About Putnam County, TN

Cookeville, Tennessee maybe a small town, but services that are offered rival many in much larger cities and are definitely unrivaled in the Upper Cumberland area.

One of the issues that would be on the mind of someone considering moving to Cookeville, Tennessee is the availability of choices when it comes to dining. Cookeville is a town of 30,000, but when it comes to dining choices in Cookeville Tennessee, they are definitely not limited by the small size of the city. When I first moved to Putnam county, there was not a lot of chain restaurants available in Cookeville. This changed within the past few years with a large number of such restaurants emerging along a strip parallel to the I-40 Interstate. Driving from Nashville towards the east this strip of restaurants and island of lights is the first that meets you between exits 286 and 287. In this one mile you find restaurants that offer a variety of cuisines including the traditional American food.



Let me start with my favorite Logan's restaurant with its casual dining atmosphere with endless peanuts and hot rolls and a menu that can accommodate a wide range of budgets. The kids of course enjoy this atmosphere and throwing peanuts' shells on the floor. If you are hungry and looking for quality food at a great price, you should definitely consider Cheddar's Casual Cafe. They are always busy and no wonder with great food that satisfies low budget prices. The Cookeville O'Charlie's offers good steaks at reasonable prices. They are a good choice especially if hot soft rolls are high on your list of must eat. Steak and Shake and Chick Fillet offer an experience that is middle the road between a restaurant and a fast food restaurant. They are not my favorites, but they have their loyal following. On the weekend, it is worth paying a visit to the local IHOP on interstate drive in Cookeville. The selection of Omelets from steak, chicken, fajita are hard to resist even in the early morning hours.

If you are thinking Italian, you still do not have to venture too far away from the strip to get a decent taste of Italy in the local Olive Garden in Cookeville. The Cookeville Olive Garden is always busy with very friendly staff willing to go the extra mile to make you feel at home. I love their endless, bottomless, salad and bread steaks. Salad has the benefit of not making you feel guilty after few servings. On the other side, you can find a not so Italian, not so American restaurant call Puleos Grille. It has some Interesting menu choices that range from Italian to seafood to some that qualify as country food. The best Italian food is, however, off the Interstate Drive in two hidden gems that I will cover in part II of this blog.

As a real estate agent in Cookeville, Tennessee, I have sold homes in almost every subdivision and neighborhood. Cookeville is generally a very nice city and the best neighborhoods in Cookeville are many. Each one of the best neighborhoods that I present offers some unique feature that makes it attractive. Most of these are great neighborhoods for raising a family. They differ, however in what they offer. The selection of the neighborhood to live in is a very important decision for buyers who will also be future sellers in that neighborhood. I am trying to offer my perspective as a real estate agent and a resident of Cookeville on the best neighborhoods in Cookeville. Let me start with a synopsis on one of the upscale neighborhoods: Sheraton Court.

Sheraton Court: An Upscale Subdivision in Cookeville

Sheraton court is a very small neighborhood in the heart of Cookeville. It is close to everywhere in the city Cookeville shopping mall and Jackson Plaza, schools, Cookeville Regional Medical Center, restaurants, I-40, HWY 111, Movie Theater and Tennessee Tech University. You are within 10 minutes of everything you want to do in cookeville. The homes and yards are very well kept and is very well lit at night. Homes are in the range of 300+K. It is very quiet and gives you a feel of elegance with all homes having a superb curb appeal. Best of all, it is a very well sought after neighborhood. Homes for sale in that Cookeville neighborhood do not last for long on the market even in the current market.

Obtaining a 100% financing in this market whether in Cookeville, Tennessee or other places in the upper cumberland has become tough as banks tightened the restrictions on offering loans in general. Even if a home buyer in Tennessee was able to obtain a loan with less than 20% down payment, this meant an increase in the monthly payment due to mortgage insurance. There is a way however for obtaining 100% financing for home buyers in Tennessee that meet certain guidelines through a government program, namely Rural Development Housing & Community FacilitiesPrograms. To quote the official page of the program, the benefits include:

• • No Down payment is required
  • Flexible credit score guidelines.
  • No maximum purchase price limit.
  • Closing costs can come from any source including gifts.
  • Repairs and improvements can be included in the loan.
  • Competitive fixed 30-year rates.

The program has some restrictions, but in my opinion they are very flexible. Homes that qualify as rural are not really in the middle of nowhere. I have two listings in Cookeville for example that qualify for this 100% financing program in Cookeville, TN: 1733 Tyler Drive, Cookeville, TN and 1729 Tyler Drive, Cookeville, TN. These are only few minutes from Cookeville. Eligibility is easy to check.


This home qualifies for 100% finance while within 5 minutes of Jackson Plaza and
10 minutes of downtown Cookeville


A large beautiful kitchen in a brand new construction eligible for 100%

"Cookeville, Tennessee sounds good to me" is a slogan that cannot be any truer for my family and me. We had the chance before moving to the land of the Smokies to move to California. A visit to San Jose California and a look at the real estate market was enough to scare us away. Our friends thought we were making a mistake, we just had a feeling it will be a good move. We were not sure, however, what to expect in the South, but soon we were happy we selected Cookeville as our new home. We were soon able to see the housing affordability and the ever increasing cultural and entertainment opportunities from professional football to ice hockey, from Country music to nature melodies in state and national parks. Discovering Dollywood in our backyard was as exciting to us as our three children.

A great source of PRIDE for all of us, residents of Cookeville, is Tennessee Tech University. TTU is one of the best schools in the southeast as selected by Princeton Review for the past 6 years. Having Tech offers stability in the real estate market in Cookeville because of the stability of jobs. TTU enriches the cultural environment with events all year round. These vary from free symphonies, college football and basketball games to international events such as India nights and Windows on the World.

Another Source of pride as well as peace of mind for Cookeville residents and surrounding areas in middle Tennessee is the Cookeville Regional Medical Center (CRMC). This is a state of the art facility that does not resemble how a typical small town hospital is perceived. It has over 140 Physicians who provide care in 36 different specialties. From personal experience using the facilities and visiting friends and clients who have used it, the quality of medical staff and management of this facility is superb.

It is easy to find tons of pictures and videos that show the beauty of nature in Tennessee, the mild weather all year round and the music and entertainment attractions in Nashville and the Smokies. It is harder to see the inner beauty that shines on you after you have lived here for a while. Tennessee's and especially Cookeville's inner beauty is really in its people; kind and generous, accepting and tolerant, and as friendly as you can find anywhere. Giving even when the times are tough, volunteering when time is scarce. Smiles to strangers are still abundant here in Tennessee. People still wave as they pass you by as if they have known you for years. Doors held open, in courtesy, is the norm. We appreciate all this when we do short travels outside our Oasis to find out it is just not the same. I can go on about why we love Tennessee, but nothing like experiencing it for yourself.

Saving a Repo.

Being the savvy real estate agent I am, I know a good deal when I seen one. I was looking through our MLS System when i ran across a cute little house in close by Livingston. I could tell just by the outside picture what potential this house had. So i decided to go ahead and go for it. I bought it and decided to do the work myself (with some help from my assitant).

Well we got started, and as you can see that blue is a tought color to cover up. Once we got a coat of what on there you could tell a complete difference. Well we continued our way around the house. Here are some before pics.

As you can see from the above picture the blue paint just peeled right off of the cabinets. That was a chore to do! After working on it for a week we decided to call some proffesinal painters and let them do what they do best. They finished painting the WHOLE house within a week and a half.

This house has lots of potentional. With a 3/4s wrap around deck and an awesome view you cant beat it. The house in now finished on the inside, and I have some renters moving in. I will post another blog with picutres of the finished inside. Stayed Tuned!