Coming Home to Franklin

01 The pull

Why families are choosing this part of Tennessee

Most families who call me want the same thing, even if they say it differently. A little more room. A slower week. Kids who spend their afternoons outside instead of in the back seat.

You can get that here without giving up what a big career needs. Catch both kids' games on a Tuesday night and still make a 7 a.m. flight out of BNA. Live on land in Leipers Fork, or on an acre under old trees in Forest Hills, and still be at a great dinner or the airport in about half an hour.

The families I work with from California, Chicago, and New York aren't downsizing their lives. They're trading traffic and cost for space, community, and time back.

You can be thirty minutes away and have your perfect slice of America.

I really believe that. Franklin is the classic Southern town, with a real Main Street, four real seasons, and neighbors who wave. Southwest Nashville gives you the same big lots and old trees, just closer to the city. For a lot of my clients, the drive into downtown Nashville is shorter than the one they used to make across their old city.

What surprises people most isn't the tax savings, though we'll get to those. It's how fast this place starts to feel like home.

02 The momentum

A market with real momentum

There's a reason the moving trucks keep pointing this way, and it isn't just charm. Companies have been moving here for the same reasons families do.

Williamson County is home to the North American headquarters of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, plus Mars Petcare, Community Health Systems, Ramsey Solutions, CKE Restaurants, and Jackson National. On the Nashville side, Oracle is building a major campus on the East Bank, and Amazon and Pinnacle are already anchored downtown at Nashville Yards. That's real demand behind the homes you're looking at, which is a big part of why this market has held up.

03 The numbers

The move math

Let's start with the part you're probably already working out on a napkin.

Tennessee has no state income tax. None. The last piece, a tax on interest and dividends, was phased out in 2021. If you're a high earner leaving California, Illinois, or New York, that's often the biggest number on the page.

Property taxes are low here too. Tennessee assesses a home at 25% of its appraised value, and Williamson County's rate for 2025–26 is $1.30 per $100 of that assessed value. Cities like Franklin and Brentwood add a small rate on top. In Nashville, Davidson County's rate is different, and places like Belle Meade, Forest Hills, and Oak Hill are their own small cities inside it. So the bill really does depend on the address.

One honest caveat. If you're buying up, say from a $3M home to a $5M one, your property tax bill can go up even though the rate is lower. The income tax savings usually more than cover it, but you should see it on your own numbers.

Estimates only, not tax advice. For your real picture, talk to a CPA who knows multi-state moves. If you don't have one yet, ask me and I'll point you in the right direction.

04 The map

Choosing your part of town

The biggest early mistake I see is shopping the whole area like it's one place. It's really two halves, with a dozen different lives inside them.

Southwest Nashville

This is the established, close-in side. Big lots, mature trees, and old stone walls, mostly 15 to 20 minutes from downtown.

• Belle Meade. Grand older homes and stately new ones on wide, tree-lined streets, near the Belle Meade Country Club and the Warner Parks.
• Forest Hills. Wooded acre-plus lots and winding roads that feel like the country, with Green Hills just down the hill.
• Oak Hill. Private homes set back on big wooded lots, with Radnor Lake right next door.
• Green Hills. The most walkable and convenient of the group. Shopping at the Mall at Green Hills, Parnassus Books, and plenty of restaurants.
• West Meade. Rolling, wooded, and a bit more tucked away, with quick access to the Warner Parks.

Williamson County

This is the room-to-spread-out side, from Brentwood south to the farmland.

• Brentwood. Established and leafy, closest to Nashville, with one-acre zoning in most of the city.
• Downtown and central Franklin. Historic, walkable, and the heart of everything.
• Leipers Fork. Horse farms, galleries, and front-porch music, on land where privacy is the point.
• College Grove. Two worlds: gated golf at The Grove and Troubadour, and open farmland.
• Arrington. Wine and horse country, with plenty of sky.

Here's one you won't find on a listing site. Look at the stretch between Franklin and Leipers Fork, along the Old Hillsboro Road corridor. You get the Leipers Fork feel and land, closer in than the big-name addresses, and often for less. It's where I quietly send families who want the dream without the trophy price.

Want the whole stretch on one page? The Thirty-Minute Corridor walks from Green Hills to College Grove, with what changes as you head south.

05 The part nobody tells you

The property playbook

This is the section that separates a good move from an expensive lesson.

Most of the families I work with are buying an existing or newly built home, not raw land. But out in the county, and even in parts of southwest Nashville, the basics aren't a given. Water, sewer, internet, and trash can all work differently than you're used to. Check them before you fall in love.

• Water isn't one utility. Williamson County is a patchwork of water districts, and even inside Franklin more than one provider operates. Some country homes are on a private well.
• Septic is the number one check. There's no sewer out on the land, so most country homes run on septic. Get the system inspected. A tired drain field is a five-figure surprise. Some older homes in Forest Hills and Oak Hill are on septic too.
• Fiber is better than you'd think, but check the address. United Communications has wired a lot of rural Williamson, including most of College Grove, at gigabit speeds. It still varies house to house, and remote spots fall back to Starlink. If you work from home, confirm the property, not the ZIP code.
• Gas and trash. Out on acreage, propane is common because the gas line doesn't reach. Williamson County doesn't pick up trash, and neither does Brentwood, so you'll hire a private hauler. The same goes for Forest Hills and Oak Hill, where Metro trash service doesn't cover you.
• Greenbelt, floodplain, and barns. Farm (greenbelt) status can lower the tax on land. The Harpeth River floodplain can cover part of a beautiful parcel. Barns and horse facilities have their own permits. All of this is knowable ahead of time if you know to ask.

If you're building: soil and perc results can limit how big a house, or how many bedrooms, a lot can support. Pull those records before you buy.

Buying in a gated community, downtown Franklin, Green Hills, or most of Brentwood? You're usually on city water and sewer, and most of this list won't apply.

06 The drive

The commute and the airport, honestly

"Thirty minutes to the airport" is true, sometimes. Here's the honest version.

• From southwest Nashville (Green Hills, Belle Meade, Forest Hills): downtown is usually 15 to 20 minutes and BNA about 20 to 30, longer at rush hour.
• From Brentwood: downtown is about 20 to 25 minutes off-peak.
• From downtown Franklin: Nashville is about 22 miles, 25 to 35 minutes off-peak. Rush hour on I-65 can stretch that to 45 minutes or more, and BNA adds 10 to 15.
• From Leipers Fork, College Grove, or Arrington: add more time, but the airport is still under an hour off-peak.

That's the trade most families are happy to make. Far enough out that the kids can ride bikes until dark. Close enough that a Monday flight is easy.

07 The schools

Schools

For most families this is the big one, so I'll be straight with you. Fair housing rules (rightly) keep me from ranking schools or steering you. What I can give you is facts and fit.

Williamson County. Williamson County Schools is one of the top-rated districts in Tennessee, and it keeps investing. A new Innovation Center opened in August 2026 with programs in aviation, cybersecurity and AI, and more. Franklin High has run the state's first International Baccalaureate program since 2000.

Nashville. Metro Nashville Public Schools serves Davidson County. It has zoned schools plus academic magnets like Hume-Fogg and Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet. Nashville also has one of the deepest benches of private schools in the South, including Ensworth, Montgomery Bell Academy, Harpeth Hall, University School of Nashville, Father Ryan, Franklin Road Academy, and Christ Presbyterian Academy.

On the Williamson side, private options include Battle Ground Academy, Brentwood Academy, Franklin Classical, Grace Christian, and Currey Ingram.

Check the county line. Spring Hill is split between Williamson and Maury County schools, and a few addresses on the far edge of College Grove fall in Rutherford County. When a home crosses the line, the school district and the tax rate both change, so always check the exact address.

Here's how I frame public versus private for families. Both paths offer strong academics and great extracurriculars. The private conversation usually comes down to size and fit, and for many families, a faith-based or particular approach like classical or college prep. What's right depends on your kids.

08 The people

Finding your people

One of the first things families ask me, and something most guides skip: how do we actually meet people?

It's easier here than most places. There's a wide range of faith communities on both sides of the county line, from historic downtown congregations to large newer churches, and it's one of the most common ways new families build a circle. Beyond that, it's youth sports, your street, the clubs, and the many other families who just moved here too.

This is a place that's used to welcoming people. Tell me what you're looking for and I'll point you in a good direction. That's a conversation, not a list.

09 The landing

Your first ninety days

The move itself is the easy part. It's the hundred small things after that trip people up.

A few Tennessee basics up front. New residents have about 30 days to get a Tennessee driver's license and register vehicles. There's no emissions test; statewide testing ended in 2022. There's no state income tax to set up. And utilities depend completely on your address, as you saw above.

10 The good part

Living here: my list

Enough logistics. Here's the part I actually love, the places I go and the day I'd plan for you if you just landed.

In Franklin, mornings start with coffee at The Coffee House at Second & Bridge or Hake's Coffee Station. For a nice night out it's Cork & Cow, Palato, Sperry's, or a table at Southall. For a weeknight with the whole family, Puckett's downtown, for the music and the mess. And for closing a deal or celebrating one, a cocktail at The Amendment.

In southwest Nashville, some of the best outdoor time in the city is right in the neighborhood: Radnor Lake for a quiet walk in the woods, the Warner Parks for trails and horse paths, and the Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery for an afternoon.

Your first Saturday, if you let me plan it.

Through the year: the Pilgrimage Festival in the fall, the Christmas tree lighting downtown, Southall's seasonal events, and live music at the Franklin Theatre, the Ryman, and FirstBank Amphitheater. Four real seasons, and none of them stays too long, winter included.

Need a truck, a tractor, a fishing spot, or a good barber? I've got a name for that too. Just text me.

11 About me

I came home too.

I know the pull of this place because I've felt it my whole life. I lived in Franklin as a baby, in the old house that now sits at the center of Battle Ground Academy's campus. My family moved to Mississippi for my dad's job when I was young, but part of me always pointed back this way. About fifteen years ago I came back to Tennessee for good, and I live in Nashville today.

I didn't take a straight line into real estate. I started in tech, spent years in mortgage lending, and the whole time I was buying and holding rental properties around the area. Real estate was the thing I kept coming back to, so eventually I went all in. What that means for you: I've been an investor myself, and I understand financing from the inside. I look at a home as a place to build a life and an asset to get right.

Off the clock, you'll usually find me outside. I hunt and fish, I have a real weakness for motorcycles and old cars, and I'll always make time for live music, a good book, or a movie. Those are exactly the things this part of Tennessee does well, which is a big part of why I love helping other families land here.