Brit wanting holiday home in Tennesse. (Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg: rentals, mortgage, vacation home)

[Tessa]

Hi all, we are thinking of buying a holiday home in TN . Having a massive mortgage on our (modest) UK London home, we are looking for small well priced house in a safe area ( kids), reasonably close to amenities , but with country feel, somwhere with plenty to see and do. Heard that TN is very scenic with lots of outdoor activites - sounds fantastic!
Hope our expectations are realistic.
Thanking in advance to anyone who would take time to replay,
All the best,
Tess
By the way, are all houses in TN of wooden construction?

[Redtail Mountain Tennesse]

Tess,

I believe you should take a look at Red Tail Mountain in Mountain City Tennessee. It is an amenity based community in the mountains, with a central location for all types of activities. Moderator cut: no advertising allowed The community has that country feel to it. The construction there is the timberframe look: timberframe and stack stone. Moderator cut: cut

[Tessa]

Many thanks for speedy reply, will definitely have a look at Red Tail Mountain area.
Regards.

[mbmouse]

Which part of TN? East, Middle or West? If you are looking for mountain views, I would assume East, or South Middle?
What price range? Have you looked at Gatlinburg? They have many vacation homes that are wood or log homes in the mountains. It would be about 200k for a 3 bedroom. Stuff to do for the kids....Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge has more than anyone can do in a month. It is touristy, but a few blocks off the main road and it is not to bad. You can be 3 miles from Gatlinburg and feel like you are alone in the woods.
From theme parks and rides, water parks, shopping, museums, go cart tracks, miniature golf, many dinner theaters, and more. As for hiking and trails, there is the Smokie Mountain National Park right there.

[rubytue]

Originally Posted by Tessa

By the way, are all houses in TN of wooden construction?

For the most part, yet. Most US homes use timber framing (wooden 2x4s) on concrete (or block) foundations.

Interesting tidbit for anyone wondering why she might have asked -In the US, fire is one of the largest concerns from a housing safety perspective because most everything is timber framed. Our building codes and product safety standards are very concerned with fire prevention. Europe, on the other hand, doesn't use as much timber construction, but they do use a different electric distribution system. So their building and product safety standars focus more on grounding and prevention of electrocution.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by rubytue

For the most part, yet. Most US homes use timber framing (wooden 2x4s) on concrete (or block) foundations.

Interesting tidbit for anyone wondering why she might have asked -In the US, fire is one of the largest concerns from a housing safety perspective because most everything is timber framed. Our building codes and product safety standards are very concerned with fire prevention. Europe, on the other hand, doesn't use as much timber construction, but they do use a different electric distribution system. So their building and product safety standars focus more on grounding and prevention of electrocution.

That makes sense. When I lived in France I noticed that everything was concrete and stucco. I just assumed it was because of environmental reasons ("save a tree!") but what you said does make sense.

I remember showing people in France pictures of my family's log cabin in the Smokies, and they were just amazed that we had a house made entirely of wood.

[rubytue]

I don't know *why* it is the way it is. I would guess the root of US timber framing date way back to when the entire county was forested, but Europe was already built up with stone.

I use to do a lot of work with codes and standards, and b/c of these differences, it was very hard to harmonize some standards between the EU and US.

But I didn't mean to hyjack the thread. So, back to the question... go for East TN

[Tennessee gal]

Tessa, I agree with mbmouse go for the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. They have lots of holiday homes which can be rented to other holiday people while you are not here. A great way to help pay for your holiday home. Search the web and you will find numerous cabins to rent and abundance of realators that will help you look around. Always tons of stuff to do while here.

[phinz]

FWIW, the rental rate in PF/Gatlinburg is abysmal. Don't plan on your home being rented regularly. I don't remember what the vacancy rate was, but it was in significant double digits. If you count on your rentals to pay a good chunk of the mortgage then you might wind up with a big surprise.

I only say this b/c we've looked at buying a second home in the area to rent and use as a weekend getaway and the numbers we've heard were disheartening.

[Tessa]

Many thanks to anyone who took time to reply. Thats certanly a lot to think about. We have no illusions about beeing able to pay for the house with rentals, I think it applys to more less everywhere nowadys. We would have been lucky if we could rent for the third of the time. That of course leaves us with question of overheads. We need to sid down and have good look at prices of propertys as well as travelling expenses etc.
The Gatlinburg area as well as Pigeon Forge looks trully beautifull and excinting. We thinking of perhaps wisiting the area in the summer to have a good look.We'll keep you posted.
All the best from wet and windy London.
Tessa.