Southaven/olive branch

[usmcmotort]

Originally Posted by Pearlbob

Cordova and Collierville are totally different. You'd want to buy in Collierville...it would be similar to Bartlett. Cordova has almost all been annexed by the city of Memphis and isn't technically a suburb anymore (at least, not all of it, like it used to be considered just a few years ago). A lot of "Cordova" was unincorporated land, therefore it could be bought up by any city (which Memphis did). Where ever you buy, make sure the house is in an incorporated zone of a certain city/suburb. Arlington is it's own city, however I imagine there is land in the Arlington area that could possibly be annexed by Memphis at some point in the future.

So Bartlett would be the better choice? But are you saying that some land in Arlington are unincorporated, meaning that it can be bought up, but the incorporated parts of Arlington will not.

[Pearlbob]

Incorporporated basically means that a city owns that land. Unincorporated is sort of like "country land", like you might think of a house out on a dirt road, near nothing. It has a rural route address, not a city address.

Of course, Cordova isn't country land with dirt roads! But years ago, the land in the Cordova area WAS country, in the middle of no where. Memphis sprawled out and surrounded it, but some area were left "unincorporated" and not technically a part of any certain city. Eventually, Memphis has bought out almost all of that land. It is safe to assume that any unincorporated land in the area will eventually be bought out - not necessarily by Memphis, but since Memphis is the metro city, they have more power to take things over. (Meaning, Arlington can take over unincorporated land too, but that is a small city with less bullying power than Memphis)

No matter what house you buy, if it's out in the suburbs, make sure to find out 100% which city it is a part of. If it's unincorporated, you may not know what city you will be living in within a couple years. This affects your property taxes, schools for your kids, car registration, etc etc.

Don't get me wrong - unincorporated isn't a death sentence. But, if you want peace of mind that your kids will continue in the same school system forever, and your land won't switch to new "owners" per se, you definitely want to buy within a city.

[littledog9oaks]

My brother moved to OB several yrs ago. Nice place not a lot of crime

[JoeCartpath]

FWIW. incorporation doesn't mean that the city "owns" the land...and cities don't "buy" land for annexation. If you're within a city's limits it simply means that they are responsible for certain services you use (or don't use), you get a vote in their elections....and you get the privilege of paying property taxes to pay for those services

If you're looking at property in an unincorporated area of the county and you're concerned about which city might eventually annex that property, do a little research into the annexation reserve areas. These are basically each city's long range plans for annexation and growth. It's not a 100% guarantee but I think it's a pretty safe bet. I'm not aware of any instances where one city has attempted to annex property that was designated as being in another city's reserve area.

[bjh]

good advise from the bob

[usmcmotort]

Wow seems so complicated. Luckily I have you guys to give me the inside scoop

So hopefully the Realtor is as helpful and as informative as you all.

[Pearlbob]

Well right, I didn't mean that the city buys out and owns the land, but I was trying to give an easy way to conceptualize it I bet most people probably aren't famililar with annexation when they move here. Definitely have a good realtor who knows his/her business!

[KnxGirl]

We moved to Olive Branch recently. Feel free to pm me if you are still interested in this area.

[UofMGrad92]

FWIW, most folks I know who live in Olive Branch really like it. The only reason I wouldn't recommend it for you is the commute to Millington. If there was a chance you'd end up working for the COE downtown, then it makes a little more sense. But that drive from Olive Branch to Millington in rush hour would be a really long commute (at least for this area).