Real Estate

Memphis Real Estate Reality: New builds and older charm

You've gotta live somewhere... right? From a Cooper-Young bungalow overflowing with yard flamingos, a Hickory Ridge family-friendly community, to a Germantown McMansion featuring three living rooms, Memphis has a variety of places and ways to make a home. We're going to help you understand what to expect.

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Mike Stover profile picture
Mike Stover
Memphis Local Expert

Mike, Our Local Expert Guiding Your Move

Michael is a Tennessee native who has lived, worked, or worn out tires in all three divisions of the state, from Memphis to Nashville to Johnson City, plus plenty of small towns that never make postcards. He once moved from the far northeast corner of Tennessee to the far southwest for college, stayed twenty years, then somehow boomeranged right back to Appalachia. He knows the difference between mountain quiet and river loud, will defend Memphis BBQ like its a birthright, and can point you to everything from out of the way eateries to where locals actually hunt. We are not all barefoot moonshiners, but yes, some of us know where the real stuff is. At Snappy Scout Michael uses that deep statewide mileage to refine Tennessee moving guides so they're as real as a proper BBQ smoke ring, not some oven baked liquid smoke waste of calories.

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Written with local insight from Snappy Scout relocation experts

Median home price$147,5422024 median
Median rent$1,287/mo2024 median

What Does Home Look Like in Memphis?

Prices, house styles, and the rental fine print locals wish someone had told them sooner.

Home prices are

shockingly low if you're fleeing California, but perfectly normal if you're from Jackson or Johnson City.

Homes in Memphis are typically

sprawling ranches on quarter-acre lots with more square footage than taste.

The dream house would be

a renovated Victorian in Central Gardens with original hardwoods and zero foundation issues.

The reality is that it will most likely be

a 1970s brick ranch in Cordova or Rover Oaks-Kirby-Balmoral that needs new HVAC yesterday.

I'll live anywhere except

directly under the FedEx flight path or anywhere requiring a Frayser zip code.

As long as I'm close to

Cooper-Young, Shelby Farms, the Memphis Zoo, or literally any good BBQ or catfish within stumbling distance.

Stereotypical architecture is

tan brick everything, vinyl-sided colonials, and the occasional midcentury gem nobody appreciates.

Sought after views

anything overlooking the Mississippi that doesn't also overlook industrial barges or warehouses.

HOAs around here are

either nonexistent or run by one retired guy with very strong mailbox opinions.

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Ready to See If Memphis Fits You?

Compare neighborhoods, check the routes, or head back to the full Memphis guide for the bigger picture.