Wife and I are pretty dead set on moving to TN because Florida sucks and is getting worse.

We'd like to be close to east TN. We are planning a one-week trip to go look at some possible areas around the state.

Can you guys suggest some towns/areas to visit?

Heres my parameters:

Budget: trying to stay sub $400k, but have some wiggle room for the right place.
10+ acres
Out of the city, but not too far from it (maybe 30 min drive from big box stores, etc.)
Nice views
Hunting nearby
Somewhere that its OK to shoot on your own property
Decent schools are a bonus, but we will probably virtual school the kids.

LMK if you have any questions, and thanks in advance.

You should do some homework and adjust your budget accordingly. Your expectations seem higher than your price limits will allow, even in East Tennessee.

Your expectations will come closer to being met in East TN rather than the Nashville area. Other areas in middle TN might be doable but generally speaking, the closer to large metro areas, the less chance you will find what you're looking for both in acreage, shootability and price.

A lot will depend on how large/nice a home you want.

Also, right now the market is hot just about everywhere in TN.

Cleveland area?  East side of Mount Eagle?  Those are a couple of areas I would check out if I was looking.

Thanks for the insight so far. I've seen some nice places in the the price range and a little higher, but I don't know much about the areas.

I dont need or want to be near a big city. I work from home so commute is a non issue.

I've also got wiggle room if we fall in love with something. The budget I posted is very conservative. I have absolutely zero debt and earn enough to qualify for a loan that's 3 or 4 times my target. I just like to keep the overhead low, and have seen places that would work in the 400 - 450 range.

What I'm looking for are some county or town names that I could target in the eastern part of the state.

Gimme a minute and I'll post a link to an example.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2968-Maysville-Rd-Dickson-TN-37055/41218314_zpid/

This one is OK too, but dont want to be on the west side.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4305-Warren-Rd-Oakland-TN-38060/66616114_zpid/

Really like the views here. Good example of what I'm looking for, but need at least 4 bedrooms.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/260-Spring-Hill-Dr-Mountain-City-TN-37683/2096207968_zpid/

This is really nice. Anyone know about this area? Is flooding a concern?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/369-Mountain-Lake-Way-Dandridge-TN-37725/2089684204_zpid/

@Ironhandjohn

You're right though, it's amazing how much the options open up for nicer properties even in the $500-$550k range. This seems to be a much more realistic range for what I want. I hadn't even looked anything above $450 yet.

That's typically how I do things on big purchases though. Exhaust the options at the lower end of the price range before even looking at the next bracket.

Thanks for the perspective. It was helpful.

If internet is required for you to work from home, pay close attention to whether or not it is available at the location you are considering buying.

AT&T has a history of claiming high speed internet is available in an area, until the third installation crew tells them the same thing that the first two installation crews told them - that the lines won't support high speed internet at that address.

This is good advice and something a lot of people don't even consider until after they've already moved.  Rural areas around smaller towns may only have one ISP option and you'll pay higher prices for slower speed if that's the case.

I was referring to a rural area near Nashville.

I bugged AT&T, for several years, about the deteriorated lines (eventually got to the point that somewhere around a 26k dialup connection was the best I could get), and they kept telling me that they weren't going to replace all that copper line, because the upgrade to fiber was in the works.  I'd ask when I could expect fiber, but they couldn't give me an answer on that.

Then the big fiber upgrade started in Nashville.  I asked the repair guys, when they came out for the semi-regular visits to fix my phone line (heavy rain or big temperature change would cause enough hum on the line to make a dialup connection impossible), but they always told me they had no information on the schedule of when fiber was being added to which areas.  A crew ran a fiber line to within a few miles of my place, but there was more than one provider doing the fiber upgrade at the same time, so I had no way of knowing if it was AT&T, or another provider.  Then the work on putting the fiber lines in the ground seemed to stop.

A while later, an AT&T repair guy was out to fix my line, again, and he told me that they were finally replacing the worst section of line, between me and town.  I asked if they were replacing it with fiber, and he said no, they were replacing it with copper (after AT&T had repeatedly told me they would not replace the copper lines, because of the pending upgrade to fiber).  Driving toward town, you could see various places where the repair guys had 'patched' bad sections by running multiple service lines (the wire normally used between your house and the pole) to bypass bad sections of line.  The decision had been made to replace the worst of those sections.

I was already planning to move to my current place (walking distance from my old place), and Comcast was available at the new address, so I decided that when I moved, I'd dump AT&T.  Went from an iffy 26k dialup connection, to a cable internet connection with a phone landline bundled.  First year introductory price was around $30 a month less than what AT&T had been charging me for the phone line and a dialup account.  After the introductory price expired, the Comcast monthly bill is within a couple dollars of what AT&T had been charging me.  Over a period of several years, AT&T had been making yearly increases in my bill, while also sending me information telling me how much cheaper my bill would be, if I would just upgrade to their high speed internet (which the lines in my area could not support).  Gave me the strong impression that the rate increases were mainly to pressure me into upgrading, even though they physically could not provide me with the upgrade.

If a person is considering moving to an area, and AT&T claims that high speed internet is available there, I would recommend assuming that AT&T doesn't offer anything better than dialup in that area, until you see it installed and working.

Well at least you can get something around your price range.  I can't afford half that, so getting land is not realistic near Nashville for 200-230K.  This is with a 15y mortgage.    Crazy how prices are for land now.  Even within an hour from the city.  You almost have to have a doctor's salary or close to afford anything LOL.

That 260 Spring Hill Dr Mountain City, TN 37683 is insane!!!

Just an insight into the property in mnt city

You are an hour away from Boone NC, 1 hr from Bristol TN/VA and 1 hr away from Elizabethton TN, those places are where you will find a walmart/mall and chain restaurants

Def. check internet options, and winter time travel can be fun, working from HOME is a great thing for you,

Watuaga lake is close and boatable year round

we have a couple places to eat, a couple wineries and breweries close by

only thing odd about that place, is it seems priced low for what you see, that 10 acres may be mnt land OR may have HOA crap that will not allow shooting

I may drive by it this weekend, I am curious now

Depending on your priorities, you might get most of your wish list.  Look at areas like Sequatchie, Bledsoe, or Meigs counties in southeast TN.  They're all close enough to Chattanooga to drive in if needed, and rural enough to find acreage within your budget if you are patient.  What house is sitting on that acreage might be an issue with your budget too, depending on your tastes.

If you are looking at property within a municipality, check into any ordinances about discharging firearms within the city limits.  Might or might not be an issue.  The counties themselves won't care.

"Good" schools will possibly be a sticking point.  Rural school systems in rural areas tend to have a rural mindset about things, which may or may not be compatible with yours.

Heed the internet access issue mentioned earlier and research it beforehand, especially if online/home schooling is an option you're considering.  Service tends to be lacking in farm country.