Grand Adventure: Part II (Tennessee!!!)

[wyfbane]

So we finally got my buddy situated south of Knoxville, TN in his new home. I picked up my dad last night from the Nashville Airport. We met with a core of realtors today in Lebanon, TN and Knoxville.

I am going to be in Tennessee until Friday, Feb 5th making a network of realtors around the state and dropping off resumes at school districts.

If anyone wants to meet up or can suggest a good tobacco B&M, I will try to make it there. My tentative itinerary is as follows:

Sun,1/31: Bristol (Tri city) area
Mon, 2/1: Chattanooga area
Tues, 2/2: Lynchburg/ Fayetteville
Wed, 2/3: Savannah(TN) up to Jackson
Thurs, 2/4: McKenzie/Paris/New Johnsonville
Fri, 2/5: Dickson up to Clarksville

I am looking for a 4bedroom, 2 bath house with basement on 5+ (Hopefully more) acres in the $325k range. Ideally there will be a detached garage/shop and a barn with 2 stalls+ on there, as I want a horse and some goats. Wife wants some form of water, (pond, spring, or creek).

Up til a year ago this would have been easy. Now I am competing with thousands of Californians with more buying power.

Upon my return home, we will begin liquidating my dad's stuff. (He is coming, too). We will get his house on the market and liquidate our stuff, then do the same.

This is a scouting trip. I am mainly looking for the best areas in our price range and building the realtor network...

Hope to be buying here in 6 months. I figure everything here will be 10k higher by then, so time is a factor.

 

[deadidunn]

Good Luck, hopefully you'll find what you're looking for!!

 

[buzkirk]

I'm just north of Jackson, with your budget you should find something suitable for your needs.
My realtor is Mike Nelson with Hickman realty in Humboldt Tn.
One thing to be aware of is Tyson Chicken Farms moving into the area, so look at the areas that will be impacted by this. I'm told the stench of chicken barns is very unplesant.

 

[chilllucky]

That kind of "chicken farm" issue is a very real concern. Your realtor may or may not know about (or decide to tell you about) local issues like commercial farms, dumps, or utilities in the begining stages of buying up land for their stinky/dangerous whatevers.

Pay attention to yard signs as you drive around. "No wind power in X county" "No factory farms", etc. Then check Facebook for advocay groups on the issue. Some of it is just NIMBY-ism, some of it will keep you from buying property in the spillway of a coal ash dump. Either way, it will give you an idea of the level of discourse and engagement of the locals.

 

[tschiraldi]

Good luck, Brother!

 

[wyfbane]

Thanks for that advice! I passed it on to the Mrs back home so it won't be forgotten. I talked to a realtor who explained the power FEMA has over homes in a floodplain, even when there is no flood. That was pretty awesome... not .

I know this house doesn't match our criteria, but we found it before our criteria evolved to what it is. I saw it and loved it, so dad and I went up to bristol pretty much just to see it. Talked to the owner and it was pretty neat to see a house I was drooling over for months.

401 Maryland Ave, Bristol, TN, 37620 | realtor.com® - https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/401-Maryland-Ave_Bristol_TN_37620_M86058-08696?cid=txt_shares_rdc_ldp

And here is me on the front steps:

 

[kcghost]

Good Luck, Bro!!

 

[beefeater33]

Thanks for that advice! I passed it on to the Mrs back home so it won't be forgotten. I talked to a realtor who explained the power FEMA has over homes in a floodplain, even when there is no flood. That was pretty awesome... not .

I know this house doesn't match our criteria, but we found it before our criteria evolved to what it is. I saw it and loved it, so dad and I went up to bristol pretty much just to see it. Talked to the owner and it was pretty neat to see a house I was drooling over for months.

401 Maryland Ave, Bristol, TN, 37620 | realtor.com® - https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/401-Maryland-Ave_Bristol_TN_37620_M86058-08696?cid=txt_shares_rdc_ldp

And here is me on the front steps:

View attachment 63388

That house is incredible!! I know you're looking for some land to go with it but DAMN!.............

Good luck on your search. It's a labor of love.

A bunch of chicken farms went in where I grew up back in the 1980's-90's. We lived on a farm, so the odors weren't really noticeable. What WAS noticeable was the flies......... we were 5-10 miles away, and in the summer the flies were horrible. Cook-outs were almost impossible, it was bad. We had livestock, and were used to a few flies in season, but when the chicken farms went in it was 20X what was normal............

I do think it's better now, as they don't spread the manure on the farm fields anymore........ they have to compost, and pasteurize it, so the flies are not so bad. But yea......... I would stay at least 25 miles from a large chicken farm, unless you're hard core, country boy, bad-ass, mofo!!........... ?

 

[wyfbane]

I went to the Smokey Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville today. It was pretty magnificent. I cannot in good conscience call myself a 'knife guy', though I do love them but even this rookie was awed... I found these Case knives (identical, I just flipped on to show both sides). I'm going to give them to my sons when we move here:

 

[wyfbane]

That house is incredible!! I know you're looking for some land to go with it but DAMN!.............

Good luck on your search. It's a labor of love.

A bunch of chicken farms went in where I grew up back in the 1980's-90's. We lived on a farm, so the odors weren't really noticeable. What WAS noticeable was the flies......... we were 5-10 miles away, and in the summer the flies were horrible. Cook-outs were almost impossible, it was bad. We had livestock, and were used to a few flies in season, but when the chicken farms went in it was 20X what was normal............

I do think it's better now, as they don't spread the manure on the farm fields anymore........ they have to compost, and pasteurize it, so the flies are not so bad. But yea......... I would stay at least 25 miles from a large chicken farm, unless you're hard core, country boy, bad-ass, mofo!!........... ?

Yikes. That is good to know. There was a place with a 40 x 400 commercial chicken barn on it that we saw online. Never considered the flies, and I h a t e flies.

 

[beefeater33]

I went to the Smokey Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville today. It was pretty magnificent. I cannot in good conscience call myself a 'knife guy', though I do love them but even this rookie was awed... I found these Case knives (identical, I just flipped on to show both sides). I'm going to give them to my sons when we move here:

View attachment 63421View attachment 63422View attachment 63423

Good call on the case knives. I carry a small one that my Mother gave me about 4 years before she passed. I carry that knife every day, it's a comfort thing I guess. I lost it last summer while push mowing our 1 acre yard........... my pocket had a hole in it just big enough for the knife to slip through. I retraced my mowing pattern, and found it about 45 minutes later!!
Your Sons will cherish those for a lifetime............

 

[beefeater33]

Yikes. That is good to know. There was a place with a 40 x 400 commercial chicken barn on it that we saw online. Never considered the flies, and I h a t e flies.

We grew up with some flies, its just part of farm life, but when they were like 20X normal population it was horrible........... Don't let it scare you too much though....... talk to the locals. My experience was 35 years ago, and I know the EPA has cracked down on how farms have to manage their manure sidestreams, so it's probably alot better than what it used to be..........

They used to just empty out the barns on the fields and let it sit and rot away, now they have to till it into the soil or compost/pasteurize it, so it's got to be less problematic than it was.

Keep us informed on your search! I've been to TN and its a wonderful place!!

 

[pantsBoots]

You're spot on regarding the buying power of Californians/Texans/West Coasters. A lot of houses are, IMO, over-valued locally and it's a mad cash-grab by folks who traditionally never had a lot of money. As a teacher, you have more options than most since you don't have to concern yourself with finding work locally. Personally, I would avoid places with a lot of development going on as we are seeing the character of many places wiped out in favor of mixed-use copy and paste gentrification.

If you like Dickson, don't forget Hickman and Houston Counties, right next door. If you're not in a rush, take the time to visit the supermarket, a local restaurant and any other place of congregation to get a feel for the local population. There are some very friendly places and some anti-out-of-stater places as well.

 

[sablebrush52]

Sounds like a great adventure and I wish you tremendous success with it. Also, You can't do better than the serenity prayer.
House price is astonishing. You can't buy a bathroom in LA for that amount. Old houses are either wonderful tinker toys or a hellish money pit, depending on how handy you are.

 

[mingc]

Also, You can't do better than the serenity prayer.

You mean the one that goes:

"SERENITY NOW!!!" ?​

 

[wyfbane]

Thank you, everyone! I f i n a l l y made it to a B&M!


They had a good selection of pipes and a great selection of Pete Christmas pipes.

Decent selection of tobaccos and the gentleman was very nice. Huge assortment of cigars. My poor dad was smoked out of there in 3.2 minutes, so I couldn't stay and kibbutz with the locals about realtors, the area, but it was still good. This is in Chattanooga, btw.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

There's some nice rural properties East of Chattanooga, kind of in the mountains or Hill country. We're I to move to Tennessee, I'd look there or around Knoxville or West of Knoxville in Crossville. I love Tennessee. Beautiful state, nice people. Check out Smoky's in West Knoxville if you get close.

Travel safe and good luck in your search.

 

[ChuckMijo]

I really like that house!! If you took that home and put in my street in Phoenix it would be a 1 million dollar home. That’s the honest truth.

 

[BROBS]

Thanks for that advice! I passed it on to the Mrs back home so it won't be forgotten. I talked to a realtor who explained the power FEMA has over homes in a floodplain, even when there is no flood. That was pretty awesome... not .

I know this house doesn't match our criteria, but we found it before our criteria evolved to what it is. I saw it and loved it, so dad and I went up to bristol pretty much just to see it. Talked to the owner and it was pretty neat to see a house I was drooling over for months.

401 Maryland Ave, Bristol, TN, 37620 | realtor.com® - https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/401-Maryland-Ave_Bristol_TN_37620_M86058-08696?cid=txt_shares_rdc_ldp

And here is me on the front steps:

View attachment 63388

YEESH how many improvements does it need? I see bad tuckpointing from pic 1 !
I would avoid an old house, personally.

 

[wyfbane]

Yeah. We have shifted our sights to a rambler with a walkout basement on 5- 20 acres. We want chickens, goats, and maybe a horse. I will try to post some good finds later.