Cottontown or Gallatin desirable areas? if not where around is? (Chattanooga: sale, buying a house)

[ohiosgreat]

Hello...can anyone tell me if Cottontown and or Gallatin are desirable areas?
Are they considered far out? or what is there stigma?

Also wondering what areas are nice around Gallatin...
What is Lebanon like...does it have a stigma of being a nice place?

Any info is appreciated....thanks so much!

[nashvols]

Gallatin is a decent sized county seat/exurb of Nashville with more than 30,000 people. Cottontown is an unincorporated wide spot in the road with fewer than 400 people. The difference between these two areas is staggering.

Gallatin has some nice areas, primarily between downtown Gallatin and Hendersonville, much of it along Nashville Pike (Hwy 31E) and along Old Hickory Lake. Some people would consider it far out, as it is a good 30 minute drive (and even longer commute) from Nashville. I don't think a ton of people outside of Sumner County (and perhaps even some IN Sumner County) even know where Cottontown is.

On the whole, Gallatin is pretty middle class. It has desirable areas, but it wouldn't make the short list of desirable suburbs of Nashville.

Lebanon is somewhat similar to Gallatin, minus being near the lake...so there are probably fewer areas that are "nice" by comparison. It's about the same distance from town, though Lebanon has the advantage of being right on the interstate.

And I'm not sure what sort of "stigma" there would be about a place being nice, but Lebanon does not have it. It's not a bad town by any means. But if you're looking for a nicer area of Wilson County, Mount Juliet is it.

[vivelafrance]

The best part of Gallatin would be the southwestern edge between Hendersonville and the lake. You can find a few multi-million dollar lakeside estates tucked away off Douglas Bend and Cages Bend Roads. There's also several large subdivisions, the most "desirable" probably being Fairvue where you'll find a good mix of home styles...current properties start at ~260K and go up to 4.4 million...

Cottontown is nice for a rural area and more accessible than it used to be since the bypass was extended to Gallatin. You can get a lot more house for your money but some rezoning a few years ago put more of the community into White House's school zone which doesn't compare as well to Beech, to which it was formerly zoned, or the adjacent Station Camp zone.

[DonCorleone]

Can't argue with either of the above posts...well done.

I'll add that I would start a search of Gallatin with the Station Camp High School area. It's right on the line between Hendersonville and Gallatin... More "safe bet" homes in that area.

Cottontown is a nice area I think. Very sleepy...sort of a "blink and you'll miss it" type of town on the state highways. I like it though, and agree that you get more bang for your buck, but the supply is more limited there.

Another benefit of Lebanon is the proximity to the airport. It is probably 20 minutes closer than Gallatin is (and 35-45 minutes closer than Cottontown). If you plan to travel a great deal, that could be a positive towards Lebanon over Gallatin. Then again...if it's that big of a concern, I'd look at Mount Juliet which is a safer bet and even closer to the airport.

[Stiggy]

We are currently moving to the area from the Chattanooga area. One thing I can add is that if you are planning on buying a house in the area, pay close attention to the property taxes. It does vary by the city allot. Gallatin property taxes are high. Hendersonville is about half of Gallatin property taxes. White House property taxes fall into the same realm with Gallatin. I am not sure why it is so high since the towns are not heavily populated. I can only assume they at taxing the rear ends off the home owners to pay for city workers. The areas are beautiful.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by Stiggy

We are currently moving to the area from the Chattanooga area. One thing I can add is that if you are planning on buying a house in the area, pay close attention to the property taxes. It does vary by the city allot. Gallatin property taxes are high. Hendersonville is about half of Gallatin property taxes. White House property taxes fall into the same realm with Gallatin. I am not sure why it is so high since the towns are not heavily populated. I can only assume they at taxing the rear ends off the home owners to pay for city workers. The areas are beautiful.

Hendersonville taxes are not half of what Gallatin taxes are.

For Sumner County:

Base rate - $2.0208
Mitchellville - $2.6605
Hendersonville - $2.6708
Millersville - $2.8200
Goodlettsville - $2.8908
White House - $3.0008
Gallatin - $3.0108
Portland - $3.1208
Westmoreland - $3.4208

Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury - Division of Property Assessments - Property Tax Rates


One thing I have found is that many times tax rates are lower in the more well off communities because home values are much higher. So just because, say, Westmoreland's tax rate is 28% higher than Hendersonville's doesn't make Westmoreland a more expensive place to live.


And for those unaware of how the tax system works (it's kind of confusing), let's look at the tax assessment on a hypothetical pair of $200,000 houses, one in Hendersonville, one in Gallatin.

Residential is taxed at its assessed value, which is 25% of its appraised value. The tax rate is $X.XX per $100 of assessed value. The appraised value should NOT be confused with the sale price. The appraised value is determined by the county, not by the market. Your home might be worth more or less on the market compared to what it is appraised at (but it should be reasonably close).

This is how you would figure it.

Hendersonville house:
Appraised value = $200,000
Assessed value = $50,000 (25%)
Tax rate = $2.6708 per $100
$50,000/100 = $500
$500 x $2.6708 = $1,335.40

Gallatin house:
Appraised value = $200,000
Assessed value = $50,000 (25%)
Tax rate = $3.0108 per $100
$50,000/100 = $500
$500 x 3.0108 = $1,505.40

On a $200,000 house, your property taxes would be $170 higher (12.7%) in Gallatin than in Hendersonville.