How Do You Vet a Master-Planned Community Before Buying?

Every master-planned community has a good-looking site plan. Renderings of a clubhouse. A trail map. A line that says "future amenity village." Some of those plans get built. Some never do. The buyer who did not check the difference is the one holding the risk.

Here is the checklist to run before you buy a homesite anywhere. Tennessee National, a private, gated lake and golf community on Watts Bar Lake in Loudon, Tennessee, is the worked example. Where a fact is public, it is stated. Where it changes, you are told who to ask.

What should you check first in a master-planned community?

Check what is open today. Take every amenity in the brochure and put it in one of two columns: built, or promised. Then make your decision almost entirely on the first column.

The test is simple. Can you see it working on the day you visit?

For anything described as "coming," ask three questions. Who pays for it? When does it open? What happens if it does not get built? Get the answers in writing.

How do you know people really live there?

Drive the streets on an ordinary weekday and look. Lights on. Cars in driveways. Golf carts in garages. People on the trails. A neighborhood that exists only on paper cannot fake a Tuesday.

Then ask two things:

• How many homes are finished and lived in today? Any healthy community can answer. We do not print a count here because it changes. Ask the Tennessee National land consultant for the current one.
• What is for sale that is already built? Finished homes at Tennessee National are listed on the properties page.

Last, talk to residents without a salesperson standing there. Ask what surprised them. Ask what they would do differently. Tennessee National is a golf cart community, so residents are easy to find at the clubhouse, the marina or one of the social events.

What should you ask about fees?

Ask for every recurring cost in writing, and ask who sets each one. In a community with a golf club and a marina, costs usually come from more than one place.

• HOA dues. Ask what they cover and how they can be raised.
• Club, golf and marina costs. Ask which are separate from the HOA. Golf membership questions go to the club. Slip questions go to the marina.
• Taxes and insurance. The county sets property taxes. An insurance agent can quote the rest.

Then ask for the trend. What were the dues a few years ago? Steady is healthy. Sudden jumps deserve a question. The HOA budget and reserve study tell you more than any brochure. Our guide to reviewing HOA documents and CC&Rs shows what to read.

We do not publish fees in blog posts because they change. Pricing is in the info pack.

Is there a deadline to build?

At Tennessee National, no. There is no deadline to build after you buy a homesite. You can buy the land now and build when you are ready.

Many communities do set a build window. If one does, make sure it fits your real plans, not your hopeful ones. Either way, confirm the rule in the recorded documents, not in a conversation.

Then ask about design rules. Homes at Tennessee National go through design review. Ask for the current design guidelines before you fall for a homesite or a floor plan. Standards keep a street consistent. They also limit what you can build. Know both sides before you sign.

What should you check about the land and the location?

Check the drive you will make every week, then check the ground itself.

Tennessee National is about 30 minutes from Knoxville, about 10 minutes from I-75 and about 5 minutes from Loudon. McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) is about 35 minutes away. Do not take a map's word for it. Drive it at the time of day you would really go. How far is Tennessee National from Knoxville? has the full table.

For the ground, read the survey before you fall for the view. Setbacks, easements and slope decide where a house can sit. A waterfront homesite adds one more layer, because Watts Bar Lake is a TVA lake and TVA has to approve docks and shoreline work. How to read a lot survey walks through it.

How do you check the exit before you enter?

Ask how owners sell. It is the question most buyers skip.

Ask to see recent resale activity for both homes and homesites. Recorded sales are public record at the county, and a local agent can pull them. You are not looking for a promise about value. Nobody can make that promise. You are looking for proof that property changes hands between ordinary owners, not only from the developer.

The honest takeaway

No community passes every test with a perfect score. At Tennessee National you will go through design review. You will drive about 30 minutes for a city night out. And homesites are for sale with no deadline to build, so new homes will keep going up around you.

What you can say for it is that the amenities in the table above are there to see. A golf course, a marina, a clubhouse and a calendar of events. You can check each one with your own eyes in one visit, and ask in writing about anything described as planned.

Run the same list everywhere you look. If a community will not hand over its documents, that is your answer.

Facts about Tennessee National come from the community. Lake facts come from TVA. Rules, taxes, loans and insurance change, so confirm anything that affects a purchase with the right office or professional before you buy.