Arkansas or Arizona

[Ozark-Baby]

Actually, AZ economy is not going to be hurt like you say. It will drop a bit but will immediately picked up when the employers actually hire American citizens. If they cna't hire citizens or have other excuses of why they can't run a successful business then they deserve to lose their butts.

[Synopsis]

My preference would be Arkansas. AZ has it's great places and all, but to live in the locations where I would want to live, such as Flagstaff it would probably be too costly. Arkansas is pretty and homes are probably cheaper there.

[Art Brunje]

I'm not familiar with the AZ market. However , I do know the NWA market.You still can buy alot in NWA for $160,000 depending on the area and the size of the property...new construction prices are starting to fall with many builders trying not to pay excessive interest rates on their investments.

After 32 years of teaching, my wife and I relocated to Bella Vista about three years ago from Wisconsin and have fallen in love with the area. Bella Vista offers you beautiful vistas, a variety of properties from secluded wooded homes to gracious lakeside living to close-knit neighborhoods. We enjoy the close proximity to Bentonville, Rogers and Razorback athletic events. Being from Wisconsin, we still enjoy four seasons but no longer relish the extended winters Wisconsin has to offer. Truthfully, the so called humid summers have not bothered us at all.


art

Originally Posted by gregandvicky

We are considering Arkansas or Arizona. Have done lots of research online and have narrowed it down to Mountain Home or Bella Vista in Arkansas
In Arizona down to Maricopa or Florence.
Housing acrually seems to be a little less expensive in Arizona now with the housing,mortgage mess.
We are having a problem finding new construction in the Arkansas areas mentioned under $160,000, but that price range is wide open with options in Arizona.
We have thought about the Az hot, vs the Arkansas humid.
Property taxes are about the same.
We would appreciate any thoughts and input as far as areas, prices, weather etc.
Thanks

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by gregandvicky

We are considering Arkansas or Arizona. Have done lots of research online and have narrowed it down to Mountain Home or Bella Vista in Arkansas
In Arizona down to Maricopa or Florence.
Housing acrually seems to be a little less expensive in Arizona now with the housing,mortgage mess.
We are having a problem finding new construction in the Arkansas areas mentioned under $160,000, but that price range is wide open with options in Arizona.
We have thought about the Az hot, vs the Arkansas humid.
Property taxes are about the same.
We would appreciate any thoughts and input as far as areas, prices, weather etc.
Thanks

Hey Greg, my Mother inlaw lives in Mountain Home...they love it

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

My preference would be Arkansas. AZ has it's great places and all, but to live in the locations where I would want to live, such as Flagstaff it would probably be too costly. Arkansas is pretty and homes are probably cheaper there.

We feel the same, the areas we like (Flagstaff is one) are totally out of many of our price ranges. We have visited friends and relatives in the Phoenix area: talk about traffic: OMG. As for property being cheaper, I wonder where that came from: most of AR is pretty inexpensive in our view.

Nita

[designer]

I have never lived in Bella Vista but I have lived in Phoenix for several
years. However I did grow up near Bella Vista and I always thought it was
a great place and last year I had to take a trip to Bentonville and I couldn't
believe how the area had grown and prospered. I'm sure most of it was
due to Walmart's headquarters but I thought it was a very pretty place.
When I lived in Phoenix I was still working in a professional office on
Camelback and because I had a good job I had mostly positive thoughts
about Phoenix but I pretty much lived at my office which had great
air conditioning. I can tell you that
the hot/dry weather was pretty much more than I could take and if I
had not almost lived at my office I would have died with the monster
electric bill. I have been in Florence several times but it didn't
do much for me and I could say ditto for Maricopa as well. The winters
are great but the summers just flat suck. You might however check
out Prescott. I lived there for two years before moving to Phoenix
and I loved it but it is much more expensive than the two towns you
mentioned. By the way Florence is just as hot as Phoenix I would guess.
I now live in southern New Mexico which is similar to AZ but the employment
situation is not as good as in arizona. Also there is a lot of poverty here
in New Mexico and I find it somewhat depressing. Arkansas will be humid
and you won't have the great vistas that the west offers but I am
in the process of checking out Bella Vista myself.

Good Luck

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by designer

I have never lived in Bella Vista but I have lived in Phoenix for several
years. However I did grow up near Bella Vista and I always thought it was
a great place and last year I had to take a trip to Bentonville and I couldn't
believe how the area had grown and prospered. I'm sure most of it was
due to Walmart's headquarters but I thought it was a very pretty place.
When I lived in Phoenix I was still working in a professional office on
Camelback and because I had a good job I had mostly positive thoughts
about Phoenix but I pretty much lived at my office which had great
air conditioning. I can tell you that
the hot/dry weather was pretty much more than I could take and if I
had not almost lived at my office I would have died with the monster
electric bill. I have been in Florence several times but it didn't
do much for me and I could say ditto for Maricopa as well. The winters
are great but the summers just flat suck. You might however check
out Prescott. I lived there for two years before moving to Phoenix
and I loved it but it is much more expensive than the two towns you
mentioned. By the way Florence is just as hot as Phoenix I would guess.
I now live in southern New Mexico which is similar to AZ but the employment
situation is not as good as in arizona. Also there is a lot of poverty here
in New Mexico and I find it somewhat depressing. Arkansas will be humid
and you won't have the great vistas that the west offers but I am
in the process of checking out Bella Vista myself.

Good Luck

Designer, We are moving to Bella Vista next month from Belen. Our primary reason for moving is to be a little closer to our family, but second is the mindset and poverty here in NM. We just never realized how bad it was until we got here. yes, it is very depressing. I don't know where you live in So NM; do check out BV, we found property to actully be a little less expensive than here, just south of Albuquerque, taxes are a little higher though.

Good luck, maybe we will be neighbors.

Nita

[HoneysuckleHobo]

nmnita, can you weigh in as to the bug situation in Bella Vista? Thanks ...similar to what has been reported for Hot Springs Village area? (ticks, mosquitoes, etc).

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by HoneysuckleHobo

nmnita, can you weigh in as to the bug situation in Bella Vista? Thanks ...similar to what has been reported for Hot Springs Village area? (ticks, mosquitoes, etc).

From what I gather, yes, I do not like any of those creatures, luckily mosquitoes are not fond of me either. As for ticks, we lived for many years in areas that were thick with ticks, the hills in Marin county Calif and the hills in So California (I know, lots of people don't realize this) so we are familiar with the ugly pests. I am hoping we will be pleasantly surprised and find them not as bad as I am thinking. I also worry about snakes, but our realtor says, in 5 years she has only seen one snake, it was in her yard and wasn't a bad little guy. She lives right on the water.

Nita

[HoneysuckleHobo]

Thanks for the information. I had NOT realized California has ticks! Those are some high-dollar ticks allright!

Good luck and I hope you don't see many snakes. Maybe they are eating up mice and lessening the tick population.

Hope none of the Arkansas forum members are having homes or selves hurt by this latest rash of bad weather over there.