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Fayetteville - Springdale - Rogers Northwest Arkansas
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Old 09-25-2017, 10:11 AM
 
3,111 posts, read 5,007,650 times
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We just completed a whirlwind retirement scouting trip. I'm pleased to say we were both very pleased. Our purpose for this trip was to determine if we liked the overall feel and if the amenities we use on a regular basis were there. We did not know it was Blues, Bikers and BBQ week...

This was a last minute trip. We decided to go the day we left to drive there so did not have the normal careful planning on where to stay, what to see etc. But I had planned a trip previously so loosely knew what I wanted to see.

1. Natural grocery stores - 5 stars! They were everywhere and had everything I buy on a regular basis. Also were HUGE!

2. Natural pet food stores - There was a new one in Rogers that was HUGE and had everything we wanted except our current food brand but I'm sure we could get them to get it. Also some of the natural grocery stores had pet items also.

3. Gluten free food in restaurants. Excellent! Everywhere we went had choices and the servers were very knowledgeable. The food was pretty good. Not completely awesome like Traverse City Michigan but not completely mediocre. Only one truly abysmal meal and they refunded our money. Loved the abundance of ethnic restaurants. The servers were a standout. I don't know if they were extra nice because of BBB week but we were treated very well as visitors. Also we walked in and sat down at every restaurant. Never a wait. I wasn't sure if it was because all the locals had left town for BBB week or not. Traffic was very easy and pretty slow. Made it very enjoyable to toodle around as out of towners following a GPS to get places.

4. Trails - This was the area that we found most lacking. I had high hopes for the Lake Fayetteville trail area. But it was flat and had lots of speeding bicycles on it. I don't see it as an easy place to walk dogs. The one around Lake Atalanta was better but probably very short and also flat. The best place we found for walking was the dirt and gravel roads near our rental cabin because they were dead ended and had no traffic. Saw some wildlife and had some nice up and downs with hills. Would probably be muddy in the wet season/winter. I think we will need to find a house in an area that has it's own local neighborhood trails that aren't generally attracting the public.

We had limited time but spent two days with a realtor looking at homes. Was pretty disappointed in what we saw for the prices. Mostly cookie cutter subdivisions with lots of open space for new homes to be built. I really don't want to live next to ongoing construction. But I think we could do better with more planning on our part. Things may have been picked over at this time of year or she didn't put in search criteria that fit us. We went to her office and I saw she had some search criteria that weren't matching what we were looking for so that may have eliminated some good prospects.

Really liked the technical information, property disclosures etc. that she provided. Along with the property disclosures came monthly utility bills and HOA rules. All of this is very helpful.

She also provided the absorption in months of homes <100k is 1.64 months, 101K-250K is 2.03 months, 251K - 500K is 5.61 months and over 500K is 13.76 months. Very helpful to an out of town buyer. She also gave us trends for year over year broken down by area. Listings, sales for each price point etc.

But did we find a house? We saw one we liked in Fayetteville but did not like the backyard pointing NE which made the house feel dark. Also saw a second one we liked in Bentonville that was older with an all season sun room. How good is it to have one of those? Our rental cabin was thick with mosquitoes but in the town areas it didn't seem to be much of a problem.

Also not sure which area we want at this point. I liked Rogers best because of it's central location and it seemed to have good restaurants and good shopping. My husband liked Bella Vista for the woodsy feel. Neither of us cared for Fayetteville and I was certain that would be my favorite. But since we were staying in Rogers out in the wood near the lake we had more exposure to Rogers amenities. We may have to come back and stay in Fayetteville to really get a feel for it.

Bentonville was not well looked at. We were just in and out a few times for meals and the Chihuly exhibit at the museum. My impression was that it was kind of crowded and the Walmart vibe/hustle and bustle was not for me. We did visit a Sam's Club because we were worried that it would be just like our Sam's Club here and we would miss our Costco too much. Much to our surprise the Sam's Club was just like our Costco. Identical layout, identical products. Which makes me wonder if Walmart doesn't own Costco. But since I found all the Costco products I buy I was happy. So far NWA had checked all our boxes.
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Old 09-25-2017, 12:37 PM
 
Location: Benton County
18 posts, read 17,929 times
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Glad to hear you enjoyed your visit! The bikes are now gone for the most part, so your next trip down might give you a better opportunity to take everything in. NWA is growing so much, and as you mentioned, a part of that growth is neighborhoods where every home looks the same. However, there are some neighborhoods that don't have that feel...you just have to know where to look and it depends on your budget. Anything under 150k, goes pretty fast, especially if it's in good condition. Offers are usually accepted on those within a few days of the home hitting the market. The averages you mentioned, take into account the length of time the home was on the market before it sold, so it counts from day 1 of the listing till the day it is marked sold, and the whole time it sits under contract. Another thing to think about is on new construction homes, those also count from the day it's entered into our MLS...even if the home is still in construction phase. So things like that can kinda mess with the numbers a little.

You might even look into Pea Ridge. Although it's a little further out, it's situated to the North of Rogers and to the East of Bella Vista. Or even the Prairie Creek area of Rogers, since it still puts you within 15 min of downtown Rogers.

Good luck in your search!
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Old 09-25-2017, 04:04 PM
 
Location: Riding a rock floating through space
2,660 posts, read 1,536,523 times
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You are retiring and didn't even consider Bella Vista? If you want a great house for the money and love trails to walk your dog, this is hands down the best part of NWA. Then there's that whole 'one of the best places to retire in the country' thing.
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Old 09-25-2017, 05:52 PM
 
Location: San Diego
1,187 posts, read 1,317,607 times
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Glad to see you had a good trip. We were just there as well and managed to cruise by the Bentonville farmers market on Saturday and Wow, pretty impressive.

Which Sam's club did you go to? We went to one in Rogers and didn't come away with the same impression as you regarding Costco.
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Old 09-25-2017, 06:34 PM
 
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I believe it was the Bentonville location. Perhaps we have a midlevel Costco and you have a more upscale one? The Bentonville Sam's Club wasn't at all like the Sam's Club near us which has low level, high processed food.

I wish we had made it to a farmers market but there wasn't time on this trip.

ClassyChas, thanks for the tips on areas. I like your suggestions.
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Old 09-26-2017, 05:35 AM
 
Location: Bella Vista, Ark
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Glad you enjoyed your visit and yes, Bella Vista is woodsy which is one thing we like about it, plus not many cookie cutter houses, though many are built by certain builders so you will see similarities. The other issue you had was with the darkness of the inside of the house liked> This is a probem with so many trees.
As for Sam's, there is one on the border of Rogers and Bentonville. That is probably the one you were in. We like it, but everyone has his/her own ideas. They are building a new one in Bentonville I believe, am not sure about that. Both the Fayetteville and Bentonville farmers markets are awesome, not just a shopping time bu an experience.
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Old 09-26-2017, 09:50 PM
 
Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas via ATX
1,349 posts, read 2,112,989 times
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Nice to hear an update on your visit.

The trails in Fayetteville are bicycle heavy. Fayetteville is the youngest city in the region, so our trails tend to be a little more "athletic" than in the rest of the region. I would echo checking out Bella Vista for trails more geared toward walking. In Fayetteville, the leisurely trails are primarily in city parks, with Lake Fayetteville Park being the exception due to it being a great place to cycle, both on the paved trail and on dirt areas.

I have to say that as we were leaving for Las Vegas for the weekend (to escape the dreaded Bikes Blues) we were wowed by the immense numbers of new subdivisions on the road to the airport. I guess we haven't traveled much as a family before or at the time of day where we would notice. That whole area used to seem very rural, but now it seems to be filling up fast.

I'd echo checking out Fayetteville when it isn't covered in motorcycles. That is not a good weekend representation of Fayetteville at all.

We have a good little metropolitan area here. Glad you enjoyed your visit.
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Old 09-26-2017, 10:47 PM
 
3,111 posts, read 5,007,650 times
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Unfortunately we picked up a major tick infestation. We were super cautious where we were staying but on the way out of town we stopped by an open house in Bella Vista. The realtor mentioned a trail down to the lake from the backyard. My husband wanted to check it out and I stupidly said, why don't you take the dogs. Thinking they would enjoy a little hike before spending 5 hours in the car. We have tons of little tiny nymph engorged ticks running around the house now. They were crawling off my older dog with cancer numerous in number. My other dog we haven't seen them on but he is black so harder to see. We've only found 2 embedded feeding larger ones on the older cancer dog but there are probably more. I've been reading all the side effects of the toxic chemicals so am frozen in fear of what to try. The only thing we have done is bath them in the herbal tick killers. Don't know if those will be effective.

Are there any of the chemicals that work well in Arkansas or conversly the ticks are now immune to so we don't waste our time and our dog's health applying the wrong thing?
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Old 09-27-2017, 04:52 AM
 
Location: Bella Vista, Ark
77,772 posts, read 104,234,910 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mic111 View Post
Unfortunately we picked up a major tick infestation. We were super cautious where we were staying but on the way out of town we stopped by an open house in Bella Vista. The realtor mentioned a trail down to the lake from the backyard. My husband wanted to check it out and I stupidly said, why don't you take the dogs. Thinking they would enjoy a little hike before spending 5 hours in the car. We have tons of little tiny nymph engorged ticks running around the house now. They were crawling off my older dog with cancer numerous in number. My other dog we haven't seen them on but he is black so harder to see. We've only found 2 embedded feeding larger ones on the older cancer dog but there are probably more. I've been reading all the side effects of the toxic chemicals so am frozen in fear of what to try. The only thing we have done is bath them in the herbal tick killers. Don't know if those will be effective.

Are there any of the chemicals that work well in Arkansas or conversly the ticks are now immune to so we don't waste our time and our dog's health applying the wrong thing?
wow, we have never had that trouble. We do give our dog a tick and flea treatment every month. I have heard of a few people that have found a tick or two on their dogs, but nothing like what you are experiencing. How awful!!!! As for us, I rarely have problems with anything like that. Hubby does, so he is very careful about making sure, if he is going to be out and about in areas with ticks he uses off. We have, on occasion had to pull ticks off of him or me, but not like what you experienced.
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Old 09-27-2017, 07:27 AM
 
Location: plano
7,885 posts, read 11,336,512 times
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I too am planing a move to NWA from Plano Texas. It looks like my brother in law and his wife, my wifes sister may move too.

They asked me a question Id like help responding to. They ask how NWA compared to Hot Springs Village. Some friends of theirs retired to HSV.

My response was HSV is more a retirement age place than NWA by a wide margin. Also. the Ouachitas are alittle different looking than the Ozarks and that the weather is slightly warmer. They like me have family in Southern Okahoma now and it is closer to family. Did I miss anything major? I should admit Ive never been to HSV. Irules HSV out vs NWA due to the stronger growth going on in NWA. I prefer a place changing and advancing like NWA with potential to add some attractions as it grows.

Thanks in advance.

Is the Blues, Biker and BBQ a Fayetteville only thing? Or does it impact Rogers and Bentonville traffic etc too?

Last edited by Johnhw2; 09-27-2017 at 08:02 AM..
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