Sydney to Memphis (Collierville, Arlington, Piperton: real estate, crime, mortgage)

[Watson76]

Hi Everyone,
Well as the title reads myself and my other half may have the opportunity of moving over to the US, and in particular Memphis for a Work opportunity, we’ve been reading these threads over the last few weeks, and have gotten a great gauge about Memphis, however we just need a few pointers in the right direction on a few issue/questions

Firstly we have decided on Collierville as the area we would like to purchase a house, it looks a great area, plenty of decent sized properties, and large houses
-In Collierville is there any must see estates( I think called sub divisions)
-Gated Communities are there any, and are they worth it
-Any large acreages within Collierville, we saw some in Eads, however they are a bit too far out looking at Google maps

Meaning we will be Buying a house, and we need to know any recommendation on agents, or buying agents to help us sort through the amount of houses on offer. On a side not, banking – what are the good banks to get loans to fund the purchas

Safety, yes, we have read many different thread on this very issue, and we have made the assumption that, like in every area across the world, there are places in which you shouldn’t go after dark, generally what are the crime stats and Collierville is pretty safe area, is this a good assumption

Local Stores in Collierville, just wondering are there all the necessary convenient – Supermarkets (grocery store) etc etc, or shopping centre’s(malls) that are close or in Collierville?

Cheers everyone from 10000 miles away for reading this long winded post!

[Robert_J]

Start looking at different real estate sites. Find houses in your price range and note the zip code (that is how our cities are divided for mailing purposes). Different sized houses will fall in different zip codes or subdivisions. My subdivision here requires a minimum house size of 2,400 square feet. I think every house built here is larger than that. Mine is be a lot.

You will pay a lot extra for a gated community. To me it isn't worth it.

Acreage will require you to be further out. There are multi-acre lots available in north Mississippi. Depending on your work place, it may be a closer commute than living in Tennessee.

Shop around for a mortgage company when you get here. You don't have to use the same company that you bank with.

I'd say Collierville is one of the safer parts of Shelby county. Check out the local newspaper (commericalappeal.com) for crime stories.

Collierville has one of the nicer open-air malls in the area. There are grocery stores all over the area.

[maximus10]

I wouldn't worry about crime in Collierville or any of Memphis' suburbs for that matter. If you do buy in Collierville you will definitely want to checkout their open-air mall they have off of 385. It's all most like a town center. I believe it's called The Avenue at Carriage Crossing. Collierville also has an historic downtown area as well that's pretty neat. I don't know of any actual subdivisions but the best ones from what I know are located near the intersection of Houston Levee Rd. and Wolf River Blvd. The main banks around here are First Tennessee, Regions, Suntrust, and of course Bank of America. Whether or not they specialize on home loans, I have no idea.

[ColliervilleMom]

I only know of one gated subdivision, DuBray, and it's only gated at night. I agree with Robert_J, not really worth it, if someone wants to get in, the gate will not keep them out. It's also not a manned gate, you use a code to get in.

That said, Collierville is pretty darn safe.

Large acreage, hard to find! Like you said, it's in Eads, along Collierville Arlington Rd., but not convenient. Depending on your budget, you might be able to find a place that backs up to a lake or golf course, that feels like you've got acreage.

As far as must-see subdivisions, can you give us a ballpark budget?

[Watson76]

Thanks guys for your replies, just brilliant

Our ballpark figure to find a house is 260 - 330, Basically 4 or 5 bedroom, large block 1/3 of an acre and above, relativily new house, nice yard

Thanks again

[Robert_J]

1/3 of an acre isn't considered "acreage" here. There are still some older houses here in the Southaven area with 2+ acre lots. The farther south you go, the larger the chunks of land per house become.

Your price range seems OK. I'm not familiar with Collierville but if you decide on living in MS, you shouldn't have a problem finding a house with at least a 1/2 acre lot.

[ColliervilleMom]

Don't rule out Fayette county if you don't mind driving a bit more for amenities and work. You'll get nice yards out there. (Piperton)

[JoeCartpath]

Fayette County is fine as long as you don't plan to use the public school system. If anything, it's worse than Memphis City Schools...

[ColliervilleMom]

oh yeah, good point...