So we started house shopping closer to Knoxville. We wanted some acreage. In 2005 and 2006, there was a development boon in this area. Lots of people had moved to counties around the Knoxville area for their retirement years. Prices had shot up during the boon. People were convinced that their property was made of gold. Due to the development spurt, acreage prices went up accordingly. However, when we started house shopping in 2007, we were not convinced that the real estate boon was still happening and were not willing to pay the prices that people were asking. So we kept looking. Our preference was to buy an existing house with acreage. Privacy was high on our wish list. Unfortunately, for every property we looked at in our price range, we either liked the land and didn't like the house or we liked the house and didn't like the land. In 2008, we did find a farm at a reasonable price that we loved. We were preparing to make an offer when it occurred to me to ask the realtor about the location of a proposed expressway that would go through that area. It turned out the proposed expressway would be located right across the road from the farm for sale. With that new information, we decided not to make an offer.