Retirement Equestrian Communities - Revisited

[cutter99]

There are a few equine developments here in TN around Big South Fork. Not necessarily retirement communities, but most full timers that live there are retired. Most properties are on the small side, between 1-5 acres, and do have their own barns or run in sheds. Some people do keep these places as vacation homes that they rent out when they are not using them. We recently looked at a couple houses there with the thoughts of selling our LQ trailer and keeping a place there to ride out of or trailer locally in that area.

There does seem seem to be a nice sense of community, which is something I miss being out on a large farm in a non-equine area. I have heard people there complain about the difficulty of getting a farrier or vet, although I am much closer to a large city and still have the same issue. Cost is another issue, as we have 70 acres with a small, but very well appointed house for about the same amount of money for the tiny acreage with large, well appointed house.

Here are a re a few examples of property in the Big South Fork developments.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Jamestown_TN

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/734-Ridgetop-Dr_Jamestown_TN_38556_M88206-58779?ex=TN622373487

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Obey-Blevins-Rd_Jamestown_TN_38556_M71851-90735

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/220-Fletchers-Branch-Rd_Allardt_TN_38504_M78013-62093#photo14

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/719-End-of-Trail-Ln_Allardt_TN_38504_M85302-84814

[Guilherme]

Living rural in the TN mountains is very nice, but it has some issues. One that has not been publicly discussed much is the difficulty getting fire insurance. Can’t find a number in a quick search but I’ve heard reports on local TV of numbers from one third to one half of the structures destroyed were uninsured. The farther out you are the more difficulty there will be. This is a question to ask when looking at rural property anywhere.

G.

[cutter99]

@Guilherme

Living rural in the TN mountains is very nice, but it has some issues. One that has not been publicly discussed much is the difficulty getting fire insurance. Can’t find a number in a quick search but I’ve heard reports on local TV of numbers from one third to one half of the structures destroyed were uninsured. The farther out you are the more difficulty there will be. This is a question to ask when looking at rural property anywhere.

G.

We are rural and somewhat mountainous where we currently are, and only a few miles off I-40, and bad no issues with insurance. BUT, if we were to ever have a fire, I would not count on the house and any structure surviving. The roads here are too narrow and twisting to easily get any type of emergency equipment back here.

[clanter]

@Guilherme

Living rural in the TN mountains is very nice, but it has some issues. One that has not been publicly discussed much is the difficulty getting fire insurance. Can’t find a number in a quick search but I’ve heard reports on local TV of numbers from one third to one half of the structures destroyed were uninsured. The farther out you are the more difficulty there will be. This is a question to ask when looking at rural property anywhere.

G.

is that they cannot obtain coverage or is the coverage used as a tax base by the state like Kentucky does?
http://insurance.ky.gov/Documents/2017-2018Tax_Schedule.pdf

[3Grays]

You make such excellent observations about horse communities in general, but specifically those slanted towards residents with an eye towards “aging in place.” I have two horses currently and as the years click by this becomes more and more of an issue. It has been so difficult to find horse communities, especially on a trail system in Maryland and Virginia, but I will say I’ve gotten some wonderful help from this chronicle forum. I probably ought to make this comment about the “difficulty in finding horse communities”. By far, the BIGGEST issue has been that so often when scouring the internet (realtor.com, Zillow, etc.) the write ups about homes with some acreage often NEVER mention whether they’re on a trail system or not.
Thanks again for the super helpful comments I’ve gotten from this Forum!

[pony_baloney]

Here’s an equestrian community in southern NJ:

https://www.saddlebrookridge.com/

I’ve been there to audit a few clinics and it’s really nice. The houses I saw are quite large though. The barn was well thought out in its design (there’s a virtual tour with a quick peak at a home). Outsiders can board there; not sure how many of the homeowners take advantage of the horse facilities.