Fieldstone Farms or Westhaven (Franklin, Brentwood: for sale, real estate, 2013)

[FitJoce]

I had posted a few months ago when initially looking at houses and I am back with more questions now that we have listed our house in NC and are very close to being able to make an offer here. My husband has been renting an apartment here since December and my kids and I are so ready to join him already!! We saw about 12 houses this weekend and found 2 that we really loved. 1 was in Westhaven and the other was in the Parks section of Fieldstone Farms. The WH home is a lot smaller but the amenities there kind of make up for it. the FF house was bigger and had a yard that I loved. I liked the street it was on and it looked like a lot of kids lived there. I'm sure the same is true at WH. the WH house was move in ready as was the FF house but the FF house will definitely need some money to be put into it. Asking price on both are almost the same.
my husband works in Cool Springs so I think the commute will be less from FF. Schools are also great for FF. Originally we were pretty set on WH but now I'm starting to like the idea of FF better but hubby is leaning towards WH because of the low maintenance and all the amenities. I am so confused!!! Anyone care to pipe in with some pros or cons to either??


thanks!!

[CountryGirl2b=]

I always thought Westhaven looked like something Disney would build. Absolutely perfect! Maybe a little TOO perfect but really pretty. A bit 'tight' in terms of a yard, though. It was out of my price range when I was looking and I saw maybe 60 homes over the course of 6 months but I kept coming back to the Fieldstone Farms area. For me it was location, location, location. Whoever developed it did their homework.

North on Hillsboro you get to Green Hills mall, Trader Joe's, Vanderbilt, eventually downtown Nashville. South you get to downtown Franklin, Franklin HS. Cheekwood is not far either.

Over the hill to Franklin road - go north you get to downtown Brentwood and south you get to downtown Franklin.

East over the hill you get to Cool Springs and 65 which has SO much to offer. AND the Franklin Trolly stops over at Publix. My nieces take it into downtown Franklin and hang at Meridees. It can also get your to the mall and the hospital if you have the patience.

I LOVE the location.

Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney and Scott Hamilton all live over here. But I know that Nick Carter has a house in Westhaven.

I have a very small yard but I LOVE the yard. Love the space that's mine to grow flowers and herbs and TRY to grow zucchini.

I don't think you can go wrong at either place and suspect Westhaven has way more prestige. But for location, I think FF is better situated. And yards are NICE . . . .

Good luck with your decision!

PS. As far as the yard goes, I have a LOT of very cool plants and flowers. Mowing depends a lot on the rain. I maybe mow the yard . . . 6 or 7 times in the entire summer??? You can always hire someone to mow if you want. The FF house being older, probably needs some updating. But if you watch HGTV, it's something that can really be enjoyable. I de-brassed my house, painted inside, redid the bathroom countertops. I spend way more time at Home Depot than the mall - it's kinda fun!

[septimus]

I don't think you can go wrong with either. As Country Girl said FF probably wins on location, but WH on prestige and amentities

WH to cools springs is about 15-20 min depending on time of day (it can be worse around 5-6pm coming from Cool Springs to the west side of franklin as it can take 3 light cycles to turn at Mack Hatcher/Hillsboro.

[FitJoce]

Great info, thanks! Yes FF is definitely more convenient location wise. Being that I don't know the area that well yet, I worry that if we choose WH I will end up regretting it. So here's a question for you. Knowing what you know about Williamson County living, if you could afford to buy at either and it wasn't a money issue, and you had 2 small kids, and 2 dogs, which would you choose?

[bab123]

Hi, We are considering a move to Nashville in a few years upon retirement. Our daughter lives there and loves it. We have visited many times and feel the same. We are renting a house in Franklin this summer so that we can take a better look around at neighborhoods. Does Fieldstone Farms have one story homes? I searched for available homes for sale to get a feel but all of them that I have seen are two story.
THanks!

[CountryGirl2b=]

Of course I am biased because I live in FF . . . but the cons, even if I won the lottery, of Westhaven are

1. space - my sister brings her two puppies over and opens our back door and they run around the (fenced) yard and have a blast. In the summer we have fireflies and I can put a little blow up pool out there. I don't think you even have that much space in WH?

2. tight streets - I seem to recall that as beautiful as it was to drive around the streets, there was not much room for parking for visitors? FF isn't great but I believe it does have more room for parking, even in bigger driveways?

3. steps? - I am living with my elderly mother and I think the big front porches were great but they had too many steps for my Mom.

4. again, location - Even if I didn't live in Fieldstone Farms and lived over in Cottonwood, or Meadowbrook or Farmington or River Rest up by Grassland, I LOVE the location. It just seems very convenient to everything.

5. Houses here in FF are close but they seemed even closer at WH?

Pros of Westhaven are the prestige, the fact that they are newer houses, more conveniences with the shopping (although we do have a Publix, Walgreens, one restaurant, and a UPS store. Also up at Grassland is a Sonic, Chinese restaurant, Subway, at least 3 vets, and there's a post office inside the Grassland market).

Again, really, you won't go wrong at either place. But if one believes that the MOST important thing about real estate is "location, location, location" then FF is the better choice.

The other thing I like with this being an older development is that it's pretty much surrounded by other houses, and a park. I don't think there's much room for a WalMart along this road unless they build something in front of Monticello. LOTS of lovely farm land across the street from Westhaven and that could developed. Someone mentioned they were "heritage farms" but I don't believe that means they can NEVER be developed.

Also FF has it's own elementary school too, and Grassland Middle School and Franklin HS are not far - up and down Hillsboro.

BUT WH is prettier . . . . I will grant you that! And if you think you will USE the amenities a lot, then that's something to consider.

What is the HOA fee at WH? I believe someone said it included basic cable, which is nice! FF is $45 a month I think . . .

(oh, I am a big help, huh?)

[CountryGirl2b=]

Note to Bab123 - YES there are one story homes in Fieldstone Farms. In my little section there is one one story or two one story houses in each cul de sac. There is also an 'over 55' section across the street from Publix that's all one story and all the outside areas are taken care of. The Franklin Trolly stops there and you could walk over to Publix if you wanted. The Fire Station is right there so help is only moments away.

On Realtracs.com you can actually plug Fieldstone Farms in the "subdivision" field and then for stories put "1" max and find any one story homes. None available at the moment. Also, quite a few floor plans have a downstairs master (which I have, for my Mom) which is great. The wave of the future I think!

[bab123]

Countrygirl2b - thanks for that information. Does the over 55 section have a name? I know there are a lot of neighborhood names within Fieldstone.
Thanks.

[CountryGirl2b=]

Here's a map. The Over 55 is called Windsor Park. I live in Trent Park and there are one story homes here. Am sure there are some sprinkled in other neighborhoods as well. There might be a couple in Prescott Place as well. I'll keep an eye out for you!

PS. I do NOT work for Fieldstone Farms nor am I a RE agent! I was NOT planning on moving into a big development but after 7 months of looking, this was the best bet and we are very happy here. My sister just bought a condo here in November . . . !

[bab123]

Thanks, I will check into these!
JoAnn