advice to move to Tennessee (Knoxville, Maryville: property tax, living, housing)

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by Onthehunt49

I am retired and wife works remotely.
We enjoy outdoors, hiking, boating and fishing. We would like to be close to lake or river , if not on it.
Love the small town atmosphere with amenities within hour away.

Live in Arizona now, originally from Alabama and lived half life in California.
I miss the green of this area. used ride motorcycles in Tennessee and fell in love with scenery and the people years ago.

All advice is appreciated

The great news is no income tax of any kind. No tax on pensions, Social Security, dividends, interest.

You will have to check with zip code for sales tax.
TN state sales tax is 7%. The county amount may vary. Nashville has 9.25%. Clarksville 9.5%. Cookeville 9.75%. These amounts vary by county. The city may or may not add to the sales tax.

Purchases on internet items are now subject to sales tax. Ebay will calculate & add the amount to your bill.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by BuffaloHome

Exactly. The temperature difference between Cookeville and Crossville is only 2-3 degrees, not 10. And often they're the same.

True, but dew points at different elevations can make quite a difference in the 'real feel' (or what I like to think of as the 'icky and sticky' factor). That only 2-3 degree difference can wind up with a real feel difference of 5-10 degrees, which is enough to be a consideration for many people.

[Onthehunt49]

I really appreciate all the replies and info.
First I have heard of Crosville. Very interesting.
Yes we like boating and and fishing and sswimming

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by Onthehunt49

I am retired and wife works remotely.
We enjoy outdoors, hiking, boating and fishing. We would like to be close to lake or river , if not on it.
Love the small town atmosphere with amenities within hour away.

Live in Arizona now, originally from Alabama and lived half life in California.
I miss the green of this area. used ride motorcycles in Tennessee and fell in love with scenery and the people years ago.

All advice is appreciated

I'm not sure you can be more than half an hour from a lake or good sized river anywhere in Eastern TN (or is it East TN?), and probably not 10 minutes from a creek. Best thing you can do is come out and explore the area and see what really calls to you. We did and saw a good portion of the state east of Nashville. Honestly, it's all pretty, but in different ways. Personally, I'm drawn to the mountains and national forests. We bought a place not far from the NC border by Del Rio, within the Cherokee National Forest. I'm not sure if you still ride motorcycles, but some of the best, most famous motorcycle roads in the country are along the eastern part of the state (much across the border in NC). IMO, stay out of Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge and most of the rest of East TN is really nice, if you like rural areas, mountains, rivers and creeks. (and those areas are certainly nice, but way too crowded and touristy for my taste). Cookeville was a little bigger than we were personally looking for, and quite a bit flatter-but still very pretty. But what calls to one person may not for another.

I really like the area in far NE Tenn, around Watauga lake-beautiful country, and doesn't seem terribly crowded, with good access to larger towns (JC/Elizabethton) but we couldn't find a place that met what we wanted in our price range when we were house hunting. (actually, I guess we did, but were beat out after making over-asking-price offers). We may move that way after we get in-state and aren't in such a hurry to find a place-or not, where we did buy is really pretty.

How small a town are you looking for? And how large a lot? Rural acreage with a fairly nice, new-ish home is not that common and can be expensive if you want some space (5 acres or more), especially in the NE part of the state. But no where near as crazy as prices in the west-coming from AZ you'll probably be fine budget wise no matter where you decide.

[Onthehunt49]

We are vacationing in rv as we speak in Sevierville. Beautiful in this area. But like you say too touristy and traffic.
50000 people max, prefer closer 20000 or little less.
Fairly close to major shopping/amenities .

Very close to lake/river for boating/fishing/swimming.

[suzytx]

Another vote for NE Tennessee. Lovely mountains, cooler weather, great outdoor activities. I like it much better than central Tennessee.

[Onthehunt49]

Any advice on the towns in Norris Lake area ?

[drinkthekoolaid]

Originally Posted by suzytx

Another vote for NE Tennessee. Lovely mountains, cooler weather, great outdoor activities. I like it much better than central Tennessee.

I constantly lurk in the TN forums.

I think I need to drag the family down for a visit sometime this year.

We've seen sevierville, Gatlinburg etc but I want to see regular non tourist towns. Places like oak ridge, Maryville, Erwin, Jonesborugh, Morristown etc.

I'm interested in any small town with decent internet, within a reasonable distance of a city within a triangle between Cookeville to Chattanooga to Johnson City. Ideally would love like 5 acres somewhere within 10 minutes of town and 45-60 mine of a city.


I literally fantasize about TN. I think it's the perfect goldilocks state and all y'all who were lucky enough to be born there count your blessings. I'm trying to move heaven and earth to get there.

[fishingupnorth]

I'd tell you to check out Fairfield Glade but we have way too many people moving here already.

[Racer46]

Originally Posted by drinkthekoolaid

I constantly lurk in the TN forums.

I think I need to drag the family down for a visit sometime this year.

We've seen sevierville, Gatlinburg etc but I want to see regular non tourist towns. Places like oak ridge, Maryville, Erwin, Jonesborugh, Morristown etc.

I'm interested in any small town with decent internet, within a reasonable distance of a city within a triangle between Cookeville to Chattanooga to Johnson City. Ideally would love like 5 acres somewhere within 10 minutes of town and 45-60 mine of a city.


I literally fantasize about TN. I think it's the perfect goldilocks state and all y'all who were lucky enough to be born there count your blessings. I'm trying to move heaven and earth to get there.

Check around Seymour a non city in 3 counties. Easy access to Knoxville, Maryville, Sevierville/Gatlinburg and a nice rural feel with lots of housing options. Had a family member living there for years and loved it. Property taxes then were based on 1.4 the value as well if in the sevier county section.