Williamson vs. Sumner Counties (Nashville-Davidson, Hendersonville: sales, real estate, house)

[harleygirl6197]

Hi all, we will be relocating to the Nashville area sometimes within the next year or so. We have been scouting land as we plan to build a home. We've narrowed it down (we think) to either Sumner County or Williamson County as our RE agent & builder tell us these are the best places to build for instant equity but we are torn as to which county to focus on. We plan to buy a minimum of 5 acres and want to have some livestock...mostly chickens. We have no children so schools are not as big of a concern except maybe for resale value. We do plan to live in this home forever though so hopefully resale will become one else's problem. Our concern is that Williamson as beautiful as it is might be a little too upscale for our lifestyle...we're pretty laid back. We love being in a rural area while still being able to get to the shopping arae within about 20 minutes (grocery, lowes etc. not necessarily a mall) which is what we have now. We have also looked at what seem to be some very pretty lots in Maury County, but we've heard mixed reviews on Maury. Any thoughts y'all have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

[brentwoodgirl]

What's your budget? And in part of the city are your jobs? From reading your post, I don't see Williamson and Sumner as being your only options, there are lots of areas that would work and might be less expensive with a better commute.

[harleygirl6197]

We won't really have to worry about commuting, my husband will be working from home. We'd like to keep our budget at about 500K but for the right piece of property can stretch it a bit.

[brentwoodgirl]

If you are not worried about commute, I would add Rutherford County and Wilson County to your list. Both solid choices with good schools. Then while looking for properties, I would just double check the zoned schools to make sure they are acceptable for resale.
I probably wouldn't choose Maury County if you are interested in resale just because it isn't growing as fast as the other counties. I would stick to the counties that border Davidson County.
Have you used realtracs.com? It's the best real estate site in middle TN, and you can choose your county and then set your parameters.

[Hey_Hey]

I don't know if I agree about the "instant equity" part of that. The economic reality is that you will never have instant equity of any significance with a new build unless one of two things happen:
1.) You purchase land at below market cost
2.) You are able to line up truly wholesale construction costs

What you're describing is a sort of delayed arbitrage that is rare and doesn't last long if it ever exists at all.

Neither of those things are dependent on location, but you could make some bad decisions that give you instant "negative equity" for certain locations. For example, building a house in Sumner County with a total investment of $750,000 will put you under water pretty easily because the median sales price is too low to support it. You have to build a house that the market can support regardless of where you build.

Long term, you need to figure out which markets will appreciate faster over the next 10 years, 20 years, etc. Of course, there are all sorts of opinions on that and you can't really ever prove your point. My belief is that, on average, Nashville-Davidson will continue to outperform all other counties near the core and in the inner ring suburbs like Green Hills, Crieve Hall, and Inglewood. The outer ring and more rural areas of Davidson will underperform. After that, I would put Williamson as the next highest performing area. I would also include Mt Juliet along with Sumner County because they are pretty similar.

The good news is that everywhere will continue appreciate as long as the national economy remains in a growth phase, so the more important factor is where do you want to live?

[septimus]

I have no advice on deciding on a location, but if you want to be rural and work from home, I'd make sure you are able to get internet, etc. We have friends that bought a house out in the country of Williamson County and they don't get cable and have to rely on satellite internet. (Their kids are not happy).

[topfuels]

The short answer is Sumner county

[titanspreds_04]

I would not overlook Wilson County. Wilson County is always the "darkhorse" that people overlook. Mt. Juliet is one of the fastest growing cities in the state right now.

[El Passeaux]

If you are looking for a more rural setting where you can raise animals, I think its misleading to say you are going to find any instant equity spots. In fact, i would venture to guess there wont be much increase in value. Those areas where there is the increase in value are in the subdivisions of Hendersonville in Sumner and most of Williamson. If you venture out a bit from Hendersonville into the country, I would guess the market is pretty flat. I agree with the Rutherford and Wilson county suggestions as well.

[BirdieBelle]

Not sure if you REALLY want a rural lifestyle or if you just think you need 5 acres in order to raise chickens. But I wanted to point out that you can have backyard chickens in the city limits of Nashville.

If you plan to have other animals, you certainly would need to check the minimum acreage requirements wherever you're looking. But even in Brentwood, the minimum for livestock (which includes chickens and beehives) is only 3 acres.

Have you ever lived on 5 acres before?