank you. But if you're used to "big city" amenities, you probably won't notice the traffic and hassle of Knoxville at all.

You had mentioned Greene County (note the "e" at the end), which is beautiful and sparsely populated. You might also look into Washington County between Jonesborough and Greeneville near Telford, Chuckey, etc. Nice mountain views and not a lot of heavy developemnt, but conveneint to Greeneville or Johnson City. It's possible to buy some acreage out in that area and not have other people living on top of you. You're also out of the touristy areas. Unicoi County is also beautiful and mountainous, less than an hour from Asheville.

I live in Johnson City, so if you have specific questions about this corner of Tennessee just drop me an email and I'll help any way I can.
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Old Oct 17th, 2005, 04:17 PM
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I thought Greene County was so beautiful. How are the jobs (office/clerical) in Greeneville and Johnson City? Is it hard for someone from the north (with accent in tote) to get a decent job?

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Old Oct 17th, 2005, 06:11 PM
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Johnson City is a university town, so that should dispel some anti-Yank prejudice that you might expect to find. Greeneville has a small college on the outskirts of town, so the school doesn't influence the town's character so much.

Johnson City has loads of doctors and lawyers and banks and other professional offices, as well as the university and a couple other colleges that offer office-type jobs.

My husband, who works sales in Greeneville, says the most you have to worry about is people asking where you're from, since they'll know you "ain't from around here."

www.johnsoncitypress.com and greene.xtn.net are the Johnson City and Greeneville newspapers' websites with searchable jobs classifieds.
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Old Oct 25th, 2005, 02:59 PM
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thanks so much for the info. We are really going to try to stay close to Knoxville, and get a temp home, and then take our time to see where we want to go based on what we like, and jobs. Also, we will get a better feel once we are living there, not just visiting.
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Old Oct 30th, 2005, 07:54 AM
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Like many in South Florida, we have been thinking of relocating to Tennessee and a small to mid-size town.
I used to visit about three times a year, but at the time, was not thinking of relocating. Schools are not necessary, and just want to live life a bit slower-paced and less stress-ful and hectic.

I am perfectly fluent in Spanish (as well as English, of course) and an wondering what companies, if any, could use someone with two languages, in and around Knoxville? Thanks.
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