Our Passion is Contagious

That’s not just the tagline for their company, Lynn Reed Associates. Lynn and Debbie Reed’s passion for their new life is contagious. “We just love it here. We love every day. It never gets old. Jasper Highlands is just breathtaking. When you get to the top, you look out over the mountains and the river, and it’s gorgeous.” The Reeds purchased a home in Jasper Highlands, a planned amenity community about 20 minutes from Chattanooga, TN.

“We wish we would have done this 20 years ago,” said Lynn. The Reeds had lived in rural New Jersey but commuted two hours each way to Manhattan, working at JP Morgan for many years. They now own and manage a leadership training company from their home atop a mountain outside Chattanooga. (Incidentally: The fastest internet in the country is in Chattanooga).

Lynn says, “People talk about work/life balance. Working on Wall Street, the work/life balance is a pretty tough thing to achieve. But just doing the courses virtually from up here makes a real difference. During COVID, people rediscovered a different way to work, realizing they can get more done from home than the office in many ways.”

Having taught in 22 countries, the Reeds had quite a lot to choose from for their retirement home. They found their home after attending an Ideal-LIVING Real Estate Show in Northern New Jersey. They purchased a homesite in July 2021. When they came to speak with builders in January 2022, they purchased a spec home so they could start enjoying their new life right away. “We have Ideal-LIVING to thank because I don’t think we would have found it without seeing the advertisements in IdealLIVING,” Debbie said.

Lynn said, “It took a lot of vision to build a place like this. It’s incredible to think about what the developer thought to do with the top of this mountain, and to include all of the infrastructure. I’m very confident that this is going to be a great value, but that’s not why we came here. We feel so lucky to be here. Everyone here says the same thing.” He delightfully recalls sitting at the pool when the developer, Thunder Thornton, walked by, and they spoke with him for 30 minutes.

Debbie claims to be an introvert, but she’s out enjoying the “wonderful people and activities” at Jasper Highlands. She says, “I like to go line dancing and play croquet. You can do anything you want, and it’s all so casual. There are no cliques, no groups, and there’s just a bunch of happy people. Even in the stores, people are smiling and happy. I’m from New Jersey and am just not used to this.”

“We miss New York style pizza and the people, but that’s about it. The cost of living and the value of the real estate are fantastic. And, did we mention the tax savings?”

The Reeds encourage others to get out and visit the properties. Lynn says, “You can read all the brochures and do a lot of research on the internet, but there’s nothing like seeing a place in person. We must have visited 25 places. Meeting the people gives you an impression of what daily life will be.” Debbie continued, “All of the videos and brochures did not do it justice. You’ve got to do the footwork. You need to go and look.”