Our List for this weekend's househunt! (Franklin, Brentwood: rental car, rental, HOA fees)

[gwenrn]

I want to thank you all (especially Septimus, CntryGirl, etc.) for all the responses. We are headed down this wknd for a househunting trip.
As I've mentioned we will have school off Hillsboro Pk in Green Hills and work at Grassmere Park. We have moved our focus to Williamson county for a number of reasons. Here is our list of communities in Brentwood/Franklin we will visit. Would love/appreciate any final input. Our priorities are commute 25-35 minutes, family-friendly active community with pool, and activities.

McKay's Mill
Fieldstone Farms
Raintree Forest
Courtside at Southern Hills
Chardonnay
Brookfield
Williams Grove
Cool Springs East
Westhaven

Thanks again!

[BirdieBelle]

I hope it goes well.

Some things to keep in mind: it is pretty dead here in Brentwood right now as a LOT of people are out of town on vacation. Neighborhoods won't look as they would on a school-year weekend.

It also is going to be VERY hot and humid this weekend, which also affects how many people will be outside.

Any chance you'll be here on a weekday? TRY to drive out Concord Road during rush hour if possible to see how you might tolerate it re: Williams Grove, Brookfield, Southern Woods etc. The Concord Rd construction will be going on until 2016. Do the same with Green Hills.

That's all I can think of for now.

[Hey_Hey]

You may have already thought all of this through. If so, ignore what I say.

I would at least look at some places in closer to Green Hills or Oak Hill. That commute is what would frighten me. With work in Grassmere and school in Green Hills I would take the much shorter drive over the amenities. I know there aren't really any "master planned" communities in this part of Nashville, but having an extra half-hour a day (for each of you) and the increased cost (40-50 cents/mile) would be my deciding factor in deciding to look closer in. I think most on here would agree that many times the primary reason people move to Williamson if they can afford to live in Nashville is the schools issue......which isn't an issue with you at all. You know you're going private either way.

I would also caution you concerning travel times. Traffic will only get worse, and in many cases, much worse. The commute times you see now are the best they will ever be. With the way the area is growing you could realistically be looking at a 50% increase in travel times in 10 years. 25 minutes today may be 30-35 minutes in 2020 or even higher during rush hour.

I would still look at houses in Williamson's master planned communities as that seems to be a high priority, but I would absolutely add on some houses in Green Hills, Oak Hill, 12South, or other areas just make sure. You may very well find the charm of a walkable neighborhood and an adjacent park negates the need for a community with HOA fees and amenities included.

[CountryGirl2b=]

Are you seeing houses in all those areas or just doing a drive by? Looks like a VERY full day or two. Hope you find what you are looking for. If you can plot all the areas on a big map of Nashville, that would be helpful. When my RE agent was driving me around I really had no idea of the proximity of one place to another. You need the BIG picture!

[gwenrn]

Thank you We looked into 12South and I just don't...get it. :/ Coming from NYC, the prices seem just a bit over the top already. We are still looking in Green Hills, Sylvan, etc. but not much has come up that we are interested in. I agree with you about commuting but right now we are at 3-hour daily commute times so relatively speaking, 30minutes each way sounds pretty good for now. Our realtor has mapped it out so we are not zigzagging all around. We are in a whirlwind - not an ideal situation but looking at 20 houses in 2 days. Yikes.
I better go to sleep now!

[septimus]

Good luck.

I remember when we came down for the weekend for houses. I'm pretty sure we put close to 500 miles on the rental car over a 3 day weekend.

It was February and it starting spitting flurries and our realtor wanted to cancel. I laughed (coming from the northeast).

We saw so many houses I didn't even remember what the inside of my house looked like when we put the offer in. I just remember it wasn't offensive (we had seen some interesting ones...) and it met our specs, it was the perfect location and the spec homes going in around us were listed for more than ours so we figured we were buying the cheapest house on a expensive street.

[gwenrn]

We loved 1 in Fieldstone Farms. Westhaven was great, but too far - my husband did a mock commute and it was 47 minutes. We are headed to Brentwood tomorrow - Raintree, Courtside, Brookfield.

The home inFieldstone was great but I order if that too would be a 35-40 minute commute vs 25-30 min?

Thanks!

[CountryGirl2b=]

To the Zoo from Fieldstone Farms should be 20 - 25 minutes. Over Berry's Chapel, left on Franklin Road, right on Concord to 65 North. If you look on a big map, there's no way the commute would be the same as from Westhaven. Unless there was road construction or an accident or something. Enjoy your house hunt. I'm sure one of your 20 will work out!

[septimus]

Fieldstone should shave about 10 minutes off your commute compared to Westhaven

[gwenrn]

Well it comes down to fieldstone farms or courtside at southern woods. I am going to write a new post and am hopeful to get input. Honestly , FF felt more convenient than Southern Woods...?