874 County Road 480

A furnished two-bedroom log cabin on about five acres in a hollow ten miles from Tellico Plains, with a spring-fed creek running past it into a pond, listed at $240,000, cash only. The listing rules out every kind of mortgage and asks for proof of funds before a showing. It has been under contract twice since April and came back both times, most recently on August 1 at a $10,000 cut.

The land and setting

The listing describes approximately five secluded acres in a hollow, with a level area holding the cabin and the driveway and the rest sloped and wooded. A spring-fed creek runs beside the cabin and through a spring-fed pond with an overflow. The cover photo is the cabin seen across that pond, with a stand of bamboo on the bank.

Access is off County Road 480, which the listing’s own directions call a narrow road, through a locked green gate that needs a code. The driveway is gravel. The county record puts the parcel at exactly five acres, which matches the listing. The listing’s survey plat draws the parcel as a long, narrow strip running back from the road, so most of the acreage is behind the cabin rather than around it.

Tellico Plains, the gateway to the Cherohala Skyway and the Cherokee National Forest, is ten miles away by the listing’s count, with Etowah, Englewood and Athens close by.

The house

A log cabin built in 2000 and, per the listing, extensively refurbished in 2023. Two bedrooms and two full baths on the listing: a lower bedroom with a tub and shower bath, and a loft bedroom under the roof with a walk-in shower. The main room has wood floors, high ceilings, a kitchen along one wall, and a new wood stove the listing prices at $6,000. The roof is metal, the foundation a crawl space, and there is a covered front porch and a deck.

The 2023 work, as the listing lists it: a new 1,000-gallon septic tank, a 40-gallon propane tank, two mini-split heat and air units, a refrigerator and stove, custom windows, a rear door, ceiling fans, and underground utilities. It sells fully furnished, down to the bedding, the TV, the stackable washer and dryer, and the Wi-Fi router. AT&T U-verse internet and a security system convey, and so does a 500-gallon propane tank with about 175 gallons in it. Water is a well and the property is on septic.

The facts

Price	$240,000
Acreage	Approximately 5 acres per the listing. County record: 5 acres
Beds / baths / sqft	2 / 2 / 1,260 per the listing (owner-reported). County record: 1 bath, 1,122 sq ft, 1 story
Year built	2000. Refurbished 2023 per the listing
Property taxes	$405 (2025)
HOA	Not listed
Financing	Cash only per the listing. Not eligible for conventional, FHA, VA or USDA. Proof of funds before showing
Water	Well
Sewer	Septic tank, new 1,000-gallon in 2023 per the listing
Power	Electricity available, underground per the listing
Internet	AT&T U-verse conveys per the listing
Heating / cooling	Wood stove, propane and electric, zoned. Two mini-splits per the listing
Road access	County Road 480, described as narrow, then a locked gate and a gravel drive. Frontage Not listed
Zoning	Not listed
Flood zone	Not listed
Days on market	Not listed. Listed May 6, 2026, relisted August 1, 2026
Listing agents	Jacob Ellis and Kimberly Ledford, phone Not listed
Brokerage	Ellis Ledford Properties LLC, 423-716-3761
Agent email	Not listed
MLS	RealTracs #3228465, also RCAOR #20254739

What to know before you call

Cash only, and the listing does not say why. It rules out conventional, FHA, VA and USDA loans in its first line and again in its last, and wants proof of funds before you see it. A seller who turns away every financed buyer on a $240,000 cabin has a reason. Ask what it is, because it matters for your resale as much as for your purchase.

The square footage, bath count and story count do not match the county. The MLS gives 1,260 square feet, two full baths and “three or more” levels, with the square footage sourced to the owner. McMinn County has the cabin at 1,122 square feet, one bath and one story, with a 770-square-foot ground floor, which means the loft is the difference. The second bath may date from the 2023 work and never made it into the county record. Either way, the county’s number is what an appraiser starts from, and a permit history for the 2023 refurbishment is worth asking for.

Two contracts fell through in four months. The property was listed on October 3, 2025 at $270,000, raised to $299,000 four days later, cut to $250,000 in April, went pending on April 13, came back May 6, went contingent July 7, and came back again August 1 at $240,000. Before that it sat at $450,000 through 2022 and 2023 without selling. The listing history shows it sold for $50,500 in March 2019. Two failed contracts on a cash-only listing is a pattern worth asking about, not a coincidence.

Taxes are low now and will not stay that low. The 2025 bill is $405, unchanged since 2023, when it stepped up from $251. Tennessee does not reassess on sale, but a county reappraisal against a $240,000 value will move it, so budget from the price, not from the bill.

Access. A narrow county road, a locked gate, and a gravel drive into a hollow. The listing does not say who maintains the road or how it fares in winter.

Who it suits. A cash buyer who wants a finished, furnished weekend cabin with water and privacy and can live with the questions above, or a short-term rental operator who has read the county record first. The closest comparison on this site is the creekside cabin on 1.9 acres in Clayhole, Kentucky, at a lower price with financing open. For a full house with creek frontage in the same state, there is the four-bedroom on 0.99 acres in Waynesboro, and the rest is on the properties page.

Showings go through Jacob Ellis and Kimberly Ledford at Ellis Ledford Properties, 423-716-3761, with proof of funds in hand. The listing does not give an agent email. More like this lands in the Monday email.