Bill Lewis

Nashville Tennessean

Mike and Karen Schulte were ready to move from Chicago to South Florida, where her company had opened an office. Then friends invited them to spend a weekend in Nashville.

It was their first visit to the region and they weren’t sure what to expect.

“What we found was how nice everyone is here,” said Mike Schulte. “My wife was like, ‘Are we on another planet?’ ”

After a weekend of Southern hospitality, their plans quickly changed. Karen Schulte works for an international telecom company and isn’t tied down to an office. Her husband accepted an offer to join EXIT Realty’s regional office here.

The couple sold their home in Chicago last August and moved to an apartment in Gallatin. They are building a house in Foxland Harbor, a lakeside golf community in the growing suburb.

“We fell in love with Nashville. It felt like home, very comfortable. We were looking for a younger, more hip culture” than they found in Ft. Lauderdale, said Karen Schulte.

They are among the estimated 100 people a day moving to the Nashville region. The population, currently around 1.8 million, is expected to grow by 1 million over the next 20 years.

“It’s known as the new ‘it’ city,” said Stacy Strobl, co-owner of EXIT Realty’s Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky region. She recruited Mike Schulte, who is the company’s vice president for growth and development.

“It seems like everyone’s moving here. They either move here for work or vacationed here and fell in love with it,” said Strobl.

People arriving in the region are having a big impact on the real estate market, said Crye-Leike Realtor Debbie Hovsepian. She estimated that 75 percent of her clients are moving from other states. She moved here from California in 2008.

Sometimes people have to overcome stereotypes.

“Before they land, they think, 'Are my neighbors going to have plumbing, have electricity?' I get that jokingly,” said Hovsepian.

“Once they get here, they like it. People are finding out how metropolitan it is,” she said.

Many of them also discover how inexpensive homes are, at least compared to where they moved from.

Realtor Mickey Duncan said she recently represented a family moving from Chicago. For the first time, they could afford to buy a home.

“They rented for 10 years because they couldn’t afford the property taxes,” said Duncan, a Realtor with EXIT Realty.

After 25 years in Chicago, the Schultes are enjoying Tennessee’s mild climate and low cost of living, including lower property taxes and no state tax on earned income.

Their 4,400-square-foot house on Old Hickory Lake will be valued at $1.2 million to $1.3 million when it’s complete, but the property tax bill will be thousands of dollars less than in Chicago.

“You don’t know how good you’ve got it,” said Mike Schulte. “When you save $15,000 a year on your property taxes, no state income tax, you add that up, that’s $30,000 in savings every year.”

For the Schultes, who are active in their church and participate in mission trips, Tennessee’s more family-oriented culture was also appealing.

“The first question anyone asks you is where do you go to church,” said Mike Schulte.

Southern hospitality was another plus.

“I’d always heard about it,” said Karen Schulte, but she had never really experienced it.

“That was so refreshing. People are so inclusive, welcoming you,” she said.

For example, while moving into their apartment, they took a break for lunch at a nearby Popeyes restaurant. When the staff learned they were new in town, they gave the Schultes free apple pie. Another customer stood at their table for 20 minutes, telling them about the area.

“Then she pulled up a chair,” said Mike Schulte. “That’s how it all started.”