nice, rural areas just south of Spring Hill?? (Franklin, Columbia: real estate, chapel)

[aphahorse]

What are areas like south of Spring Hill? Say within 20 miles.. maybe around Columbia, Lewisburg, Chapel Hill, Eaglesville....or surround areas.

1) Is is rural (but not off the grid)
2) Is a nice house with land reasonable (including taxes being reasonable...under $3000)
3) Is shopping somewhat close (we'd want stores for foodshopping, pharmacy, doctors, hospital, target/walmart, farmers markets, Agway for animal feed to be somewhat close, within a 20-30 minute drive. We don't care about the large malls...they can be very far)
4) We don't have kids yet, but how are schools?
5) Is there a local FFA?
6) How is weather? Are there tornados? Or any other types of weather we should be aware of? (I should note we are scared of tornados!)
7) How is the economy there?

Any advice on the areas?

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by aphahorse

What are areas like south of Spring Hill? Say within 20 miles.. maybe around Columbia, Lewisburg, Chapel Hill, Eaglesville....or surround areas.

1) Is is rural (but not off the grid)
2) Is a nice house with land reasonable (including taxes being reasonable...under $3000)
3) Is shopping somewhat close (we'd want stores for foodshopping, pharmacy, doctors, hospital, target/walmart, farmers markets, Agway for animal feed to be somewhat close, within a 20-30 minute drive. We don't care about the large malls...they can be very far)
4) We don't have kids yet, but how are schools?
5) Is there a local FFA?
6) How is weather? Are there tornados? Or any other types of weather we should be aware of? (I should note we are scared of tornados!)
7) How is the economy there?

Any advice on the areas?

1) The area around Spring Hill is still pretty rural...especially to the east and west. I would caution you about looking to the north (Williamson County side) because that area had an extraordinary increase in population over the past decade. People that live between Spring Hill and Franklin will probably find their definition of rural change over the next decade or so. To the south of Spring Hill (towards Columbia), there is patchy development all along US 31.

2) Taxes are based off of what you are going to spend. We don't have extraordinarily high property taxes here, but staying under $3,000/yr will depend on where you live and how much your property is worth.

Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury - Division of Property Assessments (http://www.comptroller1.state.tn.us/pa/pahtfytb.asp - broken link)

Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury - Division of Property Assessments - Property Tax Rates (http://www.comptroller1.state.tn.us/pa/LR.asp?W=11 - broken link)

For example, Maury County (tax rate of $2.597 per $100 of assessed value in unincorporated areas), your property could be assessed at $450,000 and still remain under $3,000 in property taxes. Check the links, because property taxes do vary quite a bit from place to place.

3) In that area...Columbia would probably be your best bet for shopping and services...especially for medical/hospital services. If you don't go to Columbia, you might as well be heading north to Franklin or Nashville.

Spring Hill has some shopping...but it's geared more towards the suburban crowd. I think Columbia would be your best choice for a hub for your rural shopping needs.

4) You're going to get a huge range of opinions on the schools issue. Most people are going to tell you to pick Williamson County, because they have the best public schools. While that is true, I don't know if it would be best for someone striving for a rural lifestyle to pick Williamson County. Your land will likely be more expensive for what you get, and you will be closer to Nashville (and Franklin, for that matter) and therefore more likely to see development encroach on your rural lifestyle.

My nieces are in Maury County schools. For what it's worth, I think they are competent. They aren't my kids, so I couldn't tell you whether they are above or below average...that type of thing might depend on your perception...where are you moving from?

5) FFA...actually had to look that up.

Looks like you'll have one close by, no matter where you pick.

https://www.ffa.org/AppCtr/chploc/clsearch.aspx

Seems like most of the chapters are at high schools.

6) Severe thunderstorms, deadly lightning, catastrophic floods, F5 tornadoes, gale force winds, extreme heat and humidity, fog, snow, ice, cicadas, locusts, frogs falling from the sky. Pretty much the whole 9.

If you're worried about tornadoes, find or build a house with a basement/storm shelter. The weather here doesn't scare me. But I've lived here my whole life. I've seen wind knock down trees, I've seen ice storms, lightning strike 50-75 feet away, I've seen the most incredible downpour in my life (May 2010) lead to a catastrophic flood, I've driven through fog where I couldn't even see the other side of the interstate, and I've sweated through heat indices of 115+, but I can honestly tell you that I've never seen a tornado that wasn't on TV. And I'm the type of crazy fool sitting out on his front porch watching these storms come through.

The vast majority of tornadoes that come through here are relatively minor and short-lived. That doesn't mean you shouldn't take precautions...but don't get scared by the number of tornado warnings and "doppler indicated" tornadoes on the weather reports. Just pay attention and you'll probably be just fine.

7) The economy right around Nashville has rebounded nicely, and there are signs that it will improve in the future. A lot of the more rural areas were struggling before the economic downturn...and they're really struggling now. It all depends on where you are. Unemployment rate only paints some of the picture...but in general, the economy is going to be better closer to Nashville & the suburbs, and worse in the more isolated rural areas.




Tell us a little bit more about your situation, though...it might help us decide what the best move is for you.

What sort of farming are you planning to do?

How much land are you looking for...and what sort of budget do you have?

Where are you moving from?

What attracted you to the Spring Hill area?

Describe what the perfect homestead would be for you. Be specific.

[scarletneon]

I would never recommend Maury county schools. I graduated from spring hill. If memory serves me correctly, my honors English class senior year mainly consisted of playing scrabble. I also took an entrepreneurship class where I managed to finish the Stand by Stephen King because all we did was sit there while the teacher worried about printing t shirts. Let's not forget the Spanish class where all we did was copy things off the overhead projector. My two cents.

[aphahorse]

Originally Posted by nashvols

Tell us a little bit more about your situation, though...it might help us decide what the best move is for you.

What sort of farming are you planning to do?

How much land are you looking for...and what sort of budget do you have?

Where are you moving from?

What attracted you to the Spring Hill area?

Describe what the perfect homestead would be for you. Be specific.

Well, we won't be living off the land, but we'd like 20+ acres for horses/cattle. More of an equestrian type farm.

Budget was within 250K range.

My husbands job closed up here, and they are willing to relocate us to Spring Hill. We're coming from NJ but we never liked this state anyway. the only downfall is my older parents would be left here, they won't move.

Perfect homestead would be a really pretty house, with acreage for our horses, close enough to town for normal shopping, but far enough from large malls/outlets. And of course within 20 (give & take) miles from spring hill which is where my husband would be relocated.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by aphahorse

Well, we won't be living off the land, but we'd like 20+ acres for horses/cattle. More of an equestrian type farm.

Budget was within 250K range.

My husbands job closed up here, and they are willing to relocate us to Spring Hill. We're coming from NJ but we never liked this state anyway. the only downfall is my older parents would be left here, they won't move.

Perfect homestead would be a really pretty house, with acreage for our horses, close enough to town for normal shopping, but far enough from large malls/outlets. And of course within 20 (give & take) miles from spring hill which is where my husband would be relocated.

Alright...

20+ acres for $250k might be a little tough...you might have to settle for a little less on the acreage side. I do see some things on Zillow that might work, though. I'm not in real estate, so I don't have the inside scoop...but I'll DM you some of my search findings for things that might work for you.

While your parents might not move, at least get them to come visit. Who knows? A lot of folks like to retire in Cookeville and Crossville (which would be about 1.5-2 hours from Spring Hill)...they might just find something they like while they visit.

As far as where you are looking...I would stick to saying Columbia is going to be your hub, though Spring Hill will be where your husband works. I would look primarily at Maury County, but still consider Marshall County (Lewisburg), and possibly eastern Hickman County, and western Bedford County (Shelbyville is a decent sized town, and also known for horse farms).

Williamson county has a ton of horse farms...you might find something in Southwest Williamson. Since you are talking horses, I will at least partially rescind my earlier statement about the county. As far as equestrian...that's your big horse farm county in TN. 20+ acres will be tough...but you might find something around Fairview or Boston. When TN-840 opens, it shouldn't be a bad commute to Spring Hill at all.

[aphahorse]

Originally Posted by nashvols

Alright...

20+ acres for $250k might be a little tough...you might have to settle for a little less on the acreage side.

Well, even 10-15 would be OK too, we just want to be able to raise our kids in a rural type farming "community" to instill those values in them.

We'd love even more acreage (50+).... but know thats unrealistic for our $.

[sfitz]

We have lived in Maury Co. north of Columbia for 2 yrs. and love it. BUT, we are retired. I wouldn't want to put my children in the schools here. (I am a retired teacher). It is so much cheaper to live here than Williamson CO. Neighbors of ours are going to home school their children. I think there is a network around of home schoolers.