Just like they did in 2013, many people from Illinois and Florida came to Tellico Village in 2014.
This information came to light as the Tellico Village Property Owners Association marketing team completed its final analysis of the 2014 marketing and communications program.
Of the 251 total properties sold in the Village last year, roughly 24 percent, or 59 sales, can be attributed to the program. The 45 existing homes and 14 lot sales were made to people from 20 different states.
Former Illinois and Florida residents led the way. It was the second year in a row that these states led in sales. Illinois lost 12 households to Tellico Village, while Florida saw seven households relocate to the community. Ex-Texans purchased five properties.
One of the community’s traditional feeder states, Michigan, had four households become our new neighbors. There was a tie for the fifth spot with former Californians, past New Jersey residents and transplanted Tennesseans registering three purchases each.
More than 400 inquiries were received for the program’s Discovery Package and Day Tour offerings with 289 packages being completed. These packages brought 578 visitors to the community. Illinoisans led the way with almost two times as many packages at 40 as the second-place state Florida with 22.
Ironically, last year these states also were top with completed tours: Illinois with 41 and Florida with 20. Tennesseans finished 22 tours in 2014, followed by Ohio with 21 and New York with 20 to round out the top five states for completed Discovery Package participants.
The strong performance of Illinois and Florida is not surprising. Interest in Tellico Village by residents of these states was a common occurrence in 2014 as these two states submitted numerous requests for information, known as leads, actively liked the community’s Facebook page and viewed the Village website at a high rate. Again, this activity was similar to 2013.
Many new residents joined the New Villagers Club. Looking at the end of year membership listing for New Villagers, almost 27 percent of the 653 members as of Dec. 31 came from Illinois and Florida. While not all newcomers join this organization, it does provide insight into the changing resident inflow patterns the Village has experienced over the past two years.
So that’s who came to Tellico Village in 2014.
What’s bringing these new residents to Tellico Village? There are consistent themes with all the new arrivals, including a milder four-season climate, comfortable cost-of-living, lower taxes and no traffic tie-ups.
The most common comment has been that Tellico Village has an exceptionally friendly culture and a real sense of community.
With the national housing market continuing to recover, interest rates remaining low and the marketing and communications program maintaining its 2014 momentum, the Tellico Village marketing team anticipates another promising year of welcoming new Villagers in 2015.
Joe Bogardus is a retired marketing communications professional and Tellico Village resident who has acted as an unpaid volunteer consultant to the TVPOA in the relaunch of the Tellico Village brand and the accompanying marketing and communications program.
