[gregandvicky]

We are seriously thinking of moving to Bella Vista. Currently in the Phoenix area. Before that in the Austin area. Austin was way too humid and lots of allergy problems, and property taxes out of control.

Use to live in Phoenix and moved back here from Austin. Lots of allergy problems here also and the foreclosure problem is pretty bad. Lots of areas that look like ghost towns, builders have walked away etc. and may not come back for 10 or more years. Buy a house here and you might have to die in it as you can not compete with the thousands of foreclosures.

Bottom line, we know the humidity is higher in Bella Vista than Phoenix, but lower than Austin, and Bella Vista property taxes are comparable to Phoenix.

Anyone with a good perspective on the differences and humidity in Bella Vista as compared to the other areas mentioned. I have been following the ice storms in Bella Vista, I guess not a big deal, just deal with it.

Sorry to be so lengthy, but looking for some good accurate info.

Thanks

[McBelle]

I live in Bella Vista - nice area, and lots of homes for sale here, you can get a great price. I will say many houses in the area that are for sale are in dire need of updating for energy efficiency, something to be on the lookout for when buying a home.

I personally don't find the humidity to be intolerable - it is at its worst when stormy weather is in the area. I come from the East Coast though, where the humidity can just be exhausting and physically draining, so to me the humidity here is absolutely nothing to complain about. I don't know what your specific allergies are, or whether they're just your run of the mill seasonal allergies, but yes, the sinuses do cause some discomfort this time of year for me.

Hope that helps,
Michelle

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by gregandvicky

We are seriously thinking of moving to Bella Vista. Currently in the Phoenix area. Before that in the Austin area. Austin was way too humid and lots of allergy problems, and property taxes out of control.

Use to live in Phoenix and moved back here from Austin. Lots of allergy problems here also and the foreclosure problem is pretty bad. Lots of areas that look like ghost towns, builders have walked away etc. and may not come back for 10 or more years. Buy a house here and you might have to die in it as you can not compete with the thousands of foreclosures.

Bottom line, we know the humidity is higher in Bella Vista than Phoenix, but lower than Austin, and Bella Vista property taxes are comparable to Phoenix.

Anyone with a good perspective on the differences and humidity in Bella Vista as compared to the other areas mentioned. I have been following the ice storms in Bella Vista, I guess not a big deal, just deal with it.

Sorry to be so lengthy, but looking for some good accurate info.

Thanks

I can not give you a total breakdown but you can get it on line: I will give you an example: yesterday, it was cloudy and rainy off and on all day:humidty was 72% the day before, a normal day and it was 32%. We moved here almost a year ago, the summer was humid, for sure, but the nights were comfortable and there were only a couple of days I could not spend time in the screened in porch, late in the afternoon, watching the wildlife. We have ceiling fan on the porch..What makes BV so much better (and we lived in Dallas for 13 years plus visited Austin a lot) the summer is much shorter and very few days get up in the mid to high 90s. We kept our air at about 76 degrees all summer, never touched it, had our ceiling fans on and were never overly warm...

As for alergies, I think it depends on what you are alergic to? I had more trouble in NM than I do here, but the past month hasn't been great. A pill morning and bedtime is all I have needed the past few days..

Of course, like everything else the housing market is soft, but not as bad as many places including Phoenix. There are lots of good homes for sale. yes, some need updating but I am sure between using your eyes and brains plus getting a home inspection you will be just fine. As well as some older homes, there are lots of newer homes waiting for a really nice couple to move in..I don't know what price range you are in, but we have 1700 Sq Ft, are not on a lake, but still in a very desirable part of BV. Our home is about 15 years old, has been totally updated with quality everything (or almsot) we paid $145,000. Today, I am sure you could buy it for under $140,000. We watch the deer, the squirrels, chipmonks, and all kinds of birds year around. Not to mention occassionally we will spot a fox.

One other positive thing, I do not know your age, but after 65 taxes are frozen. So whatever they are when you buy is what they will remain...What a benefit to seniors..

Nita

[gregandvicky]

Thanks for all the great comments.

Our allergies seems to be dust and desert related, nothing specific.

I am 61 years old, but retired so the frozen property taxes will be nice in another 4 years.

We plan to buy a new home, not on the lake, and are in the $145 to $160 range. I have found 2 dozen online in our price range.

The only comments that concern us from reading the CD forums, are the bugs, mosquito's, and some humidity comments. When we were in Austin, the mosquito's were terrible, wife was stung by a scorpion, and she got bitten twice by a brown recluse spider(I guess the bugs like her).

We are going to come and take a look in a couple of months.

Thanks again.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by gregandvicky

Thanks for all the great comments.

Our allergies seems to be dust and desert related, nothing specific.

I am 61 years old, but retired so the frozen property taxes will be nice in another 4 years.

We plan to buy a new home, not on the lake, and are in the $145 to $160 range. I have found 2 dozen online in our price range.

The only comments that concern us from reading the CD forums, are the bugs, mosquito's, and some humidity comments. When we were in Austin, the mosquito's were terrible, wife was stung by a scorpion, and she got bitten twice by a brown recluse spider(I guess the bugs like her).

We are going to come and take a look in a couple of months.

Thanks again.

We do have creatures, but never saw one all last year..Of course recluve spiders are almost everywhere today it seems. Until about 10 or 15 yearsa ago we never heard of them..The mosquito's were not as bad here last year as on the golf course in NM believe it or not. Thank goodness they do not like me so I am ok with them. As for scorpions, the only one I ever saw in my life was in Dallas. I had a brick that had gotting into my planter one year (no idea how) when spring came, I went to more the brick and there the thing was: scared the you know what out of me.

Again, because we life in the middle of nature we do have more little guys. We have the house sprayed every three months and use little sticky things around the outside so what would like to come in doesn't get very far.

Nita