Lake Houses in East Tennessee

#1
CountryBoyBob454

CountryBoyBob454

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#1
I considering moving to East Tennessee when I retire. I think I may want a place on a lake with a dock. Doesn't have to be in Knoxville, but an easy commute to Neyland would be nice. I have been checking out Zillow. I have never lived on a lake and just would like to get some unbiased options.

What are the pros and cons of lake living. What are the pros and cons of the different lakes in East Tennessee.

Thanks!
 
#3
#3
CountryBoyBob454 said:
I considering moving to East Tennessee when I retire. I think I may want a place on a lake with a dock. Doesn't have to be in Knoxville, but an easy commute to Neyland would be nice. I have been checking out Zillow. I have never lived on a lake and just would like to get some unbiased options.

What are the pros and cons of lake living. What are the pros and cons of the different lakes in East Tennessee.

Thanks!
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I love living on the lake. I am a fisherman and not a skier/pleasure boater so I picked a location that I can fish off my dock year and launch my boat year round. If you like boating to restaurants, take that into consideration when picking a location. You may want to avoid locations that are party/ski/ overnight bat camping meccas.

Just my $.02
 
#4
#4
Fort Loudon is most expensive, along with Tellico. Tellico and Norris have the cleanest water. Watts Bar might be the best value. Douglas and Cherokee start the winter draw down the earliest. Melton Hill is small, but pretty nice. Parts of Fort Loudon and Tellico are the least "in the sticks". The developed neighborhoods are far more expensive, but there will be less property crimes. The remote cabins, especially in areas like northern Norris and Douglas and Cherokee are more likely to get broken into if vacant. Some lakes are not near hospitals. I would think that Watts Bar will go up in value the most since it is between Knoxville and Chattanooga and it is the biggest. Tellico Village is chock full of northerner retirees. Douglas has a lot of views of the Smoky Mountains. You can not navigate a boat to Neyland from Norris, Douglas, or Cherokee and it is a long haul from Melton Hill. Chickamauga in Chattanooga is just beyond the far end of Watts Bar. Seems nice, don't know much about it though.

Living on the lake you'll have more critters running about and mold and mildew compared to away from the lake. Rednecks will steal your stuff using lake access.
 
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#6
#6
Center Hill. I'm buying a place there when I retire. Its closer to Nashville, but bout 1 1/2 hours to Knoxville
 
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#7
#7
Another thing to consider is if you want to boat from your house to Neyland for a game or to Knoxville in general. If that's the case you'll want to avoid Norris, Douglass, Cherokee, or even Melton Hill.

With the exception of Melton Hill all the aforementioned are non-navigatable, meaning the damns do not have locks. Melton Hill being the exception but the are only allowing boats to lock through a few times a year.

If it were me, I'd head to Tellico. Nice lake, close enough in but far enough too. Also, very nice golf courses. If you have a nice cruiser or a houseboat, it's an easy day cruise to Neyland to be apart of the Vol Navy. JMO
 
#8
#8
Is there a big difference in water temps? I'd think Melton hill would be a lot colder since its fed from the bottom of Norris
 
#9
#9
golfballs said:
Is there a big difference in water temps? I'd think Melton hill would be a lot colder since its fed from the bottom of Norris
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Melton Hill is traditionally a cold lake in comparison but it's also not a very good recreational, water sports lake. It's very shallow unless you're smack dab in the middle of the river channel. Decent fishing lake though.
 
#11
#11
Lots of great feedback. Thanks! The Center Hill recommecondation took me by surprise a little. I grew up 45 minutes away and spent a lot of time chasing trout on the Caney Fork.

A little bummed to hear about the thieves.
 
#13
#13
You can't buy on Chilhowee, but you can take a boat there on a trailer. At the far end away from the little dam, it's too damn cold to get in even in August. Feels great farther down, closer to where it feeds into Tellico.

I'd go Watts Bar if on a budget. Knox County side of Fort Loudon if you are a multi-millionaire. Blount County side of Fort Loudon if you want to spend closer to $500,000. Douglas if you want to spend $250,000 +\-. Cherokee if you want a double-wide. You can get a nice place on Norris for $400,000 +\-. A friend recently bought one on Melton Hill that sits on about 5 or 6 acres with a 2,500 SF house for $500,000. Tellico Village lakefront homes start at just under 7 figures for a house and an acre.
 
#14
#14
Can you give a general idea of how much you are willing to spend? For example: west Knox/Farragut lake lots run in the $500k range. If you don't need to be in Knox county (for schools, etc), you can get more bang for your buck in Loudon, Blount, Monroe, and other surrounding counties. Are you a golfer? Is it important to be near restaurants, shopping, etc?

If you want to see some examples of lakefront communities, look at Lashbrooke, Wind River, Jefferson Park, Lake Cove, Millers Landing, Montgomery Cove, Mallard Bay. I'll warn you: nothing cheap in those.
 
#16
#16
Con: getting drunk in your backyard, falling down, drowning. A few people usually drown in Fort Loudon every year.
 
#19
#19
Not real familiar with East Tennessee lakes but the river/lake in the Kingston area is nice. I have never been through Kingston until the traffic jam Saturday caused me too. But it's nice.
 
#20
#20
barknoxbrawler said:
Not real familiar with East Tennessee lakes but the river/lake in the Kingston area is nice. I have never been through Kingston until the traffic jam Saturday caused me too. But it's nice.
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It is when they aren't spilling ash into it...
 
#22
#22
ACvol3 said:
Ohio invaded and has taken over Norris lake
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I swear, when I first moved back here after 25 years out and about, I took my youngest son up behind the damn. We drove through the grassy parking area and there was not a single TN plate to be seen, and the lot was full to capacity. All Ohio plates except for 2- and they were (ta da) Michigan.
 
#25
#25
Kingston Vol said:
Come to Kingston, buddy. Plenty of waterfront houses available.
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No! No! No! Don't come to Kingston! There are no more lakefront houses available here! And the fishing is turble! And there's big snakes! Water moccasins 12 feet long! And alligators and whompass cats and who knows what else! No, you definitely don't want any part of Kingston or Watts Bar.

Go to Fort Loudon or Norris or anywhere else.
 
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