Barlett, Cordova or Collierville ? (Memphis, Bartlett: best cities, crime, townhome)

[acez]

Hi,

I will be moving soon to Memphis. After some research here in the forum and other websites looks to me that the best cities to leave are Barlett, Cordova and Collierville. Germantown is out of my budget. I'm looking into the 140K-170K range.

I would like your suggestion based on: I will be working in the Airport area, I'm married with two kids, looking for a nice house with yard and a decent commute to work.

Thanks

[Pearlbob]

Skip Cordova. A lot of the town has been annexed by the city of Memphis, so the home values have decreased and your kids would have to attend city schools (bad!). You can find a home there that has not been annexed, but more and more is annexed each year so I'd just cross it off the list.

Bartlett is further north, Collierville is very SE. Both will be a long drive to the airport, from different interstates. Bartlett currently would be more of a headache due to the construction on 240/Walnut Grove that you'd have to go through. That will go on till 2008. Collierville though is probably further away, thus adding to your drive. BUT it's further south, and the airport is south.

Collierville probably has the better schools, just because it's a "newer" burb and people are just now starting to flock out there. In terms of the actual homes, I'm sure the same cookie cutter builders are in both cities, so the houses would be very similar.

[acez]

do you know the estimate commute from Collierville to the airport ?

I was not aware of that construction in the Barlett area. Good to know.

The problem I see with Colliervielle is because obviously is a good place to live the land is expensive. I may need to buy an old house for 180K or something like that. What do you think?

[Pearlbob]

The construction is at 240/Walnut Grove in east Memphis, not in Bartlett (make sure you're spelling that right if you're looking for houses). Bartlett is much further NE, but that's the only interstate you can take to get to the airport area.

I really don't know about Collierville. I've been out there a few times in my whole live, to visit the new mall and a few other random times. It's way too far away for me to go more than once or twice a year now (I hate the suburbs, but that's just me). The outdoor mall is very nice though. The commute would all depend on how close you are to the expressway (385 on the SE part of town). Traffic gets very backed up when you switch from 385 to 240, and all throughout that southern leg.

Collierville is the most up and coming burb we have, so I imagine home prices are skyrocketing there. Bartlett would invariably go down, I would assume. It's an older burb.

Before moving here, I would suggest coming here for a week and driving around yourself to get the feel of things. Go out at 7am and see what traffic is like coming from each direction. There is more to do in Bartlett, in terms of restaurants and shopping since it's been there longer, but it's only a matter of time until Collierville has just as much. Right now, Collierville is more residential just because people are moving there in droves and they can't keep up with businesses (at least not like Bartlett is now).

I can't give you my opinion; I hate the burbs and I would never choose to live way outside of Memphis. I like the city, I like older homes, older neighborhoods, etc. I hate traffic, which automatically excludes all the burbs for me!

[MrsMichelle]

Do you have kids? If you don't then you can pick anywhere you want. Check your priv messages.

[tippster]

Definitely rule out Cordova. Like a previous poster said, it's been annexed by the city and the school situation is not that good. People are trying to give houses away in that area.

Collierville is the new hot area but houses are expensive. Crime is low, education is good but it is a distance from the airport. I would say a good 45 mins or so.

Bartlett is a decent area but I think it's starting to go downhill. Crime is up due to the surrounding area. There are still some decent parts to it and homes are reasonable. The schools are good. It's about 45 mins to the airport.

Many people are moving out of Shelby County (due to ridiculous property taxes and crime). Most people I know are moving to Fayette County or to northern MS. Fayette County would be a drive to the airport and I'm not sure about the schools. The bad thing with MS is the state income tax.

[acez]

45 minutes is a long time !

What is the city taxes % for properties?

There's any good neighborhood maybe with security gates near the airport that I can consider for a short commute ?

thanks for the information.

[MrsMichelle]

If you want a short commute and a decent home, then look into Desoto County.

[Pearlbob]

City taxes really add up. I don't know how they calculate it (it's based on the value of your home every few years). Maybe $1500 a year for something around $130,000? Around that same price for county taxes.

There are tons of good neighborhoods in Memphis that aren't gated!!! In fact, I really haven't seen any gated neighborhoods in the city....that's more of a suburbian thing, or some sort of new townhome complex deal.

[TheBigApple]

The Shelby County Appraiser conducts reappraisals every four years. To calculate your property tax, you would take 25% of this appraised value. This is your "assessment" or the amount you pay taxes on. If you are a city resident, you pay a city tax of 4.04% of the assessed value AND a county tax of 3.4332%. If you live outside the city limits, you only pay a county tax, which is a little higher, at 4.09%. You might also have a city tax if you live in one of the surrounding suburbs like Germantown or Collierville, but it's about half of Memphis city rate. I think it's about 1.5% for Germantown.