Super Cheap (But Nice!) Small Towns in TN (Jackson, Milan: fit in, transplants)
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Something that is sorta weird, or at least, incongruous, is Marion County (on southern Tn. border) shaded in green as being part of E. Tenn. but straight south of nothing but Middle Tenn. counties. I guess neither here nor there, just curious, perhaps only to me.
Marion County is definitely East Tennessee. It might look out of place on a map due to the mountains running NE to SW. But once you get over Monteagle I consider that E. Tenn.
The odd thing in my mind is why Sequatchie County is considered Middle TN....on that map at least.
Thank you for the help and replies (except the last one, which was just weird - I don't know if you hate me or Tennessee or both, and it turns out I don't care, either. )
I know the price we're looking at is very low, but there are more than a few real live home listings for just that so we'll be checking them out. Worst case, we don't find anything in our range and we rent for a year or two until we can afford something.
I did check with Comcast and the communities we're looking at do offer high-speed internet. I will, however, definitely keep that to the forefront whenever we're adding a new possibility to our list.
I worked at Comcast for a few years and I can tell you that just because Comcast is carried in a town, it is often not carried down streets with very few homes, so you will have to ask ahead of time, and I wouldn't rely on websites to answer that, but call the actual local people (they will be out of Knoxville). I am very surprised that you got such a positive response. I covered from Little Rock, Arkansas through Memphis and Chattanooga, up through Knoxville, into a very small area of the Tri-Cities and into Abingdon, VA. They don't cover most small towns in TN.
Further, I was also a real estate agent and most homes with an extraordinary price tag are that way for a reason, and it isn't good. They are not giving away homes in TN so if the price is low it is probably going to cost you the same as any other in the long run.
Check out Rutledge, Maynardville, or Morristown areas. Close to Knoxville (and Morristown and Rutledge are also fairly close to Tri-Cities) and Gatlinburg area and very close to lakes (Cherokee and Norris), still rural in character. One thing to remember in Rutledge area if close to Cherokee Lake there are more expensive places close to lake that are being bought left and right by outsiders often, not always, from Ky. and Va.), so maybe a little more traffic and expense than away from this particular area.
When you drive from Andersonville to Maynardsville (on 61) and you cross over the Anderson/Union county line as you are leaving Anderson County, what is the first town you hit in Union County? I like that area. I also like the Andersonville area around the Waterside marina.
I am very surprised that you got such a positive response. I covered from Little Rock, Arkansas through Memphis and Chattanooga, up through Knoxville, into a very small area of the Tri-Cities and into Abingdon, VA. They don't cover most small towns in TN.
Further, I was also a real estate agent and most homes with an extraordinary price tag are that way for a reason, and it isn't good. They are not giving away homes in TN so if the price is low it is probably going to cost you the same as any other in the long run.
I may not be using appropriate terminology on town size - I consider towns of 30,000 or less to be "small towns" still, so perhaps I'm confusing everyone with that. Get up into the 50 or 60K region and I start thinking of it as more of a city.
I am reasonably adept at reading real estate ads (my husband was in contruction for many years, my uncle is a home inspector) and I know what things like "fixer upper" and "needs a little TLC" and "handyman special" really mean. But I'm also finding a fair number of "move in ready" and "fully remodeleds", too.
We shall see. I promise to report back on this thread after our trip in July and I'll either let y'all say "I told you so" or I'll post pics (since without those, as we know, it didn't happen. )
I may not be using appropriate terminology on town size - I consider towns of 30,000 or less to be "small towns" still, so perhaps I'm confusing everyone with that. Get up into the 50 or 60K region and I start thinking of it as more of a city.
I am reasonably adept at reading real estate ads (my husband was in contruction for many years, my uncle is a home inspector) and I know what things like "fixer upper" and "needs a little TLC" and "handyman special" really mean. But I'm also finding a fair number of "move in ready" and "fully remodeleds", too.
Move in ready can mean they cleaned out the racoon mess and painted the walls. Fully remodeled may just mean a flipper with new kitchen appliances to replace the antiques that were rusting to the floor before. Or maybe that kitchen remodel means they painted the cabinets a nice white and added the cheapest grade granite for $200. We felt pretty adept, too, and in the end found our home using online sources as well as a real estate agent, but we also knew exactly where we wanted to live by putting in on the ground time in the community before we looked at real estate. Real estate adds, listings and written descriptions are not always what we think and often leave out details that can very well effect what you end up with, like lax or nonexistent building codes. Who and what went into building the original when it comes to that cheap housing? The first home we looked at was absolutely gorgeous, great property, even a great view BUT it was poorly constructed, and this explained the price. A few of the houses we saw were not quite what we expected just from the real estate pictures and descriptions, but the biggest thing you cannot "see" from anything on line or from pictures is the actual location and actual under the covers construction. The other thing that you won't "see" is what your neighborhood is like. Are you ready for the neighbor who target practices for days on end before bear season? Or the one who hauls his metal fishing boat out before dawn and rattles all over that gravel driveway on his way by your house, every weekend? How about Mr. Power Tools who never stops using his gadgets out in the yard or in his garage? Neither will be in the real estate description. How about being down wind by a mile or two from a factory or large CAFO ? You'll never find that in the description either but you will smell them if you come to that part of town
We shall see. I promise to report back on this thread after our trip in July and I'll either let y'all say "I told you so" or I'll post pics (since without those, as we know, it didn't happen. )
I'd love to see pics and prefer it to I told you so.
None of us want to rain on your parade but we've all seen too many bright eyed people with unrealistic views and expectations. Too many of them come to post about how bad they have it, because they have become bitter about their experience and blame it on others or even on TN in general. They assume it will be just like where ever they came from - only better and cheaper. They settle in a cheap area and find all their neighbors shoot off guns (or fireworks in one case) at all hours, or that the grocery store doesn't carry half the foods they thought *every* supermarket must carry. They get a great bargain, a steal even, until the first heavy rains and it tuns out its bottom land prone to some flooding in the basement or crawl space and mold grows easily on the "remodeled" walls.
I lived an area where technology at the bleeding edge was a given. Your assumption that it was readily available in a very small town with very cheap prices says that is what you have all around you, too. It is really different in truly rural areas with real small towns that are not suburbs of a larger city in many, if not most states. It certainly is the case here in TN. High speed internet (cable or phone company) over phone poles over long distances is very expensive to install and support, especially at low population densities. Without the demand of enough people with income large enough to support this cost it does not make its way very far out from metro areas. As HIK said before even where it might be in town, it isn't a given everyone has it. One block up or down might as well be 50 miles away.
What you want may very well exist but we don't want you to expect it to be everywhere and quite easy to find. The best advice has been repeated hundreds of times on the various threads here. Spend time actually being here and get concrete information once you find places you think you will be happy in. Go to stores, especially the supermarket, and act as if you live in a place. See if you can find health care (hospitals doctors, dentists chiropractors and physical therapists are good landmarks). Do you get cell phone reception everywhere in that area? It will take more than one visit and some serious soul searching on your part to come up with what it is that you want and need, and what you can give up.
None of us want to rain on your parade but we've all seen too many bright eyed people with unrealistic views and expectations. Too many of them come to post about how bad they have it, because they have become bitter about their experience and blame it on others or even on TN in general. They assume it will be just like where ever they came from - only better and cheaper. They settle in a cheap area and find all their neighbors shoot off guns (or fireworks in one case) at all hours, or that the grocery store doesn't carry half the foods they thought *every* supermarket must carry. They get a great bargain, a steal even, until the first heavy rains and it tuns out its bottom land prone to some flooding in the basement or crawl space and mold grows easily on the "remodeled" walls.
I lived an area where technology at the bleeding edge was a given. Your assumption that it was readily available in a very small town with very cheap prices says that is what you have all around you, too. It is really different in truly rural areas with real small towns that are not suburbs of a larger city in many, if not most states. It certainly is the case here in TN. High speed internet (cable or phone company) over phone poles over long distances is very expensive to install and support, especially at low population densities. Without the demand of enough people with income large enough to support this cost it does not make its way very far out from metro areas. As HIK said before even where it might be in town, it isn't a given everyone has it. One block up or down might as well be 50 miles away.
What you want may very well exist but we don't want you to expect it to be everywhere and quite easy to find. The best advice has been repeated hundreds of times on the various threads here. Spend time actually being here and get concrete information once you find places you think you will be happy in. Go to stores, especially the supermarket, and act as if you live in a place. See if you can find health care (hospitals doctors, dentists chiropractors and physical therapists are good landmarks). Do you get cell phone reception everywhere in that area? It will take more than one visit and some serious soul searching on your part to come up with what it is that you want and need, and what you can give up.
Bravo Auntie Em! Great post and on the money. OP, she isn't being mean to you in any way, she is speaking plain truth. Stick around this site long enough and one day you too will be repeating the same advice.
Pam
Last edited by Pam& Bill; 11-14-2010 at 02:10 PM..
Reason: typo sigh
To the OP, I am from Etowah. My family and I are about to move tho. If you live in Etowah City you can get Cable and all that jazz. Even parts of the country can get it too. The good thing about Etowah is, the fact it is right in between Chattanooga and Knoxville(about an hour to both). Etowah has some great events. 4th of July, Christmas Parades, Trick or Treating for the kids on 411, Arts and Crafts shows. They also have the GEM Theater. They are currently showing movies in it. Which is what it use to be like.
Athens would be a great place too. It has TWC(a college from which I am an Alum). They also have plenty of events for families. One of which coming up is AN OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS.
If you need any other info on the area send me a DM.
I think if DH knows construction then you CAN find a good deal. Especially if you can handle cleaning up the racoon (or more likely dog) messes. Double expecially if you can pay cash.
But get a Good title lawyer to check out the paperwork.
Continuing my thanks to everyone - seriously, I don't mind hearing the potential negatives. It all helps to make sure we get something we can live with in the end. I don't take it personal.
Anyone have experience in Columbia, Tennessee? That's another area we're considering in our expanded search.
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