Bella Vista or Pea Ridge Move??? (Rogers, Benton: for sale, motorhome, water heater) - Fayetteville - Springdale - Rogers - Arkansas (AR) -Northwest Arkansas - City-Data Forum

reubenray · 08-12-2020, 04:02 AM

After hijacking a few threads I figured it was time to start my own one. We are looking to move up there from South Alabama next spring. As we get older (both retired) we cannot take the heat as much. So this reduced the time spent at the beaches. I also have a brother and his family that lives in Rogers and Cave Springs. The birth of a second great niece is pushing my wife a little also being we never had kids. My niece and her family lives in Cave Springs. We have visited that area several times in the last few years in our motorhome and we liked it there. Especially the Bella Vista area. But I have concerns about moving up there. Some of these questions have been asked on other threads.

The first concern is what is going on with the housing market there? We have been using Zillow and Realtor website to see what is out there. It seems like if something new comes up it is marked pending in just a few days. There were several houses that was sold in July and they are back up for sale again at a higher price. I am concerned the market may price itself out of our range. We are also looking at the Pea Ridge area. My wife will not drive the interstate so having something in the BV and Pea Ridge area works best where she can drive the back roads. My SIL says the Pea Ridge market is very hot right now. What is driving this?

The second concern is the weather especially Winter. I was born and raised in Louisiana and we have lived along the Gulf Coast (Texas, Louisiana and Alabama) for the last 15 years. How do you prepare for freezing weather and pipes. Down here in South Alabama I usually only put the little hose bib freeze protection things on them. I am assuming any piping in the walls are extra insulated to prevent pipes from freezing. I can hibernate if necessary if I have power. But what happens if I lose power. Are propane emergency generators allowed at BV?

My third concern is my motorhome. I know from other threads what my options are for storing it and keeping it at home. But having to deal with winter has me thinking about how to protect it - especially freezing pipes. I have been RVing for 15 years and I have never had to winterize my RV being I have always been in the deep South. One option is to become a snowbird. If I can have the RV at my home I could have power and heat to it. But if it is in storage I cannot. There are several indoor facilities for RVs, but are they heated?

DC at the Ridge · 08-12-2020, 07:24 AM

What is happening with the housing market is that there are more buyers than sellers. Demand is high, supply is low, so prices are going up.

I think your concerns about winter are misplaced. Winters tend to be mild in Northwest Arkansas, with a smattering of days going below freezing, and a smattering of days in the 60's or even 70's. Disconnect your garden hoses, put a cover on outdoor outlets, and if the forecast is really, really cold, open the cabinets beneath the kitchen and bathroom sinks to let warmer air in there, and you should be fine. I wouldn't worry about protecting the RV, but if you are really concerned, maybe set up a little space heater inside to keep it above freezing. If it is parked inside, you have nothing to worry about.

reubenray · 08-12-2020, 10:08 AM

Are irrigation systems allowed at BV? There was a new listing today that had grass instead of gravel.

Also are portable storage buildings allowed similar to the "G" storage buildings?

vcvs · 08-12-2020, 04:25 PM

Reubenray.. what year model is your RV? Most all RVs made since the early 2000’s will have low point drains, normally 2-sets on each side. Open them up, then drain hot water heater and you should be good to go. We’ve stored our 5th wheel camper for the last 4 years and all I do is open low point drains (no RV anti freeze or anything like that). Also if your camper prob has Pex piping and it is resistant to freezing.

reubenray · 08-12-2020, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcvs

Reubenray.. what year model is your RV? Most all RVs made since the early 2000’s will have low point drains, normally 2-sets on each side. Open them up, then drain hot water heater and you should be good to go. We’ve stored our 5th wheel camper for the last 4 years and all I do is open low point drains (no RV anti freeze or anything like that). Also if your camper prob has Pex piping and it is resistant to freezing.

It is a 2017 Newmar. It does have the low point drains which I normally do drain when it gets cold here in the deep South. I have not drained the water heater, but that should be no problem. I also open all of my faucets to allow space for expansion. If this is all that has to be done then I am set. I was thinking I had to do the pink anti freeze route.

vcvs · 08-12-2020, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reubenray

It is a 2017 Newmar. It does have the low point drains which I normally do drain when it gets cold here in the deep South. I have not drained the water heater, but that should be no problem. I also open all of my faucets to allow space for expansion. If this is all that has to be done then I am set. I was thinking I had to do the pink anti freeze route.

You should be set then. That’s all we have ever done, and with temps down in the teens, no issues. I did forget to open my sink faucets a couple years ago and found it laying in the sink after a big freeze. My fault. Sounds like you have everything covered!
We use Highlands Storage to store our RV. It’s on the West side of Bella Vista. It’s cheap for outdoor coverage. And also reasonable for covered storage.

vcvs · 08-12-2020, 09:19 PM

One more thing.. the Highlands storage has a row of sort of hybrid storage, it’s covered, but open on the ends. It’s a large shed and mostly taken up with large coaches like yours. It appears to be easy in and out. I looked at putting my 5th wheel under there at one time and I think it was around $90 per month (cheapest around at the time). Might be worth checking out.

reubenray · 08-13-2020, 04:07 AM

Thanks for the info on Highlands storage. This would be all we would need.

Is the far West side of BV newer than the rest? I found several new homes over there decently priced. Some of there were even two bedroom/two baths which is all we would need. Several negatives were there are no trees and a long way from any shopping. The roads over there even look better than a lot of the roads on the East side.

Another thing I noticed was the homes in the Bentonville school district (BV address) had higher property taxes than other school districts.

nmnita · 08-13-2020, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reubenray

Thanks for the info on Highlands storage. This would be all we would need.

Is the far West side of BV newer than the rest? I found several new homes over there decently priced. Some of there were even two bedroom/two baths which is all we would need. Several negatives were there are no trees and a long way from any shopping. The roads over there even look better than a lot of the roads on the East side.

Another thing I noticed was the homes in the Bentonville school district (BV address) had higher property taxes than other school districts.

The west side, especially the Highlands area has a lot of building going on right now. I don't mean new houses going up all over the place by any means but there is a lot of building. I don't want to take sides on where would be best to settle as we all have our own ideas.

As for schools and taxes: the east side of the highway is Bentonville schools except for one little tiny section that is Pea Ridge. Yes, that is why the taxes are a bit higher. Most of the west side except for a small portion are Gravette schools.

When the bypass is finished which should be another year or so the Highlands area will be convenient to Mo as well as Bentonville and there will be no stop lights or delays. That certainly is a positive for many.

The best you can do, it seems like is take a few days, probably in the fall or sooner and just come up here, visit, contact a realtor who would be glad to show you around and judge for yourself what is right for you.

reubenray · 08-13-2020, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmnita

The west side, especially the Highlands area has a lot of building going on right now. I don't mean new houses going up all over the place by any means but there is a lot of building. I don't want to take sides on where would be best to settle as we all have our own ideas.

As for schools and taxes: the east side of the highway is Bentonville schools except for one little tiny section that is Pea Ridge. Yes, that is why the taxes are a bit higher. Most of the west side except for a small portion are Gravette schools.

When the bypass is finished which should be another year or so the Highlands area will be convenient to Mo as well as Bentonville and there will be no stop lights or delays. That certainly is a positive for many.

The best you can do, it seems like is take a few days, probably in the fall or sooner and just come up here, visit, contact a realtor who would be glad to show you around and judge for yourself what is right for you.

We actually plan on getting with a realtor in about five weeks when we will be up there for a few days. Right now our plans are to put up our house for sale in South Alabama in February/March. We live in a RV resort that has small houses on the lots. Since we had our's built five years ago the cost of building them has tripled. The snowbirds will be there and I won't have to deal with an Arkansas winter for one more year.