Moving to Nashville-- advice (Franklin, Brentwood: for sale, real estate, apartment)

[kidlid21]

Hi all,
My wife, I and 1yr old are moving to Nashville this summer. We're looking for a house: ideally great school district, 4BR, decent size yard (>0.3 acre) for the kid(s), and open floor plan (and a reasonable commute <35min in rush hour would be a huge bonus). Budget is 450 with room to go up if needed. We've been looking in Brentwood with an agent, but the places we really like are kind of remote, bordering Nolensville and seem to be a 30min commute to Nashville without traffic Colleagues have warned me that my commute to 65 will be as long as the trip on I-65.

I feel if we're willing to go that far, why not just go a mile further into the area confined by concord road, sunset road, nolensville road and get a lot more house for the money and the same schools (but lose the Brentwood name I suppose)? I care a lot more about schools than township names.

Finally, many of the current Brentwood listings are under contract with a decent number of the remaining being clearly overpriced (even factoring in the Brentwood premium) or not meeting one of our deal breakers (no yard for example). So a few questions:
1) Given our budget, are our expectations reasonable in Brentwood and we just need to be patient til more homes come on the market?
2) Any ideas of subdivisions/areas where I could expect to find something that fits our bill and is still a reasonable commute?
3) Finally, anyone aware of decent 6mo or mo-to-mo rentals in Nashville in case we decide to go that route short term (safe, relatively family friendly, and short commute to the city is ideal).
Many thanks for the help!

[CountryGirl2b=]

If you don't have your heart set on Brentwood, you might find more in your price range in Franklin.

[BirdieBelle]

I'm trying to think of homes in Brentwood that would have "no yard." The city has a one-house-per-acre density requirement, with some neighborhoods being zoned OSRD (open-space residential) so they have smaller yards with the balance in common area. But "no yard" just isn't something you hear here.

Anyway, your price range is below the average in Brentwood, so any homes in that range are going to be snapped up, often before officially being listed. Waiting on the market is just risky.

I agree that Franklin would give you more options. I would choose Franklin over Nolensville just for access to amenities.

[Vandy-bound]

I would second the recommendation to look in Franklin, too. While you can find homes for sale in your price range in Brentwood, you might have to compromise on some of your other desires. If schools are the most important part, I'd suggest looking at the potential schools you would likely be zoned for. Of course, zoning can and does change from time to time, but the closer you are to the school physically, the less likely you would be to have to move. (I can't see Raintree Forest going to the Nolensville high school when built, for example, or McGavock Farms going to anyplace other than BHS). Unless you are looking at middle and high schools, nearly all of the elementary schools in the county would likely fit your educational expectations. Most have excellent ratings on Great Schools, have generally excellent test scores, and most people are generally happy with their schools. You will find more differences at the high school level, both in terms of academic achievement and in courses offered.

In terms of which would be a better commute, Franklin or Nolensville, I drove both before we decided on a house (in Brentwood) and found that at the northern end of Nolensville, my time was way better into Vanderbilt than from Franklin. YMMV, of course. And it might depend on what time of the day you are commuting. If I leave my house when the kids get on the bus, I can be at Vanderbilt, door to door in less than 30 minutes. If I leave closer to 8, it's going to take longer. I wouldn't let the traffic scare you off. And depending on where in town you'll be going for work, you may be able to ride the bus. There is a stop at the Civitan Ball Fields on Concord at 65 that takes you into downtown (several stops) and goes to Vanderbilt too. In lieu of a light rail option, this isn't bad, and I can be productive while someone else drives me in. Just another thought....

[kidlid21]

Thanks to everyone for the responses, really appreciate it.

Yeah, we were contemplating Franklin to give ourselves more options, but our agent pooh-poohed it after showing us a few not so spectacular houses there one day. I haven't done anymore research since, but we'll have to take another look. Any specific Franklin areas or divisions anyone recommends for nice homes/decent commute?... it's a relatively big area and you can get pretty far from the city.

Our agent never even mentioned nolensville to us, I just stumbled upon it while trying to find more houses on the south eastern edge of Brentwood (<2mi from nolensville). Seems I can get a much nicer house at the same price by moving 1 mile east and the schools are all the same (at least for now). Agent sorta snubbed nolensville when I mentioned it, though it seems to be a rapidly developing/improving place and an already nice town.

I'm not invested in having to live in brentwood, such things only matter to me insofar as it influences the resale value of the house down the line. Safe, family friendly area with well educated neighbors works for me.

@wmsn: Sorry, the "no yard" is an exaggeration. But we're talking some brentwood houses with 1/4 acre and some modestly larger but with a very small backyard for kids to play in.

@Vandybound: if you don't mind me asking, what time do you commute in after your kids get on the bus? 7? 7:30? I'll be commuting to vandy, likely trying to get there by 8am. Don't want to waste a lot of time on my commute. 30 min is fine, 45 starts to get painful. Not sure if that's realistic at 730 am from nolensville or franklin?? PM commute is not a worry as I usually stay late.

BTW, does 24 run any faster than 65... or is it just time to get to the highway from the local feeders that makes all the difference?

I agree about the schools. Our oldest won't be heading to middle school for 9-10 years, but good middle/high schools would also be helpful if we need to sell in the future.

BTW, anyone with ideas on short term rentals?

thanks again,
K

[BirdieBelle]

I don't have time for a full post now, but you seriously need a new agent. Any agent that would pooh-pooh Franklin and not even mention Nolensvillle to someone in your price range has no idea what they are doing.

Avoid I-24 at all costs. It is one of the circles of hell, with major backups every morning.

[skyblueNashville]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

Avoid I-24 at all costs. It is one of the circles of hell, with major backups every morning.

I was about to respond to the OP to avoid I-24, but I'm glad you beat me to it. Very excellent description!

[Anony-Momma]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

I don't have time for a full post now, but you seriously need a new agent. Any agent that would pooh-pooh Franklin and not even mention Nolensvillle to someone in your price range has no idea what they are doing.

Avoid I-24 at all costs. It is one of the circles of hell, with major backups every morning.

You wrote exactly what I was thinking as I was reading this thread. That agent is either incompetent or has some bizarre agenda.

[CountryGirl2b=]

I can't believe ANY agent Pooh-Poohing Franklin! Off with her head!!!

Lots of great subdivisions in Franklin, particularly in your price range. McKays Mill, Fieldstone Farms, Westhaven . . . please find yourself another agent TODAY (I PM'd you the lady who worked with me).

Just for example, here are some in Fieldstone Farms. I think they might have bigger lots than McKays Mill and Westhaven because it's an older development. But you can look for yourself on realtracs.com. Put Franklin in for the city.

Trouble with the links - just put in any of those subdivisons wehn you search. Here's one in Fieldstone (maybe, if the link works)

http://www.realtracs.com/PropertyDet...2Xiv34qqBYauZA

You can also use RealTracs for rental. Wasn't sure of your budget but you'd probably have to spend $1700 - $2000 if you wanted a bigger place (not an apartment). I like this subdivision - RiverRest - maybe this will work?

RealTracs Mid-South Real Estate Property Finder Media Display

GET A NEW AGENT!!!!

[septimus]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

I don't have time for a full post now, but you seriously need a new agent. Any agent that would pooh-pooh Franklin and not even mention Nolensvillle to someone in your price range has no idea what they are doing.

Avoid I-24 at all costs. It is one of the circles of hell, with major backups every morning.

I was going to say the same thing.

Also depending on the time of day commuting to Vandy from Franklin is not bad. If you are in Grassland or Fieldstone Farms area you can cut right down Hillsboro Pike and you'll learn the shortcuts around the mall traffic pretty quickly.

I think all of the schools in Williamson county are strong, and the "best" are reflective of the average housing costs in its zone. Scales is usually ranked top and also has the most expensive houses. Any school inside Brentwood or Franklin city limits will be strong (I actually think FSSD is stellar and is amazing that its scores are so close to WCS given it has a much higher % of kids on free/reduce lunch than WCS).

Rezoning is inevitable (I actually hope we get rezoned for high school once the new Nolensville school opens, not because our zoned school isn't good, it is, but because there are 2 high schools much closer to us.

PS yards are overrated. I think the long term trend in housing is for more clusters, smaller individual lots with more open space. The one-acre lot dream is over and I think long term it will actually hurt values in Brentwood as younger generations don't value it.