Relocation to Murfreesboro TN (Smyrna, Central: sales, homeowners insurance, crime)

[leahnc]

What is the cost of living compared to Raleigh NC?

More expensive / less expensive?

I am married & have two children. School districts are important.

I welcome any information you can give provide.

Thanks

[hectorector]

The cost is considerably less expensive. There is no state income tax and the only school that failed the State's report in educational achievement was Central Middle School. The city is very family oriented and crime is low.

[kpellatiro]

I get requests for Blackman Schools or Scales Elem (in M'boro)

[wellkids]

Originally Posted by leahnc

What is the cost of living compared to Raleigh NC?

More expensive / less expensive?

I am married & have two children. School districts are important.

I welcome any information you can give provide.

Thanks

Hi Leahnc,

I live in Murfreesboro and have four children. It is a wonderful place to live and we have many excellent schools. We even have two magnet schools and plans are in the works to add another K - 12 magnet school. There are Murfreesboro City Schools and Rutherford County Schools. The county runs all the Middle and High Schools but the City runs the Elementary Schools located within the city limits.

M'boro is divided into North, South, East, and West. The new mall called The Avenue is located at I24 and Medical Center Parkway. This would be considered West Murfreesboro, or area 24 in the MLS system. Some people refer to this as the "Blackman Community."

North of town is convenient to Nashville and you could take the I840 exit off of I24 before coming all the way into M'boro. This is where the Siegel Schools are located. This is MLS area 21 and used to be the "higher-end" portion of Murfreesboro but that is no longer true.

The historic district and MTSU are located in the East portion of the city. Lots of beautiful old historic homes in this area. Not a lot of new development because this was the originally downtown district and the city has expanded outward into North, West, and South.

South of town is the farther from Nashville but also where a lot of new growth is happening. They are currently working on two more exits off of I24 for this portion of the city. Growth is everywhere in M'boro.

As far as cost of living, our property taxes within the city limits are $3.84 for $100 per assessed value. if you buy outside of the city limits, the tax rate drops to $2.44 per $100 of assessed value. Homes are assessed at 25% of the tax appraisal.

The average list price for a home, within the city limits, during the month of August was $248,192.

Homeowners insurance will vary based on your claims history, the home itself, the area, and of course the company. But a vague estimate on a $250,000 home would be around $550 a year.

Comcast has an offer for high speed internet, cable, and phone service for $99 a month.

Water is going to vary based on your family, but roughly $50 a month

Electricity for an nice sized 4 bedroom home should be about $175 max in the winter and less in the summer. Of course, your personal settings for temperature can make this vary a lot.

I paid $2.58 a gallon for gas today at Kangaroo Mkt.

No income tax

No school tax - Our excellent public schools are absolutely free.

I hope that helps give you a little idea of cost of living here. If you have specific questions, feel free to contact me through my website or send me a PM on this forum.

Have a wonderful weekend!

[mschweit1978]

We just moved to Murfreesboro about 45 days ago. We have acess to the Blackman Schools and have found them to be very good. The only problem we had with our move was with REMAX Elite. We had a very poor experience with one of their agents and have been unable to get any help.

[Mike in TN]

median sales prices of existing homes:

Raleigh-Durham: $212,200
Murfreesboro: $141, 086

According to a survey by the Coldwell Banker Group, a 4BR, 2.5BA, 2200 sq. ft, 2-car garage, home with a family room in a upper-middle management type neighborhood would cost:

Raleigh-Durham: $228,785
Murfreesboro: $200,000

From CCNMoney's cost of living calculator:

Salary in:
Raleigh, NC:
$40,000 (just a number I chose)
Comparable salary in:
Murfreesboro-Smyrna, TN: $40,369.52

If you move from Raleigh NC to Murfreesboro-Smyrna TN...

Groceries will cost: 3.564% more
Housing will cost: 6.311% less
Utilities will cost: 5.682% more
Transportation will cost: 9.044% more
Healthcare will cost: 8.639% less

[Mike in TN]

Originally Posted by Mike in TN

median sales prices of existing homes:

Murfreesboro: $141, 086

I was looking over some data, and I can't find where I came up with that figure. Maybe I estimated it a while back and forgot?

Regardless, you can find plenty of existing homes for that price in M'Boro, I'm just not sure that's the actual median.