Moving to Bentonville from CT

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by CTfamily

Also, not sure if we will buy or rent temporarily. The position would be for 2-3 years. It depends on if we sell our house in CT. The market is very depressed here and we would not want to sell our house at a loss.

Does anyone have any info on the rental home market? We are looking for a 4-5 bedroom house, 3 car garage, 4,000+square feet.

I am sure you can find something, but there are not as many rentals as homes for sale in the area...I think the majority of the Wal Mart exec live int Bentonville and BV.

Nita

[CTfamily]

Can anyone recommend a real estate agent for Bentonville?

[scoutingsue]

Did someone mention the Minor League Baseball team in Springdale area? BV has rentals and I am sure the other areas do as well.

[likingNWA]

Lochmoor Club has some rentals that sound up your alley....
Tara Cummings is an agent from the are and would be a great rental agent as well.
[url]http://www.lochmoorclub.net[/url] - good links!

We have a great Minor League team in Springdale - NWA Naturals.

Good Luck!

[kattpar]

Shadow Valley Country Club is also an area where many executives live. They have a Clubhouse w/restaurant (where you can drink alcohol) and an amazing view, childcare, gym, indoor/outdoor tennis courts, 18 hole golf course, etc. We have a home for lease there... much smaller than what you are looking for (4 bedroom, 2 baths, 2 car), but if you'd like something temporary especially if you'd like to build. You can contact me if you wish! Good luck!

[dexters]

CTFamily,

We are living a parallel-universe. We had been living in NWA for 7 years (but have been in London for the last 2 years), and are now relocating to the NY Metro area.

NWA is a wonderful place to raise a family. I too, worked for a large CPG company with an office there, as does my husband. In fact, one the biggest problems many of these companies have is that they bring in people from HQ to the BV office for a "2-3 stint", and then these people don't want to leave the area. I can name about 20 such people that lived on my street who came to BV for "2 years" and have been there 5+.

The one thing I will tell you is that population is very centralized. So although there are tons of different places to live, most people live in subdivisions directly off the 540 corridor.
Beaver Lake is a gorgeous lake with beautiful, wooded lake lots that some poeple love. However, it does take 30 minutes to get into town. This doesn't sound like much, especially when you are coming from an area where it takes you 30 minutes to get anywhere, but that also means 30 minutes just to get to the grocery store, etc.

Most of the CPG community lives in parts of Rogers (west of 540) and select parts of Fayetteville and a few subdivisions in Springdale and Bentonville. Bentonville has a lot of the WMT HO employees.

We lived in Rogers and absolutely loved it. We still own our house there, and I'm gutted that we won't be moving back there. From what I understand (and certainly judging from the value of our home), the market there is quite depressed, so you could get a very nice home for less than $600K. Check out the Manors Subdivision in Rogers. Huge homes, young families, and large acre+ lots. Another nice subdivision in Tallemore in Bentonville, but from what I understand the people there aren't quite as "neighborly" (a lot of WMT execs. live here. You will soon find that there are some strict rules about WMT people fraternizing with suppliers).

As far as schools, Bellview Elementary School in Rogers is considered one of the best. Elm Tree is a year round primary school in Bentonville that is also highly regarded. Bentonville High School recently won the state championship in Football (in 2006?), so high school football is a large part of the scene there. Springdale High School recently had one of the top QBs in the country, and people came from all over to watch him play.

Hope that helps a little bit. Please feel free to contact me with any more questions.

[fulluvit]

Originally Posted by CTfamily

Also, not sure if we will buy or rent temporarily. The position would be for 2-3 years. It depends on if we sell our house in CT. The market is very depressed here and we would not want to sell our house at a loss.

Does anyone have any info on the rental home market? We are looking for a 4-5 bedroom house, 3 car garage, 4,000+square feet.

There are numerous neighborhoods full of McMansions on the north, south, east and west sides of town. Central Avenue through the heart of town has an eclectic mix of older homes with more architectural charm. You'll have no problem finding a home from 4-10 thousand square feet.

An oft-told story around here is that Wal-Mart vendors transfer their people in from places like the northeast and those people are filled with dread about having to live in Arkansas. After they've done their 3-year stint and their company wants to send them back "home", they will jump ship and go work for another company so that they can stay here.

[Californiarelocate]

My husband is considering taking a position at WalMart and we currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area. He seems to feel Pinnacle Hills is a great place- very close to Pinnacle Promenade (major retailers) and the best schools - Bentonville School District. I'm hoping to move near a lot of young families who are also a mix of transplants and locals. My concern is meeting mothers of young children who are my age. I'm 34 with a 4 and 2 year old. I don't know why I get the feeling I will be the "old mom" in the area.

Anyway, best of luck with your move. It's scary but exciting...

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Californiarelocate

My husband is considering taking a position at WalMart and we currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area. He seems to feel Pinnacle Hills is a great place- very close to Pinnacle Promenade (major retailers) and the best schools - Bentonville School District. I'm hoping to move near a lot of young families who are also a mix of transplants and locals. My concern is meeting mothers of young children who are my age. I'm 34 with a 4 and 2 year old. I don't know why I get the feeling I will be the "old mom" in the area.

Anyway, best of luck with your move. It's scary but exciting...

you won't be the "OLD MOM" many of the people living in and around Bentonville are transplants, young professionals and have young children. Yes, the area near Pinnacle Hills is very nice. There are lots of areas in Bentonville that are worth investigating, some are just off the highway up on the hills (both sides of the highway I will add) Some are closer to Centerton, etc. As for meeting other moms, probably the best way in involvement in kids activities and through the churches.

Nita