Newbie with a couple questions...

[Guest stevek]

Hi everyone. My wife and I are looking to relocate and move back to America. (Currently live in NJ) We have 2 kids, and 5 grandkids, (will miss them when we move) we're both avid shooters, and share our home with a German Shepherd, and a Golden Retriever. I'm an ex Navy Hospital Corpsman, and a RN. My wife is in middle management with AT&T/SBC. We are looking for a suburb/rural area possibly near Knoxville. Would like a couple acres, with a modest house. Ideally we would like to be able to shoot on our property. Looking for low crime, friendly, politically/religiously conservative area. Any town/areas to concentrate on or avoid? Thanks for any advice or help!

[Good_Steward]

Welcome, stevek. I've always hated that the Navy claimed the corpsmen, because they are as fine as the Marines they worked with. They have a foul sense of humor as well. I had suffered a broken nose during a training excercise, and our "F.A." Corpsman (I'm sure you know what the F.A. stands for, if you had been around us for long) tells me, "Well, not too much I can do for that. I will tell you, though, not to pick your nose to hard, or you'll never be able to see out of your left eye." He was a compassionate and caring person. . . . . .LOL!

[Seaslug]

First of all, just how "near" Knoxville are we talking? I think you'll be able to find many communities in and around Knox Co. that will meet your needs. I'm biased, but there are parts of Powell, Heiskell, Halls, Gibbs, and Corryton that come to mind immediately.

In response to your preferred criteria, there are certain things about which I am not able to comment "legally" (damn real estate licensure laws)...at least not on a public forum. That being said, please don't hesitate to PM me if I can be of any assitance to you in your search. Oh, and welcome to TGO!

[Guest jos2f]

Lenoir City is back woods hills area with a walmart and a Wendy's.. my sister lives there and seems to love it. Think it's only a short drive into Knoxville proper.

[Guest SUNTZU]

First of all, just how "near" Knoxville are we talking? I think you'll be able to find many communities in and around Knox Co. that will meet your needs. I'm biased, but there are parts of Powell, Heiskell, Halls, Gibbs, and Corryton that come to mind immediately.

In response to your preferred criteria, there are certain things about which I am not able to comment "legally" (damn real estate licensure laws)...at least not on a public forum. That being said, please don't hesitate to PM me if I can be of any assitance to you in your search. Oh, and welcome to TGO!

Seaslug is good people, stevek. Welcome to TGO, and thanks for your service.

Seaslug, what about Friendsville or Greenbriar?

[Mike.357]

Definitely not Corryton, no, definitley not.

And btw, welcome to TGO

[Fallguy]

Not my area of the state...but best of luck on your repatriation.

[Seaslug]

Seaslug is good people, stevek. Welcome to TGO, and thanks for your service.

Seaslug, what about Friendsville or Greenbriar?

Aww, thanks Dan! The check's in the mail.

And yeah, there are parts of Friendsville and Greenbriar that would fit the bill, as well as parts of Seymour, Claxton, Maynardville, and about a million other communities. That's what makes this process hard (and fun). The OP's criteria described pretty much all of East TN (not such a bad thing), with the only caveat being that he can't be within the city limits since he wants to shoot on his property.

Oh, and Mike.357 was right. Disregard Corryton. You don't wanna live near him...

[Guest SUNTZU]

That's why I suggested the other side of town. Actually, where Mike lives is really nice.

[Mike.357]

sucks out here, too noisy. Especially on the weekends.

[Guest SUNTZU]

Quit squeezing the trigger, or get a suppressor.

[Mike.357]

Nah, I don't mind the noise, and don't much care if the neighbors do.

[Guest stevek]

All, thanks for the welcome!

Seaslug, PM sent.

What are taxes like? I know they MUST be better than here in Corzinistan!

We don't pay taxes on groceries or clothing. Sales tax on everything else is 7%. My property tax on our house went up $2000 this year, to a total of about $9000. 4 bedroom, 2 bath, Cape Cod with a finished basement and 1 car garage on .20 of an acre....not a typo, 1/5 of an acre. We don't pay any other property tax though (i.e. cars etc.)

Any hidden costs to be aware of?

[Seaslug]

All, thanks for the welcome!

Seaslug, PM sent.

What are taxes like? I know they MUST be better than here in Corzinistan!

We don't pay taxes on groceries or clothing. Sales tax on everything else is 7%. My property tax on our house went up $2000 this year, to a total of about $9000. 4 bedroom, 2 bath, Cape Cod with a finished basement and 1 car garage on .20 of an acre....not a typo, 1/5 of an acre. We don't pay any other property tax though (i.e. cars etc.)

Any hidden costs to be aware of?

Sales tax is 9.25%. No state income tax. Small wheel tax. A house like yours in Knox Co. would have an annual property tax of a little over $1000 (so long as it is not within the city limits). We all complain about our property taxes (especially since we were just informed that they'll be going up), but they're actually VERY mild compared to other parts of the country. Hope this helps.

[Guest kdpate]

Get oput toward Seymour going toward Sevierville or out past the Oak City community. Should be plenty of property out that way....

(Used to live in Seymour:D)

[Guest nj.piney]

welcome from another refugee . you can make a lot less money here and still live better than you can in n.j. been here since 1991 and only went back once to apply for my pension .

[Guest tnmale46]

welcome

[Guest stevek]

As an addendum...

What is required of a resident to purchase a handgun/long gun/ammunition?

[strickj]

Not be a felon basically.

You can buy any gun you wish from a dealer for a 10 dollar TICS background check,and about ten minutes while that processes.

For ammo you dont need anything except to be able to find it somewhere in stock!

Buying,and selling privately is also pretty simple!

It says something along the lines of not having any reason to believe the other party is legally un-able to buy/sell a gun,and both parties must live in TN when buying handguns.

Edited May 9, 2009 by strickj

[Guest SigVol]

You really should give west Knox County a good look; say around the Concord Farragut area. You can find some very nice deals toward the Knox / Loudon County line on plots of land.

The only thing about Knoxville is that no one stops at Stop signs:cop:

[Farman]

You really need to spend time here. My wife I looked at over 200 houses and pieces of property before we found what we were looking for. 6 1/2 acres in the woods, yet close to town. Ask the local LE and firemen about the area and the guys here will always give advice on the areas where they live. Good luck.

[Guest stevek]

You really need to spend time here. My wife I looked at over 200 houses and pieces of property before we found what we were looking for. 6 1/2 acres in the woods, yet close to town. Ask the local LE and firemen about the area and the guys here will always give advice on the areas where they live. Good luck.

We're planning to come down for a few days in a couple months to have a look around if we can get away. Still trying to narrow the area to search.

[Farman]

That'll be a good start. Pick up real estate books when you get here. Also go online to http://www.realtor.com/, and For Sale By Owner (FSBO): Sell your Home, House or Condo; Buy Real Estate; Get an MLS Listing. Try to decide how much and what type of property ( flat, hilly, wooded ) and if and how close to the bigger city you want to be.

There are great areas. It just takes time to get around to see them.