How we research our Franklin real estate guides

At a glance

What goes into each guide

A guide to buying a $1 million home in Franklin has to get the details right: the tax rate for that exact part of the county, the loan limit for that year, what an HOA really covers, who designed the golf course. Getting those details right takes far more reading than writing.

Much of this data comes from paid research tools and large public datasets, and every guide draws on dozens of documents. That is the work we want you to see, because it is why the figures on these pages can be trusted.

Step 1: Find the questions people actually ask

Before a guide is planned, we look at what people search for about luxury homes in Franklin and how often, using keyword data from Ahrefs. A topic earns a page only when enough people are asking about it.

Studying the search results

For each guide we pull the top results Google shows for its main search, along with the questions in Google's "People also ask" box. We then compare the pages that rank highest: what they cover, how they are organized and where they leave readers without an answer.

Setting the standard for each page

Those comparisons set a minimum for every guide: the subtopics it must cover, the questions it must answer and how it should be structured. A guide is not finished until it covers more of what the reader needs than the pages already ranking.

Step 2: Gather the data from the source

Every number on this site comes from a source that was opened and read, and that source is listed at the bottom of the page.

Government and official records

Tax rates come from the Williamson County Trustee and the Tennessee Department of Revenue, loan limits from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, boundaries and household figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, and school information from Franklin Special School District and Williamson County Schools. Historic district rules come from the City of Franklin.

Market data

Home values come from the Zillow Home Value Index, downloaded as monthly data back to 2016 for the city, each ZIP code and the county. Mortgage rates come from Freddie Mac's weekly survey. We use these figures exactly as published and name the month.

Communities, clubs and builders

Facts about a community, such as its amenities, golf course or homesites, come from the developer's, club's or HOA's own website. Where a club does not publish a fee, we say so and tell you what to ask rather than guess.

Sales data

Recent sales figures for individual neighborhoods come from RealTracs MLS sales data, the multiple listing service for Middle Tennessee, and are credited on each page.

Step 3: How we use AI in our research

We use AI-assisted research tools to do the heavy lifting of research: searching for sources, reading official documents and data files, pulling out the figures that matter and comparing them across sources. For a site like this one, that means hundreds of documents and data files.

Why we use it

Reading and cross-checking that much material by hand would take weeks for every guide. AI lets us go much deeper: more sources per page, more figures checked against each other, and faster corrections when an official number changes.

What it does not decide

AI tools do not decide what is true. Every figure has to trace back to a source that was opened and is listed on the page. When a figure cannot be confirmed, it is left out, or the page tells you exactly who to ask, such as the HOA, the club or the school district.

Step 4: Check every figure

Research finds disagreements between sources, and some of the most widely repeated figures online are wrong. Before a guide goes live, its key numbers are checked against the primary source.

Examples of what that checking caught

• The conforming loan limit. Many pages quote the national 2026 limit of $832,750. Williamson County is a high-cost county, and its 2026 limit is $1,029,250, which we confirmed in FHFA's county file.
• Golf course designers. We confirmed each course's designer against club and course sources, correcting errors that appear on other local sites.
• ZIP codes. Franklin has five ZIP codes, not three: 37065 and 37068 are PO box ZIP codes with no homes.
• Course names. Forrest Crossing and Franklin Bridge are the same golf course, renamed The Crossing in 2017.

Automated checks on every page

Every page is also checked before it is published: that each figure has a listed source, that the language meets Fair Housing standards, that no two pages repeat each other, and that every link works.

Step 5: Brianna reviews every page

Brianna Morant reviews every guide before it goes live, and her review date appears at the top of each page. She is a licensed Tennessee Realtor (license 310643) with more than 20 years in real estate, and she leads every listing at Oak Street Real Estate Group. When a page changes, the date changes with it.

The standards every page follows

• Fair Housing. Areas are described by their homes, land, costs and amenities, never by the people who live there.
• Schools. We never claim a home is zoned for a school. The Franklin schools guide explains how to check any address with the district.
• Safety. Only official crime data, with the method explained.
• Yearly figures. Tax rates, loan limits and fees change every year, so each page names the year of the figures it uses, as in the 2026 Williamson County property tax rates.
• Not advice. The guides explain how taxes, loans and contracts work. For your own situation, confirm with a Tennessee CPA, attorney or lender.

Keeping the guides current

Zillow publishes new home values every month, Freddie Mac publishes mortgage rates every week, and Williamson County sets its tax rates every year. We update the pages when those figures change, and the date at the top of a page changes only when its content does. The latest figures for the area are in our Franklin luxury market report.

Spotted something wrong?

If a figure on any page looks out of date or wrong, email brianna@oakstreetrealestategroup.com with the page and the source you are looking at. We check every correction against the original source and update the page if it needs it.

Common questions

Sources

• Zillow Research: Home Value Index (ZHVI)
• Freddie Mac: Primary Mortgage Market Survey
• FHFA: Conforming loan limit values
• U.S. Census Bureau: TIGERweb
• Williamson County Trustee
• Ahrefs: Keywords Explorer
• Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content