Potentially moving to Nashville (Murfreesboro, Franklin: for sale, real estate, apartment)

[gatiger]

I am potentially moving to the Nashville area, due to relocation with my job. I would be working in Goodlettsville.

I am not sure where to start looking at real estate. My wife and I are 30 and 31 years old. We currently live in Altanta and enjoy going into the city for dinner or events but definitely like living in the suburbs.

We have 3 young kids (4yrs, 2yrs and 7months) so education and recreational activities (parks, sports leagues, swim team, etc.) will be very important. We will have one more year of pre-school and then we will most likely go the Public School route.

Can anyone recommend the best area to look in? I am not familiar with the area at all so I am not sure about traffic or travel times. I do not want to have to drive more then 40 minutes to work if I can help it. That is the typical commute for me here in Atlanta.

Thank you,

[Vickie10essee]

Hi Gatiger,

There are many areas you may be interested in. Have you made a trip here yet to drive different areas yet to narrow that down? With you working in Goodlettsville, that helps a lot and I bet you won't have too bad of a commute (even possible you could live in Goodlettsville and be just a few min. from work). It just depends on many factors. Brentwood and Franklin are very pricey (tiny yards, homes close, some townhomes, and start at $120-150 per s.f.), but some people pay to live there just because of the schools.

I would get that preapproval first (and this will get your ducks in a row and prevent stress and wasted time right off the bat for you). I would offer your income proof, etc. to the loan officer even if they don't ask (there are new crazy laws with this that prevents them from being able to ask for it before you find the right home and I always tell people to just offer it upfront). Get them to issue you a letter that says you have had income checked, credit checked and that you are approved for x amount or less. After that, have a good realtor that has good communication to start emailing you homes in all the areas within a 40 min. commute of your work address that fit all of your needs and wants and narrow from there. They should send you ALL listed homes that match this list, not push certain listings, etc. Then, you might want to plan a day or two to come here and look at some homes. While you are looking, have your realtor plan mini-tours of the activities, grocers, schools, etc. of each area. With great planning and preparation on your realtors' part, you can get a lot done , depending on your energy levels and how fast you can look at each home. If you do not have anyone to take care of the children while you make the trip, you may want to make two or three trips to do this, but it all can be done. I am sure you will love it here (and the traffic probably will be somewhat of a delight for you compared to Atlanta, especially being that most likely you will be going against the rush hour in Goodlettsville).

Goodlettsville, Hendersonville, and Mt. Juliet are great areas and in comfortable proximity to dining, downtown Nashville, etc. My husband and I love good dining and in Murfreesboro (may be too far of a commute for you depending on what time you drive it) we have over 250 restaurants sooo close to our house, yet it is so quiet in our neighborhood for the most part. Murfreesboro will be more affordable, with great schools than the other areas I mentioned. Sometimes we go to Nashville to eat when he is down there working anyway (he plays live music full-time and is on the radio sometimes live at night), but we normally don't have to go that far to get a great experience.

Just so that you can have an idea, if you like all brick homes that are 10 years old or newer in good neighborhoods, expect to spend around 90-$105 per s.f. (for the most part). You may find 80-95 per s.f. in Murfreesboro though.

I have worked with many folks that can come here once or twice (and had never been here before that) and found their home. I have had a few that just don't want to rush and get a short term rental apartment while they take their time. With the right realtor that really organizes well and puts the time into it for you, with enough online reviewing of homes with your family upfront, you can get things done quickly if it is done in an organized manner.

Oh, and one more thing! Rural housing may actually have funding back, so if you don't have a down payment, this can be a great loan for you. The key is that your realtor will have to look for only rural housing approved area homes (not in city limits and sometimes you can find some still close to everything). Your loan officer can help place you with the right loan too (this loan may not be good for you and you must qualify). Just a thought.

Hope that helps.

Good luck!

Vickie Tomlinson

[northsouthgirl]

Goodlettsville/Hendersonville are both very good areas as far as price and location. If you find a community you like in either of those locations, you certainly won't have much of a drive. My husband and I live in East Nashville, but we go out to Greenbriar occasionally and we really like it. It's a little less suburbia and a little more country, but I would definitely consider it.

Your drive into Nashville from Goodlettsville is probably about 15-20 minutes (non-traffic), depending on where you want to get. Not a long drive at all for events/shopping in town. The mall in Coolsprings is probably about 30-40 minutes (non-traffic) away. (There are other malls, it's just the one I like.) Percy-Warner Park is a little closer than that, but there are definitely parks closer to Goodlettsville.

[brentwoodgirl]

Brentwood has tiny yards? Brentwood zoning requires an acre per house. Some of the newer neighborhoods get around that by using some of the common area to count towards the acre requirement, but it's still very unusual here to find a house on less than 1/2 acre.
Brentwood is fairly expensive though. It can be challenging to find a hosue here for less than $400-$450K. So your budget would be important in helping you pick an area.
Hendersonville is very nice and would close to your work. I would probably look there first. There is a greater price range available in Hendersonville, so you can find houses from under $200K all the way to over $1 million.
There are several boardie from Hendersonville who can give you more information on the area.

[Vickie10essee]

Hi Brentwoodgirl,

Brentwood does have some large yards, but usually not when it is anything affordable for most people from what I have seen as an active realtor showing in a lower price range. I am assuming this couple isn't wealthy (they could be though), based on their ages and expense of 3 children. I just pulled 68 non-zero lot line properties actively for sale right now in Brentwood that have .49 acres or less and in this list, the average year built was in 2003. I think what is unusual to some as opposed to others is just in what areas you have been around. Usually, when I am showing property in Brentwood, it is for folks that are in a lower price range and from what I have seen based on this, the yards have not been large and houses close together. But I totally see what you are saying about the larger yards (in the $400+ range). I just thought with this family, they may not be in that range and thought of the ones with smaller yards. Sorry, didn't mean to talk bad about Brentwood in any way. So many people that ask me to help them find a house ask not to be close to the neighbors and to have a large yard (if buying a single-family home and have kids). Just wanted to clarify. Brentwood is a wonderful place!

[brentwoodgirl]

According to Real Tracs, there are 30 houses on the market in Brentwood right now that have less than .33 acre lots.
251 houses on the market with .50 acres or more. So about 10% of the houses are on less than a 1/3 of an acre, and those neighborhoods are mostly in the outlying area close to Nolensville.
I don't think anyone driving around Brentwood would consider the houses "right on top of each other." Franklin, maybe, but not Brentwood. A quick drive down Concord Road would dispell that idea. That's one of the things we love about Brentwood is all of the green space.
I have 3 kids and am in my early 30s, and we have a nice yard in Brentwood. Big families seem to be a norm around here. We are one of the smaller families at our school. Most of our friends families have 4+ children.
I didn't want the OP to have the wrong picture of Brentwood in his head. But I woudl still recommend Hendersonville for the proximity to his work.

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by Vickie10essee

Hi Brentwoodgirl,

Brentwood does have some large yards, but usually not when it is anything affordable for most people from what I have seen as an active realtor showing in a lower price range. ... Usually, when I am showing property in Brentwood, it is for folks that are in a lower price range and from what I have seen based on this, the yards have not been large and houses close together.

Maybe you're thinking of the part of Davidson County people call Brentwood, which young families should know is not "Brentwood."

[jenntenn]

heck, i know of 2 houses on my street in Brentwood that are under 300K, about 2500 sq/ft and in pretty good shape. They need a bit of cosmetic updating, but that is about it. They both have 1 acre yards and a TON of mature trees. You can find homes in Brentwood for under 400K, you just have to look. Although i do think the haul from brentwood to goodletsville would drive me bonkers.

[vivelafrance]

I would definitely take a look at Hendersonville.

It's a suburban city of around 50,000 located in Sumner County. It's 15 minutes from downtown Nashville via I-65/Tn-386 and 5 minutes from Goodlettsville. You would have no commute.

The city is spread across two peninsulas of Old Hickory Lake which offers a lot of nice recreational opportunities and lake side living...if you can afford it!

The city has a nice new shopping mall called the Streets at Indian Lake, a beautiful greenway system, lots of lakeside parks, and a good mix of new construction and established neighborhoods.

The schools are also excellent. I would recommend looking in the Beech/Madison Creek school districts. This area runs along Long Hollow Pike and is a very fast growing community. Some nice neighborhoods include Drakes Pointe, Mansker Farms, Somerset Downs, Tower Hill, and Autumn Creek. Homes in this area typically run from between 250 and 500K although Mansker Farms does have an area with smaller starter homes in the 180-200K range.

You can also find some great homes in Goodlettsville itself. Just remember that Goodlettsville is split between Sumner and Davidson County. The best schools, and newer neighborhoods are all on the Sumner County side...so make sure you check when looking at homes. 12 Stones Crossing is a very nice golf course community in Goodlettsville. It's located across from Moss Wright Park which offers a lot of rec. opportunities and a replica of Mansker Fort, one of the first developments in Middle TN. Another nice neighborhood is Copper Creek on Long Hollow Pike.

[Kansaichick]

Would you mind telling us exactly what part of Atlanta you live in and why you like it there? I am an Atlanta native so that might help pinpoint where you might want to begin looking in Nashville. You can't compare two cities and have the same expectations but having a "base" of what you like might help you figure out where to start...