Cookeville, TN - Small town living & a low cost of living (McMinnville: apartment complexes, rentals)

[Wordy]

There are definitely jobs in Cookeville, but it's not a job market like Philadelphia or Miami, etc., where the help-wanted section of the paper is pages and pages long. You also have to adjust to a lower wage scale. On the other hand, housing is much cheaper than both Miami and Philadelphia. I have a job with one of the county's largest employers and find the compensation to be more than fair and the benefits very good.

It would be hard to overestimate the value of the truly nice people in this area. It's not all sunshine and flowers--nothing ever really is, is it?--but the people from this area tend to be just generally courteous, considerate and since the pace here is a bit slower than the average, they take the time to look out a bit for their neighbors.

[1967hammer]

Originally Posted by Barbiego

We retired here a year ago and love it. But my concern is that as more retirees come in, costs are going up. Three years ago when we started looking for a town to live in, Cookeville was the #1 most affordable town in the U.S. By the time we moved here two years later, it was in #2 spot. Now in today's paper I see it has dropped down to #4. Retirees with lots of money (especially from Florida) are moving here and buying huge houses and expensive cars and I think people are seeing $$$ signs and costs are going up. I sure hate to see it (by the way, we're not one of the rich retirees). It's still quite affordable (at this time) and we are happy we came.

Congrats Barbie! I'm glad that you are enjoying your retirement.

My wife and I currently live in Arizona and we just purchased our land (in Cookeville) for our retirement home. We were worried that if we waited, we would not be able to afford the land when I retire in 2016 :-(.....

We are by no means wealthy. I am a police officer and my wife teaches school. We formed an instant friendship with the wonderful people that own the land adjacent to our TN property and we can't wait to move there.

Our future neighbors (and current friends) recently told us of a funny rumor that has already been circulating the neighborhood. My wife and I (wealthy out-of-staters hahaha) blew into town and paid double the asking price with no questions asked, and that is why the prices are going so high.

When we heard this we had to laugh. We are so broke that we counter offered back and forth four times and finally ended up getting the sellers to come down over 10%. Now I am working a second job so that we can make the land payments. We can't wait to move to Cookeville, but don't worry....we won't be throwing around alot of money and driving up prices, nor will we try to change Cookeville to make it "more like home". We love it just the way it is.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by 1967hammer

Congrats Barbie! I'm glad that you are enjoying your retirement.

My wife and I currently live in Arizona and we just purchased our land (in Cookeville) for our retirement home. We were worried that if we waited, we would not be able to afford the land when I retire in 2016 :-(.....

We are by no means wealthy. I am a police officer and my wife teaches school. We formed an instant friendship with the wonderful people that own the land adjacent to our TN property and we can't wait to move there.

Our future neighbors (and current friends) recently told us of a funny rumor that has already been circulating the neighborhood. My wife and I (wealthy out-of-staters hahaha) blew into town and paid double the asking price with no questions asked, and that is why the prices are going so high.

When we heard this we had to laugh. We are so broke that we counter offered back and forth four times and finally ended up getting the sellers to come down over 10%. Now I am working a second job so that we can make the land payments. We can't wait to move to Cookeville, but don't worry....we won't be throwing around alot of money and driving up prices, nor will we try to change Cookeville to make it "more like home". We love it just the way it is.

What a great post! I hope you'll be able to come visit your new hometown often. I hope to move to Cookeville, too, one of these days. I love the place.

I think it's funny how those rumors got started about you and all that cash you're throwing around. I guess it's just human nature to speculate, particularly since there really are people with lots of money moving into the area. If you don't mind my asking, did you buy land in the city or in the county?

[jguillot]

Originally Posted by 1967hammer

Congrats Barbie! I'm glad that you are enjoying your retirement.

My wife and I currently live in Arizona and we just purchased our land (in Cookeville) for our retirement home. We were worried that if we waited, we would not be able to afford the land when I retire in 2016 :-(.....

We are by no means wealthy. I am a police officer and my wife teaches school. We formed an instant friendship with the wonderful people that own the land adjacent to our TN property and we can't wait to move there.

Our future neighbors (and current friends) recently told us of a funny rumor that has already been circulating the neighborhood. My wife and I (wealthy out-of-staters hahaha) blew into town and paid double the asking price with no questions asked, and that is why the prices are going so high.

When we heard this we had to laugh. We are so broke that we counter offered back and forth four times and finally ended up getting the sellers to come down over 10%. Now I am working a second job so that we can make the land payments. We can't wait to move to Cookeville, but don't worry....we won't be throwing around alot of money and driving up prices, nor will we try to change Cookeville to make it "more like home". We love it just the way it is.

Hi 1967hammer,

My wife and I did the same thing. We bought a 4 acre lot near Monterey while we could still afford it. We'll hang on to it until we retire in 7 to 8 years. Like you, we love the area just the way it is.

[gemkeeper]

Loved reading your post, 1967hammer, you rich-out-of-state folks. You are really planning ahead. A very smart move for you and your wife.

I hope it goes fast for you and the best is yet to come.

[1967hammer]

Hey JMT, We bought 7 acres North of town. It is outside the city limits, but a short ride into town. We just fell in love with the area and the people. I grew up in Virginia (Richmond & Newport News) but my wife had never been East of Texas. I was not sure how she would like the area, but she ended up being more excited than me She keeps asking me if there is any way that we can move sooner. I wish we could, but I have to finish my 20 years before I can get my pension

We do plan on going back there for our vacations. The property has a shop with water, power and a bathroom. I plan to fix up a kitchenette (sp?) so that we can just stay there and walk around the "estate" I mean what the heck....we ARE land barons now right? hahaha

(Shoot, I didn't mean to have the "unhappy face" at the top of my post! Okay kids, see what happens when you don't pay attention in school? I can't even figure out how to fix it now)

[JMT]

Originally Posted by 1967hammer

Hey JMT, We bought 7 acres North of town. It is outside the city limits, but a short ride into town. We just fell in love with the area and the people. I grew up in Virginia (Richmond & Newport News) but my wife had never been East of Texas. I was not sure how she would like the area, but she ended up being more excited than me She keeps asking me if there is any way that we can move sooner. I wish we could, but I have to finish my 20 years before I can get my pension

We do plan on going back there for our vacations. The property has a shop with water, power and a bathroom. I plan to fix up a kitchenette (sp?) so that we can just stay there and walk around the "estate" I mean what the heck....we ARE land barons now right? hahaha

(Shoot, I didn't mean to have the "unhappy face" at the top of my post! Okay kids, see what happens when you don't pay attention in school? I can't even figure out how to fix it now)

That sounds like a great place!

When you say north of town, which highway do you take? I hope it's North Washington (the road that goes by the high school) only because you HAVE to go over the Bangham Dips. It's just in front of the Bangham community center. It's a couple of hills on the road that are better than any roller coaster. Get your car going pretty fast, and as you go over the hills, particularly the 2nd hill, you will actually come out of your seat. So be sure to wear your seat belts! It also works best if you're going north.

With 7 acres, you're going to have fun dreaming about your house and where it will be situated. That's so exciting for you! I hope you can make it back to your property often and enjoy the Cookeville area as much as I do.

[sunshine girl]

We also fell in love with Cookeville. So much so that we are putting our house on the market this spring and are willing to take a loss on the sale just so we can move to Cookeville sooner Hope there's not a psych ward at the hospital! cuz some would say we're crazy

[JMT]

Originally Posted by sunshine girl

We also fell in love with Cookeville. So much so that we are putting our house on the market this spring and are willing to take a loss on the sale just so we can move to Cookeville sooner Hope there's not a psych ward at the hospital! cuz some would say we're crazy

haha That's great! Best of luck selling your current house so you can get on over to Tennessee! I think you've picked one of the nicest places in Tennessee; if I could, I'd move to Cookeville tomorrow.

So I don't think you're crazy.

[AdrianR]

Originally Posted by Wordy

You also have to adjust to a lower wage scale.

How much is the hourly minimum wage there?