Is Madison Right for You?
HI, I’m Donna Taylor with living in Central MS…here today to help you decide if Madison MS is a good fit for you? As a native Mississippian, I know a lot about this state, but I’m going to try to be as honest as possible and bring to the table my experience from living in Colorado for 3 years to help those of you especially from the west coast looking to relocate to a more conservative part of the country.
So first, let’s talk what it’s like to live in Mississippi…. let’s talk about the big elephant in the room…b/c, let’s face it, over the years MS has received a lot of bad press for all the things going on in Jackson. yes, there’s a lot of negatives in Jackson, but Madison, even though close in proximity to Jackson, is a VERY Safe place to live, with our own police force and top-rated schools and YES we even have safe RELIABLE drinking water b/c we have our own water infrastructure.
The thing I love and have learned to appreciate about Mississippi and especially Madison is the slower, more peaceful pace of life. As a town of about 30,000 people, there’s almost never any traffic, the weather is mostly warm and we almost never have the need for heavy coats. Lots of people take the day off on Sunday and most businesses are closed so that you can do what’s most important in my opinion, which is to spend time relaxing with friends and families. Madison has lots of neighborhoods with lakes, much like the one behind me, Lake Caroline, where you can live in a lake community for around $400k which gets you a nice brick home, 3 bed, 2 bath and fairly new construction. If you’re watching this video and you’ve never been to Central MS, like a lot of people I run into when I’m traveling, that’s because we don’t attract a lot of tourists. Believe it or not, there aren’t that many people with Madison MS on their top 10 list of places to visit! And that’s ok! Madison is a Great Place to live, which after living away for a few years, is what I decided was best for my family. I wanted to live somewhere safe, friendly, and laid back and I’m so glad we decided to move back after our daughter was born.
As many of you know, I’m a real estate broker, with a small team that focuses on Madison and Rankin Counties. We’ve helped a lot of people relocate here over the last few years, many from the west coast, and the biggest hurdle our clients have to jump over is the lack of rentals. That’s because there are no apartments in the City of Madison and 95% of homes in the city are owner occupied…that leaves little room for rentals. If you’re looking to make a big move across the country, be prepared to either buy something small that you can easily resale in the next year or two (and by the way our home values in Madison are very very stable, unlike some other parts of the country) or be prepared to sign a one year lease on a not so great house.
One thing I’d also like to mention for those of you that don’t know much about Madison…over the last 10 or so years, as the east side of town ran out of land, new construction has pushed to the west side of the Interstate. What was once lacking in shopping and restaurants has really started to pick up some great spots. There’s a high end Mexican restaurant, coffee/donut shop, Asian , Mediterranean and even a new restaurant called the Twisted Turnip, which I ate at today. It’s only been opened for a couple of weeks, and it was super tasty. There’s also a new grocery store called Sullivans…and new shops being added every month it seems like. This new area is only about 4 miles from Lake Caroline, so no more having to drive to Jackson or Ridgeland for good food!
Like I mentioned, I’m currently in a nice lake community that currently has 30 homes for sale mostly priced from the mid 300’s to $700k. So, if you’re watching this video and looking for a great place to raise a family, or maybe you want to retire to a quieter calmer conservative place, give me a call or shoot me a text at 601-613-9100, we’d love to help you make Madison your home!
Taylor Realty Group
601-613-9100
