What I read about a subdivision before you write an offer

When a client sends me a listing in a subdivision I do not know cold, there are three documents I pull before we talk about price. None of them costs anything.

First, the recorded plat. It gives the date the section was recorded and how many lots it contains. That matters more than the year built on the listing, because a subdivision recorded across fifteen years is not one neighborhood, it is several. Cambridge Forest in Antioch was platted from 1996 to 2021. Tulip Grove in Hermitage runs from 1967 to 2018. Two houses under one subdivision name can be a generation apart in construction standards, and comparable sales that ignore that are not comparable.

Second, the Assessor land use classification. This is where you find out whether you are looking at a detached single family lot, a zero lot line, a duplex or a residential condominium. Windsor Green in Goodlettsville carries all three of single family, condominium and zero lot line under one name. Villages of Riverwood in Hermitage carries single family, condominium and low rise apartment. Cambridge Forest has 82 parcels classed condominium. The listing photos will not tell you any of that.

Third, the association documents if there are any. Not the dues, which change, but the structure: what the association maintains, what the architectural review covers, whether there is a rental cap, and whether the community is one association or several. McKay’s Mill in Franklin has four separate associations. Fieldstone Farms has a master association over sub associations. Which one you are in changes who you call and what you pay for.

A fourth thing when it applies: whether the community is still building. A subdivision with phases still recording means construction traffic, changing streets and a builder who is still your neighbor. Sometimes that is a bargain. It is never a surprise worth discovering after you move in.

All of this is public record. I do it because the answers occasionally kill a deal, and it is far better to kill it in week one than in week six. If you send me an address, this is what you are getting back.