A home buyer’s guide to Nashville
Eight neighborhoods, from Edgefield’s old streets to Antioch’s new subdivisions, and the checks every buyer should run: taxes, overlays, flood risk and rental rules.
Welcome home
Every Nashville neighborhood has its own mix of old houses, new construction, parks and rules. East Nashville’s Victorian streets sit under a historic overlay, while Antioch’s subdivisions come with homeowners associations. A local real estate agent can show you houses; these guides explain what comes with each street.
Each guide is built from Metro Nashville and state sources: the Assessor of Property, the Trustee, Metro Codes, Metro Water Services and the Historical Commission. Use local resources such as Metro’s property and flood map tools to check the exact house, and confirm every number before you sign.
The guides
Start with a neighborhood, then read the buyer basics. Each guide is a short, plain read; the lantern lights up once you have read it.
East Nashville, Germantown, 12South and The Nations: older streets near downtown, historic and conservation overlays, infill and new construction.
East Nashville grew from the 19th-century suburb of Edgefield across the Cumberland River. What buyers should know about its history, the Edgefield preservation overlay and the conservation districts around it, Shelby Park, the community plan for Gallatin Pike, and the checks to run on an older house.
Read the guide →Germantown, just north of downtown, was a German immigrant neighborhood in the 1840s, nearly lost to industrial zoning, and revived from the 1980s. What buyers should know about its history, the preservation overlay, mixed-use zoning, the Bicentennial Capitol Mall next door and the questions to ask before buying.
Read the guide →12South grew from early 20th-century streetcar suburbs south of downtown and now mixes cottages with new two-story houses. What buyers should know about Sevier Park and the Sunnyside mansion, the conservation overlays nearby, infill rules, taxes after reappraisal and short-term rental limits.
Read the guide →The Nations, in West Nashville around Robertson Avenue, has gone from small worker cottages and industry to a hot spot for new tall-and-skinny homes. What buyers should know about the community plan, industry nearby, Richland Creek and flood risk, taxes and the questions to ask about new construction.
Read the guide →Green Hills, Donelson, Antioch and Madison: established and newer suburbs, big parks, community plans and the checks that matter on each.
Green Hills, south of Hillsboro Village, is one of Nashville’s established higher-priced suburbs. What buyers should know: the Green Hills-Midtown plan and its many design overlays, Radnor Lake nearby, what a tax bill looks like at local prices, and the checks that matter on larger, older homes.
Read the guide →Donelson, east of downtown between the Cumberland and Stones rivers, is a suburb of mid-century houses that has drawn new buyers. What to know: Two Rivers Park and the greenways, the plans for Downtown Donelson and Lebanon Pike, flood checks near the rivers and the questions to ask about older ranch houses.
Read the guide →Antioch, in southeast Davidson County, offers newer homes and subdivisions at prices below the urban core. What buyers should know: the Antioch/Priest Lake plan and its special districts, Mill Creek and flood checks, homeowners association rules, taxes and short-term rental limits.
Read the guide →Madison, in northeast Davidson County along Gallatin Pike, is an older suburb of modest mid-century homes that Metro is planning to reinvest in. What buyers should know about the community plan and the Gallatin Pike overlay, older-house checks, creeks and flood maps, taxes and rental rules.
Read the guide →What every Nashville buyer should check: the property tax bill, historic overlays, flood risk and the rules for short-term rentals.
How Metro Nashville calculates property tax, step by step: the assessor’s appraisal, the 25 percent residential ratio, the Urban and General Services District rates, the 2025 reappraisal and appeal deadlines, and the relief, freeze and deferral programs for older and disabled owners.
Read the guide →Many of Nashville’s favorite neighborhoods sit under historic zoning overlays. What the Metro Historic Zoning Commission reviews, the difference between preservation and conservation overlays, which districts are covered, and how to check a house before you buy.
Read the guide →The May 2010 flood showed that water in Nashville comes from creeks as well as the Cumberland. What the rainfall and river records were, how FEMA flood maps and Metro’s Parcel Viewer work, what flood insurance covers, what sellers must disclose and the rules for building in a floodplain.
Read the guide →Thinking of renting part of your Nashville home to visitors, or buying a house to rent out? How Metro’s owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied permits differ, where each is allowed, what the application requires, the $313 fee, the rules guests must follow and how a rental changes your property tax.
Read the guide →Neighbors ask
Short answers from Metro Nashville and state sources, each with the guide that goes further.
Take the assessor’s appraised value, multiply by the 25 percent residential ratio, divide by 100 and multiply by your district’s rate: $2.814 in the Urban Services District or $2.782 in the General Services District in the Trustee’s example. A $1.2 million home in the urban district would owe about $8,442 a year. See Davidson County Property Taxes: How Your Nashville Tax Bill Is Figured.
No. The Assessor of Property notes that Tennessee has no homestead exemption like other states. Metro does offer tax relief, a tax freeze and a deferral for owners who qualify by age, disability or income. See Davidson County Property Taxes: How Your Nashville Tax Bill Is Figured.
Davidson County’s last countywide reappraisal was in 2025, and the Assessor of Property has scheduled the next one for 2028. If your new value looks wrong, check the assessor’s appeal deadlines for that year.
Not from renovating, but it adds a review. The Historic Zoning Commission reviews exterior work in its overlays; conservation overlays cover new construction, additions, demolition and relocation, while preservation overlays review more. National Register listing on its own does not restrict owners. See Historic Overlays in Nashville: What They Mean When You Buy an Old House.
It is not required, but Metro Water Services warns that properties outside the Special Flood Hazard Area are not guaranteed to be safe, and in 2010 creeks flooded far from the Cumberland. Standard homeowners policies do not cover flooding, and flood policies usually start after a 30-day wait. See Flood Risk When Buying in Nashville: Lessons From May 2010.
Only with a Metro Codes permit, obtained before you list. Owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied permits follow different rules, and new non-owner-occupied permits are not allowed in AR2a, R, RS or RM zoning. Check your homeowners association too. See Short-Term Rental Rules in Nashville: What Buyers Need to Know.
Edgefield in East Nashville. It became the first residential district in Nashville listed in the National Register in 1977 and the city’s first historic zoning district in May 1978. See Buying a Home in East Nashville: Edgefield, Lockeland Springs and Shelby Park.
Shelby Park and Shelby Bottoms cover more than 1,200 acres about two miles from downtown in East Nashville, Two Rivers Park covers 374 acres in Donelson, and Radnor Lake State Park covers 1,389 acres near Green Hills. See Buying a Home in Donelson: Two Rivers Park and a Suburb Near the Airport.
Porch talk
What Metro’s own offices say, in the order most buyers run into it.
Residential property in Tennessee is assessed at 25 percent of its appraised value, and the Metro Trustee’s example applies $2.814 per $100 of assessed value inside the Urban Services District and $2.782 in the General Services District. A $500,000 house in the urban district comes to about $3,518 a year. Davidson County reappraised in 2025 and plans the next reappraisal for 2028. Tennessee has no homestead exemption, but Metro offers tax relief, a tax freeze and a deferral for qualifying owners. See Davidson County Property Taxes: How Your Nashville Tax Bill Is Figured.
Many of the city’s favorite streets sit under historic zoning. The Metropolitan Historic Zoning Commission, a nine-member board, reviews exterior work inside its overlays. In conservation overlays it reviews new construction, additions, demolition and relocation; preservation overlays such as Edgefield and Germantown review more. Listing in the National Register alone does not restrict an owner. See Historic Overlays in Nashville: What They Mean When You Buy an Old House.
On May 1 and 2, 2010, Nashville’s airport recorded 13.57 inches of rain, more than double the old two-day record, and creeks flooded neighborhoods across the county. Metro Water Services says a building in a Special Flood Hazard Area has a 26 percent chance of flooding over a 30-year mortgage, and that land outside it is not guaranteed safe. Standard homeowners insurance does not cover flooding. See Flood Risk When Buying in Nashville: Lessons From May 2010.
Metro Planning divides the county into fourteen communities, each with a plan for where growth and new building go. The Green Hills-Midtown community alone has nine urban design overlays, the most of any; Madison has a design overlay along Gallatin Pike; the West Nashville plan sets a height limit around Robertson Avenue. Reading the plan tells you what may be built next door. See Buying a Home in Green Hills: Big Lots, Design Overlays and Radnor Lake.
Renting a home on short-term rental websites needs a permit from Metro Codes before you list it, for stays of 24 hours to 30 days. New non-owner-occupied permits are not allowed in AR2a, R, RS or RM residential zoning, and a non-owner-occupied rental is assessed as commercial property, at 40 percent instead of 25. Homeowners association rules can be stricter still. See Short-Term Rental Rules in Nashville: What Buyers Need to Know.
