How we research Relocating to Franklin

How a guide gets made

1. Find the questions people ask

   We start from what people search before a move to Franklin and Williamson County: keyword research across the whole topic, then the pages that rank and the questions Google shows for every page we write.

2. Go to the original source

   Property tax rates come from Williamson County and each city's adopted rates; tax rules from the Tennessee Department of Revenue and the Tennessee Code; driver's license and registration rules from the Department of Safety and the Williamson County Clerk; home values from Zillow's Home Value Index; mortgage rates from Freddie Mac; school information from each district; and crime figures from the Franklin Police Department, the TBI and the FBI.

3. How we use AI

   We use AI-assisted research tools to find, read, extract and cross-check sources, because they let us check far more documents than research by hand could. AI does not decide what we publish: every figure traces to a source listed on its page, and a figure we can't confirm is left out.

4. Check every figure

   Each number is checked against its source, and every worked example is recalculated, before a page goes live. A second editor then reads each page against the sources. Errors caught that way on this site before launch:

   • A draft called Nashville's property tax one of the highest in Tennessee. On the state's effective-rate figures it ranks third, behind Memphis and Chattanooga.
   • A Brentwood example said each half point of mortgage rate on a $1.1 million loan moves the payment by about $370 a month. Recalculated, it's $383.
   • A draft said Spring Hill "raised" its city tax rate. The record only shows it adopted a rate above the state's certified rate, so the page now says that.
   • Several neighborhood drafts ran mortgage math on the county appraisal. Appraisals aren't sale prices, so payments now use Zillow's typical home value, with tax on the appraisal.

5. Bill's review

   Bill Diebenow reviews every page before it goes live. Each guide shows the date he last reviewed it.

The standards we hold to

We describe places by their homes, prices, taxes and amenities, never by who lives there, as the Fair Housing Act requires. For schools we name the school system and link its own zone lookup, rather than tying a home to a school. Safety pages use official data and explain the method, without a safe or unsafe verdict. Figures are dated, and nothing on this site is tax or legal advice.

See it in practice in the Williamson County property tax guide, the Franklin schools guide and the Franklin safety guide.

Keeping pages current

Tax rates are rechecked when the county and cities adopt new rates each year; Zillow market figures are refreshed when Zillow publishes new monthly data. Each page shows the date Bill last reviewed it.

Corrections

Spotted something wrong? Email bill.diebenow@compass.com and we'll fix it and note the change.