Moving to eastern Tennessee, any things I should consider?

[Chancard]

Hi,

My girlfriend and I are seriously looking into buying a property in eastern Tennessee. Is anyone familiar with the greater Sevierville/Gatlinburg area? What are things we should think about when focusing our search for a property? We are looking towards this area because property taxes are very low, it's beautiful and it seems to not be expensive.

We are considering heading over there in the fall to do some prospecting, any tips for good hotels or B&B's around there?

How is live poker in Tennessee and North Carolina?

Thanks in advance!

[TJI_1234]

Ive been to Gatlinburg..its a bit of a shit show, but the surrounding area is beautiful. Gatlinburg itself is a tourist trap with a bunch of amusement parks, arcades, go-kart tracks, etc. BUT. One cool thing they have is the FLY AWAY attraction. It's an indoor wind tunnel that simulates a free fall when sky diving. GOOD TIMES!!

Other than that..i have no idea about the area..just thought id put in my 2 cents. Enjoy, and good luck with the search!

[Cambo71]

I hope you like country music and nascar.

[Chancard]

I hope you like country music and nascar.

I've gotten sort of used to country by now, not nascar though.

I think I'll try to convince my gf to not live in a place that essentially is a tourist trap although we might try to rent out our place every now and then so this would definately be a + in that respect.

Thanks for the replies so far.

[acdawg712]

i hear there are some juicy home games in NC from pokerroad's court harrington. If you can get in contact with him, I would. Um other than that, get ready for nascar,country music, and plenty of southerners.

[Cambo71]

I have not been there but North Carolina and Memphis are supposed to have great BBQ.

[memtigerfan]

I have not been there but North Carolina and Memphis are supposed to have great BBQ.

I was born and raised in Memphis and still chose to live here even though there have been plenty of opportunities to move. Memphis has some of the best barbecue in the world, but it's about a 7 hour drive from the Gatlinburg/Sevierville area. Most outsiders don't realize how "wide" the state is from corner to corner.

I grew up going to Gatlinburg as a child on family vacations. So far, what everyone has posted is fairly accurate in terms of the city itself. Although it is in a beautiful valley with some attractive hotels & chalets, its commercial development is dominated by junky, redneck tourist attractions. HOWEVER, it is also one of the most beautiful areas of the country you will ever visit. If you are into hiking, trout fishing, whitewater rafting, etc., you will love this area. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the country, and its rolling mountains are great. The Appalacian Trail cuts through the park.

A lot depends on your personal tastes and the type of area you want to be in. If it were me, and I was considering moving to that area, I would strongly consider Western North Carolina, either near Asheville, NC or an area commonly referred to as The Highlands near Cashiers, NC. Those areas tend to be a little more refined and avant garde and less clogged with airbrush t-shirt wearing tourists during the high season (summer months, fall foliage months and holidays). In fact, Asheville has a thriving art community, and although surrounding areas have a homey, country, arts & crafts feel, they are much less redneck than Sevierville/Gatlinburg/Pidgeon Forge. Check out Highlands, North Carolina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Many of the folks that have homes in The Highlands are well to do professionals from places like Atlanta, Raleigh/Durham, and Charlotte. For info on the Asheville area, check out Explore Asheville, NC | Asheville, NC's Official Tourism Web Site

Hope this helps. You'll love the South for a lot of reasons. Although we have our fair share of people who fit the stereotypical Nascar watching, tobacco chewing redneck profile, it is a diverse region with generally friendly people, low taxes, good climate and a pro-business atmosphere. I know nothing about live poker in the area. There are some Indian casinos nearby, but I don't know whether they are spreading any poker games or if those places are limited to things like video poker, slot machines and blackjack.

[Chancard]

Thanks for taking the time to write that whole thing up, Memtigerfan. It is definately very useful info.

Certain changes have happened to our plans in the meantime, however.

First of all, let me stress that it absolutely needs to be in Tennessee because they do not have state income tax aswell as low property tax. I have been using bestplaces.com to compare cost of living etc and it's something that we just can't ignore.

In our search, we have sort of moved towards the Tri-cities area. This is partly because this area isnt 100% directed towards tourism and also because for some reason property seems to be auite a bit cheaper here (we also think restaurants will be cheaper here because of the tourist orientation eventhough in the US chains seem to be the only thing available in certain areas). We have been finding decent looking homes (only pictures, I know but still) for less than 120k$. Price is a major factor for me because I will have to try and limit my mortgage to an absolute minimum (no credit history at all in US).

On top of that, the tri cities seems to also offer mountains and lakes like the sevier county area. Proximity to both NC and VA could also be beneficial for sales tax differences between the states (not looked into this yet though).

If my visa extension gets approved, we are most likely going to go prospect in late September, beginning of Octobre.

[ChrisRichey]

Are you looking to buy some land or a place in town?

Glad to hear things are going well for you, good luck with everything

[memtigerfan]

Thanks for taking the time to write that whole thing up, Memtigerfan. It is definately very useful info.

Certain changes have happened to our plans in the meantime, however.

First of all, let me stress that it absolutely needs to be in Tennessee because they do not have state income tax aswell as low property tax. I have been using bestplaces.com to compare cost of living etc and it's something that we just can't ignore.

In our search, we have sort of moved towards the Tri-cities area. This is partly because this area isnt 100% directed towards tourism and also because for some reason property seems to be auite a bit cheaper here (we also think restaurants will be cheaper here because of the tourist orientation eventhough in the US chains seem to be the only thing available in certain areas). We have been finding decent looking homes (only pictures, I know but still) for less than 120k$. Price is a major factor for me because I will have to try and limit my mortgage to an absolute minimum (no credit history at all in US).

On top of that, the tri cities seems to also offer mountains and lakes like the sevier county area. Proximity to both NC and VA could also be beneficial for sales tax differences between the states (not looked into this yet though).

If my visa extension gets approved, we are most likely going to go prospect in late September, beginning of Octobre.

Tri-Cities would also offer you access to some great outdoors areas, and you would be pretty close to very nice recreational areas in Western NC and VA. I understand completely about the taxes. TN is a very low cost state from a tax perspective. Most areas have relatively low property taxes, and there is no state income tax except for interest and dividend income over $2,500. The sales tax is a little high, but at least if you are not a big consumer of goods, you can keep your taxes low. I'm not realy familiar with the specifics of the Tri-Cities, but I know some people up there, and they love it. You should be able to find some very attractive property for a very reasonable price. Good luck on your search!