Community Forums

LeeB · 05-27-2007, 07:44 PM

We are going to Tennessee to find a place to retire and I would like people on iRV2 to give us insites to living there. Hints and Warnings.

So far everyone we have come in contact with have been very friendly and willing to help.

We have a 33ft Kountry Star. Love the outdoors and just slowing down and wanting to enjoy the Golden Years.

We have been married 37yrs and have a 22yr old daughter that is slightly handicaped..

LeeB · 05-27-2007, 07:44 PM

We are going to Tennessee to find a place to retire and I would like people on iRV2 to give us insites to living there. Hints and Warnings.

So far everyone we have come in contact with have been very friendly and willing to help.

We have a 33ft Kountry Star. Love the outdoors and just slowing down and wanting to enjoy the Golden Years.

We have been married 37yrs and have a 22yr old daughter that is slightly handicaped..

AL · 05-28-2007, 02:45 AM

Hey LeeB,

I can't realy be of much help, but I did get some great info a few months back from Ken Roberts, hopefuly he will see this or maybe you could send him a E-Mail or private message if he does not post soon.

Ken Roberts · 05-28-2007, 07:35 AM

LeeB, we moved here 4 years ago after spending 35+ years in MA. Three things attracted us, i.e. a slower pace of life, more amiable weather, and a lower cost of living.

It seems as though every where you go passing cars will wave to you and they use all 5 fingers. I have never seen a non-marked handicapped vehicle try to park in a handicap space if for only the proverbial minute.

We do get the four seasons; but, the winters are both shorter and more tolerable, i.e. no where in Cumberland County would you be able to buy a snow blower. I have a neighbor who has played golf year round including on New Years day. The summers are also tolerable and being up on the Cumberland plateau we are generally 5-10 degrees cooler than Knoxville.

TN does not have an income tax; but does have a fairly healty sales tax which differs by county. here in Cumberland county we are at the state allowed max. of 9.75%. Autos and RVs are taxed at 7%. If you have owned the vehicle for 6 months before TN residency there is no sales tax imposed. There is no personal property or excise tax in TN. Vehicle registrations, including motor homes is $24 per year and there are no inspections. Auto and RV insurance is very reasonable.

We find the utilities to be reasonable and we have an all electric house including central air conditioning. There is a mix of housing although I would say that single story ranches are the most prevalent. Being in the mountains the rocky soil is not conducive to basements which seem to be a rarity.

We are at exit 317 on I-40. On the south side of 40 there is a developement that caters to RVs. It is called The RV Gardens and they have a web site at www.gardensrvvillage.com (remember the double V). Most of the homes there are duplexes with 50-65 foot RV garages.

We live on the north side of 40 in a development called Sunset Ridge. When we moved here there were maybe 75-80 homes and now there are probably 190-200 and will build out at around 220-230. No one knows the exact build out as some folks have bought adjacent lots. All of the homes are single story ranches with attached 2 car garages on 1/2 to 15 acre lots. The primary construction material in this area of the country is vinyl siding with 2 x 4 studding faced with plywood.

Several folks have RVs and they can legally be parked along side or behind the residence. We and probably a dozen others have chosen to have a separate garage built for the RV. We have a 40 foot motor home and had a 20 X 50 garage built at the end of our driveway.

If I can answer any other questions just come back to me, Ken,'04 DSDP...

Bill0828 · 05-28-2007, 02:39 PM

Ken -
My wife and I made a point of visiting The Gardens RV Village last August. I thought the place/area looked pretty nice. I do have a problem with the duplex style RV homes but it was still a nice looking development. We can't bail out of the Northeast till 2010! I spoke to some folks from the Crossville area at the Newmar International Rally up in Vermont and they love the area. I/we have out sights set on the Cumberland Plateau!

'04 KSDP

Ken Roberts · 05-28-2007, 03:47 PM

Bill, y'all come on down; but, leave the snow blower, skis, snow mobile, etc. If you do bring 'em be prepared to be asked a lot of questions like whatsdat.

Forgot to mention, for those who like to bang the little white ball around, Crossville is the golf capitol of TN with 11 courses some of which are championship, i.e. The Bear Trace is a Jack Nickalas designed course, Ken,'04 DSDP...

LeeB · 05-28-2007, 05:46 PM

Thank you for your responces. Our plan (as of right now) is to come to Tenn (Portland area) at the end of June and buy a place that can be rented out. Then we are coming back here and selling our house and retire and move out there in March of next year. The reason we are looking at the Portland area is for rentabilty. The plan is to move and get used to the lay of the land and learn how things are going to work. THEN look at buying something bigger on a acre or so.....

Ken do you know RVTen?.... he lives at The Gardens and post on iRV2 and RV.Net so do I. The information you gave me is exactlly what I was looking for. Does anyone there do any Rallies? It would be nice to meet people once we move there......

Ken Roberts · 05-29-2007, 06:04 AM

LeeB, would you believe that Tom (RVTEN) and I have never actually met, although we are probably less than 10 miles away from each other. I too have followed many of his posts and in fact when we were considering Crossville he was very helpful with info. about medical facilities, etc.

As to rallies i know of none; but, it would be a great way to welcome newcomers, Ken...

LeeB · 05-29-2007, 07:22 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ken Roberts:
LeeB, would you believe that Tom (RVTEN) and I have never actually met, although we are probably less than 10 miles away from each other. I too have followed many of his posts and in fact when we were considering Crossville he was very helpful with info. about medical facilities, etc.

As to rallies i know of none; but, it would be a great way to welcome newcomers, Ken... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ken sure I believe it... I met him at a RV.Net Rally in Branson a couple yrs ago... I too had medical questions that he helped me with. After my wife retires she gets FULL Medical (me and our daughter included) as part of her retirement package... Pacific Care which is now HealthMed (I think) and we have found Drs in the Portland area that take it.....

I will have to see about getting a rally going when we move there....

MonacoMama · 05-29-2007, 09:30 PM

LeeB...
My two 4-legged kids pictured in my Avatar to the left are from Lebanon,Tn (just east of Nashville). I have been back there three times - twice to pick each one of them up and one other time while doing genealogy research.
Each time, I found everyone friendly and helpful.
I can suggest going to the weather channel websire and get the yearly info of the area-it will prepare you for the weather difference ...and the possibility of tornados

rebelsbeach · 05-30-2007, 03:02 AM

iRV2 loves TN as well!

We were in Sevierville last year for our National Rally...
Our Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic groups are very active in season and worthy of a look...

Speaking of rallies....Everyone signed up for Branson?