moving out of San Antonio (Knoxville, Johnson City: sales, new home, school)

[M Wilder]

My wife and I are looking at TN for our new home. The good thing or maybe the bad thing is we can go anywhere. We want an already built or a new build Log home with, I would like 12 or more acres. We want kind of
near a Mid size city with my requirement of a Home Depot or Lowe's as my threshold. My wife's fam is from the Smithville area but I like mountains or at least hills. We are concerned about TAXES, CRIME, and TORNADOES. We would like the (4) seasons and Nice people. What can ya'll tell us?

[C24L]

whats your budget for your property?there was just a big tornado in TN very recently.

[llsmith42]

modcut


Overall, I think you can find what you're looking for just about anywhere, depending on what your budget is.


Tornadoes, especially as powerful as the one that hit Cookeville earlier this week, are rare, so I wouldn't worry about that too much.


Crossville/Cumberland County has one of the lowest property tax rates in the state, but I wouldn't consider it a mid-size city. There is a Lowe's and several other basic big box retailers, but for anything more substantial, Knoxville is appx. 45 - 60 mins to the east and Cookeville is appx. 30 - 45 minutes to the west.


You may also want to look at the Cookeville area too if you want to be nearer to more retail, better health care, or university options. If an airport is important, Cookeville is roughly an hour from the Nashville International Airport.


All areas of TN should have pronounced seasonal changes. Speaking very generally, West TN it is flatter (and hotter), Middle TN has some rolling hills and rivers, and East TN has valleys and mountains with lots of hills in between.


In the areas mentioned, Crossville sits atop the Cumberland Plateau at 1800 - 1900 feet. To the west, the Cookeville area has an elevation of 1000 - 1100 feet. The land to the east of Cookeville will appear hilly/mountainous. This would be the edge of Cumberland Plateau. In some places atop the Cumberland Plateau, the land will appear mostly flat or rolling with a few mountains in the distance. The higher elevation in Crossville allows for noticeably lower temperatures. In the summer this is nice because when it is typically 90 in Cookeville, it would be 85 or so in Crossville. The same is also true in the winter, though. If it is 35 and raining in Cookeville, it will probably be 30 and snowing in Crossville.


Both areas are beautiful and deserve a look to see which fits your lifestyle needs best.

[BuffaloHome]

orphaned

Back to the OP:

The OP's wife's family can affirm that destructive tornadoes just don't happen that often and aren't a concern for the vast majority of people around here. The destructive F-4 that hit Cookeville this week is the first one since 1974. And if anything, it has shown the kind of community that Cookeville is. Actually, all of Tennessee, as people from all over have flocked to Cookeville (and Nashville) this week to help in the recovery efforts. There have been so many in Cookeville and Mt Juliet that authorities had to turn people away and, in Cookeville, eventually tell people to stop volunteering at all for a couple of days. It's been a heartwarming experience.

[rossn2]

Log homes are expensive (to build central TN they start at $165 sq ft) and require a lot of upkeep.

What is your budget?

[james9988]

Originally Posted by M Wilder

My wife and I are looking at TN for our new home. The good thing or maybe the bad thing is we can go anywhere. We want an already built or a new build Log home with, I would like 12 or more acres. We want kind of
near a Mid size city with my requirement of a Home Depot or Lowe's as my threshold. My wife's fam is from the Smithville area but I like mountains or at least hills. We are concerned about TAXES, CRIME, and TORNADOES. We would like the (4) seasons and Nice people. What can ya'll tell us?

We are from Houston but was looking for something similar to yours with 4 mild seasons. Looked at Colorado, Utah, SC, NC, and finally landed in East TN. I can tell you that in July 2019 it was hot and humid 85 degree but unlike our Houston it cools down quickly in the evenings. People are very very helpful and friendly. City dwellers like us not used to rolling hills and got my car stuck on a slope and it was raining. Several people basically moved us out of the way and hauled the car out of the slope and then they left- WOW! They did say "Bless your heart". E. TN has rolling hills and i am on a ridge that is around 1100 ft above sea level so do not have to deal with flooding as in Houston. Property Tax calculation pretty weird but surely less than Harris county. An empty 3 acres is $550/yr. A house of $500k tax is around $3k compared to $19k in harris. I have not moved there yet but that will be our retirement home in couple of yrs. Sales tax is high but the price on fruits and veggies are pretty similar. Plenty of open space so you have to get used to it if you are moving from a city.
In TN we looked around Knoxville, Sevierville, Farragut, and others but I liked Vonore.

Native people can give more information but I thought since you are from TX, the above info might be helpful.

[suzytx]

We retired from Pflugerville to the northeast corner of Tennessee. Mountain views and cooler weather were important to us as well as the medical school/level 1 trauma center (only 6 in Tennessee) in nearby Johnson City.

I think tornadoes are more of a central Tennessee thing. They are pretty rare and not as powerful around here.

I am so glad to be away from the stifling heat of central Texas.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by suzytx

We retired from Pflugerville to the northeast corner of Tennessee. Mountain views and cooler weather were important to us as well as the medical school/level 1 trauma center (only 6 in Tennessee) in nearby Johnson City.

I think tornadoes are more of a central Tennessee thing. They are pretty rare and not as powerful around here.

I am so glad to be away from the stifling heat of central Texas.

Had a friend that used to work at the hospital in Pflugerville. Small world! Welcome to TN!

[suzytx]

Originally Posted by Beretta

Had a friend that used to work at the hospital in Pflugerville. Small world! Welcome to TN!

I wasn't born here but I got here as fast as I could!

[rossn2]

Moving to SW TN from Central TX, about 95 miles from Nashville in approx. 3 years, small town community, rolling hills, TN and Buffalo Rivers nearby as well as the Natchez Trace..counting the days!