Downtown vs. Suburbs...aaaaaaaaaaaargh! (Franklin, Brentwood: renting, homes, neighborhood)

[BCA18]

Sorry guys, I should have clarified the situation a little better.

My boyfriend and I have been dating since high school (I'm 22 now and he's 23). Even so, I would never live with him unless we were married already...let alone sign mortgage papers with him. Never mind the fact that I'm super conservative...I'm also not stupid. He's thinking of buying a house around Christmastime, and he'll be doing it on his own and living there by himself for at least five or six months b/c we won't get married while I'm still in school (I graduate a year from now). Whatever house he buys will be one that he could afford on his own salary, without mine. My name and my money won't be involved until I've graduated and have a ring on my finger and a marriage license. But we've been dating for so long that I have a lot of say in which house he buys b/c the assumption is that I'll be moving into it and helping to pay for it eventually when we get married. But if I don't, and something crazy happens and we don't get married, he'll be in a house that he can afford by himself with just his name on the paperwork...and I'll stick with my parents in Brentwood until I save enough to put a down payment on my own little house, haha.

Right now we're kicking general ideas around more than anything...since he's not buying for another six months, we're not looking too much at any specific house or neighborhood. We're trying to get more of a feel of general areas instead. We both grew up in Brentwood so when we think of "downtown" we think of anything off the Wedgewood exit coming up I-65 on up through Charlotte and Rosa Parks. We're both much more familiar with the southern and eastern parts of Nashville than the nothern and western parts...we need to get more familiar with the area in general (i.e. which neighborhoods are which, what the prices are there, what types of people live there, etc).

I agree that profit shouldn't be the driving force of a home-buying decision. Of course re-sale value has to be considered, but all I care about is not losing money on the deal. Breaking even or getting a small profit is fine with me. But it's hard to tell that to an accountant who's been crunching numbers all day and loves to study investing. I was just wondering what y'all thought about the potential for profit in Nashville proper vs. in the suburbs. IMO Nashville proper is a sure re-sell, with varying profits depending on what area of the city you're in (and probably higher profits if the gas/energy prices continue to rise like they have been). Whereas the suburbs could be a great re-sell if you were smart/lucky and bought a house in an area that turned into the next Brentwood, but could be a problem if you choose wrong and end up with a cookie-cutter house in a typical suburb. He wants to find a suburb that's like Brentwood 20 years ago, buuuut making that judgment sounds risky to me. And it's hard to convince him that the tradeoff on square footage in the suburbs for location in the city makes sense.

Anyway, at this stage we're still debating abstract ideas and general areas...nothing specific or binding.

[#Littledog]

Sounds like you both have good heads on your shoulders. I think whatever decision you make will work out for you. Best of luck to you!

[Steve_TN]

Remember, you are young and you WILL make mistakes. Just use your best judgement, talk it out a lot and then go for it when the time is right. The first house my wife and I had built in Murfreesboro was a complete mistake (the builder not the location), but we thought we were making sound judgements at the time and did our best. It was an enormous learning experience. Even though it turned out to be a huge mistake, I would not trade that experience for anything because we did it together and learned together. A good frind of mine gave me some good advice that proved 100% true. She told me that your first house is your "mistake house" that you will mess up on and learn from. She couldn't have been more accurate.

[EvelynTN]

Our second house was our 'mistake' house. Our first house was in East Nashville in 1990. I was 23, newly married, and I got a bunch of questions about the neighborhood, schools, etc. But, it was the perfect place for us at the time. Our 'mistake house' was in the Franklin suburbs. We loved the house itself, but it was the suburban environment. We fit the demographics pretty well (southern raised, church-going WASP, grad degrees). There is/was absolutely nothing edgy or hip about me. But, we were both miserable! We did waffle back and forth about moving to the 'burbs. But, so many people love it out there. Why wouldn't we? We should have taken that waffling as a clue, but we didn't...

Alli, it sounds like you are pretty unfamiliar with Nashville. I can't urge you enough spend some time there. Really there, not just on realtracs-there, or driving-nearby there. If you find Brentwood comfortable and very lovely, you may not enjoy living intown.

[supanaut]

I bought a house out in the 'burbs (around Bellevue) back in 2005 when I was 23. Great community but I discovered the slower, family-friendly suburban life wasn't for me. Ended up buying a house in Hillsboro Village two years later which was (and continues to be) a much better fit for me since it's a lot more dynamic and walkable (which is great as gas crosses the $4/gal mark).

Now I wouldn't say the first house in the suburbs was a "mistake" house since I learned a lot and a very good chain of events transpired as a result of moving there. However, as far as enjoyment goes (which means different things to different people) the second one in HV wins hands down. So sure, take resale value and house size into consideration but don't forget enjoyment. After all, what good is a house if you live in an area you don't really enjoy?

[BCA18]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm just so frustrated with thinking about houses right now! I thought this was supposed to be fun?!

I love Brentwood. If I could buy a house here, I would, but I can't. It only takes me 25-30 minutes to drive from here to Belmont to make an 8:00 class. The Wedgewood exit (the exit I use for Belmont, Vandy and Preds games) is only 10 miles up I-65. It's pretty much the safest place ever. Besides the snobbery that you see sometimes, there's not a lot to dislike about Brentwood...in my opinion, obviously.

So, I like the suburbs. But I'm unwilling to move further away from Nashville than Brentwood...or at the most, Cool Springs. There's not a lot of suburbs that are that close to the city, affordable, and convenient to the interstate (as in 5-10 minutes or less). I don't want to spend more than 25 minutes driving to work every day. I like the idea of living as close to Nashville as possible...but the closer you get, the more expensive the houses get. It sucks.

And my boyfriend continues to be obsessed with finding the biggest house available for the least money possible in a growing area, even if it's 45 minutes away. He knows so much about finance, but nothing about real estate in Nashville (the other day he suggested Antioch...ugh). If you can get a big house for not a lot of money, it's b/c no one wants to live there!! You better figure out why that is and make sure it's gonna change! He continues to insist that gas prices are totally irrelevant in a home-buying decision. He's totally focused on money. It's not so bad that he'll live somewhere he won't be happy so he can make a "good investment"...but a good investment makes him happy. I want to pull my hair out talking to him about it!

Blaaaaaaaaaah. I'm just venting at this point, hahaha. Thanks for letting me.

[BCA18]

BTW, does anyone know if there are any affordable homes off the Old Hickory Blvd exit on I-65 (like 5-10 min from the exit)? That's an area I would love to live in, but it's probably unrealistic. And I don't know how to narrow down that area when searching online, b/c technically it's "Nashville" and it's not like you can search for houses based on what exit they're off of...what should I call that area to narrow it down? Should I search by ZIP code? Or is that TOO narrow? Aaaah!

[EvelynTN]

Try searching on realtracs.com. You can narrow the choices by elementary school.

Have you considered the Crieve Hall area? It is mostly 1950's houses, so they are very sturdy. Search in area 1 on 'Crieve Hall' as the elementary school. The houses are small, but they are still in Nashville.

But, again, get off the interstate and drive around and get familiar with Nashville. You are long overdue in doing that, not only as a house-shopper, but as a young adult becoming aware of the world in general. I think you may decide a commute from the suburbs is a better fit for you and your boyfriend, and you'll be asking a completely different set of real-estate questions .

[#Littledog]

Originally Posted by Ally6729

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm just so frustrated with thinking about houses right now! I thought this was supposed to be fun?!

I love Brentwood. If I could buy a house here, I would, but I can't. It only takes me 25-30 minutes to drive from here to Belmont to make an 8:00 class. The Wedgewood exit (the exit I use for Belmont, Vandy and Preds games) is only 10 miles up I-65. It's pretty much the safest place ever. Besides the snobbery that you see sometimes, there's not a lot to dislike about Brentwood...in my opinion, obviously.

So, I like the suburbs. But I'm unwilling to move further away from Nashville than Brentwood...or at the most, Cool Springs. There's not a lot of suburbs that are that close to the city, affordable, and convenient to the interstate (as in 5-10 minutes or less). I don't want to spend more than 25 minutes driving to work every day. I like the idea of living as close to Nashville as possible...but the closer you get, the more expensive the houses get. It sucks.

And my boyfriend continues to be obsessed with finding the biggest house available for the least money possible in a growing area, even if it's 45 minutes away. He knows so much about finance, but nothing about real estate in Nashville (the other day he suggested Antioch...ugh). If you can get a big house for not a lot of money, it's b/c no one wants to live there!! You better figure out why that is and make sure it's gonna change! He continues to insist that gas prices are totally irrelevant in a home-buying decision. He's totally focused on money. It's not so bad that he'll live somewhere he won't be happy so he can make a "good investment"...but a good investment makes him happy. I want to pull my hair out talking to him about it!

Blaaaaaaaaaah. I'm just venting at this point, hahaha. Thanks for letting me.

Did you consider renting for a while and even living in a rental property for the first year of your marriage? It sounds like you'd really like to live for a short while closer to the city, even if it's to cut your commute shorter. Then you'll get city living "out of your system" (or.....maybe not, you might decide you enjoy it better than suburban life). But I think your frustration stems from having to make such big decisions when you are just starting out on your own. Renting an apartment or a cute duplex for a year or so would allow you to focus on your wedding preparations, your new job, enjoy being a newlywed, exploring the city, gaining new perspectives on the world....Then you can worry about housing values, where to raise a family etc. Renting is not such a big commitment. Just a thought....

[ESPNDeportes]

We were in a similar situation and decided on a place in Sylvan Park. Quite a nice compromise if you ask me. Much nicer being close to the places we frequent (Vandy area, downtown) than being farther out in the suburbs....especially with the current gas prices!