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My mother and I are coming up for 2 nights to have a look around and see if it makes the list for potential moves. My mother is a recent retiree (12 months ago) and widow (16 months ago). I am currently living with her...I had left my job to help care for my father. So we would be moving together.
One of the main reasons for considering moving is to downsize to a smaller yard. Mom is getting tired of the upkeep on our half acre lot. And also, the summer heat. There is just so much of the day where you can't do anything outside. Moving to a house on a smaller lot in our area won't gain us much...same weather and increased property taxes on a new purchase.
So, a few questions...
1. The real estate market looks pretty healthy (read: hot!) in the $200-250k range. Just going by what we've seen online. Is this pretty accurate? Are houses moving pretty quickly? Is there a "better" time of year to be a buyer, ie. a time of year when the market moves a little slower, or is everything just in demand right now?
2. Job market...since I was helping care for my father, I've been out of the workplace for several years now. Are there employers who give a chance to those who haven't worked in several years? I'll need to get some sort of job...just so I can have health insurance again!
3. Income tax vs. property tax...any other former Texans made the move? Obviously we would be giving up having no state income, but with the lower property taxes in Arkansas, it might come out even? Sales tax seems higher in AR also...online it looks like over 9%! Then again, we have 8.25% where we are now.
4. We have a pretty good YMCA/Community Center...including a lap pool, gym, classes, etc. I did find that Bentonville has a pretty good looking Community Center. Do the other towns have anything similar? If not, are there gyms or something that have lap pools?
5. House insurance...in the above mentioned price range, anyone able to share about what house insurance will run? Will it be cheaper than Texas? Some people say that our insurance in Texas is high due to large amounts of wind and hail damage.
6. Suggestions on anything we should check out?
7. Almost forgot...how is the ground for gardening? Is it too rocky?
My mother and I are coming up for 2 nights to have a look around and see if it makes the list for potential moves. My mother is a recent retiree (12 months ago) and widow (16 months ago). I am currently living with her...I had left my job to help care for my father. So we would be moving together.
One of the main reasons for considering moving is to downsize to a smaller yard. Mom is getting tired of the upkeep on our half acre lot. And also, the summer heat. There is just so much of the day where you can't do anything outside. Moving to a house on a smaller lot in our area won't gain us much...same weather and increased property taxes on a new purchase.
So, a few questions...
1. The real estate market looks pretty healthy (read: hot!) in the $200-250k range. Just going by what we've seen online. Is this pretty accurate? Are houses moving pretty quickly? Is there a "better" time of year to be a buyer, ie. a time of year when the market moves a little slower, or is everything just in demand right now?
2. Job market...since I was helping care for my father, I've been out of the workplace for several years now. Are there employers who give a chance to those who haven't worked in several years? I'll need to get some sort of job...just so I can have health insurance again!
3. Income tax vs. property tax...any other former Texans made the move? Obviously we would be giving up having no state income, but with the lower property taxes in Arkansas, it might come out even? Sales tax seems higher in AR also...online it looks like over 9%! Then again, we have 8.25% where we are now.
4. We have a pretty good YMCA/Community Center...including a lap pool, gym, classes, etc. I did find that Bentonville has a pretty good looking Community Center. Do the other towns have anything similar? If not, are there gyms or something that have lap pools?
5. House insurance...in the above mentioned price range, anyone able to share about what house insurance will run? Will it be cheaper than Texas? Some people say that our insurance in Texas is high due to large amounts of wind and hail damage.
6. Suggestions on anything we should check out?
7. Almost forgot...how is the ground for gardening? Is it too rocky?
Thanks for any input!
The market there is moving fast right now and houses that are priced right do not stay for long. The market slows down some during the winter months but is probably never considered slow in northwest AR.
The income tax/property tax wash would depend on your income so it's hard to answer.
Homeowners insurance on a 200K property will probably run near 1K per year but again it depends on the insurer and your exact location.
The ground is good for gardening. Some areas have more rock than others but you work around it.
Good luck and have fun. Hopefully others can chime in with more info.
There are a lot of nice houses in the price range you are looking.
Property taxes are potentially lower depending on where you would be moving from.
Jobs are abundant. If you can't get a job here you aren't breathing My Wife has been offered 2 jobs in the last month and she isn't looking.
Home insurance is inexpensive. Again, may depend on if there have been any/ many claims in the past. My Homeowners insurance is less than previously suggested and price range about double of where you are looking.
Traffic flows north from Fayetteville in the morning and South back to Fayetteville in the afternoon/ evening.
Thanks Slytrix! Awesome to hear about jobs and cheap house insurance!
I've actually been able to look up property taxes on some listed houses...much lower than our property taxes here in Texas! It looks like, based on my mother's income, that Arkansas property + income taxes will be lower than the property tax alone here in Texas. So that is a plus.
We did not move directly from Texas to AR, we spent 7 years in NM in between our locating to AR. Our daughter did move directly to AR from NO Texas. The property insurance and taxes are much lower here, but income taxes are of course higher. If you are a senior or when you become one your property taxes are frozen except for things like rising school bond issues. This can be a huge savings.
JObs are plentiful, whether you are looking for a low paying type of job, just for insurance or are looking mid management and up. Remember we have 3 large, national companies headquartered here.
yes, property is moving father fast right now and will continue for awhile I am guessing. Depending on what you want to do and your life style there are so many places to choose from Of course I am partial to Bella Vista as this is our home. It has so many options for people who are retired. There are organizations for almost anything you are interested in, plus it is becoming a very popular community for families. I think we have the best of all worlds and property is a little less expensive. Other nice areas would be, of course Bentonville and Fayetteville. Property in either city is going to be slightly higher, still in your price range.
Yes, the ground is rocky, but people have great gardens, lovely yards and beautiful grass almost everywhere. So it is very workable. As a senior I have to admit we hire someone to do our grass. I do the rest, including having a nice raised garden, so I do not have to do so much bending.
Most cities have some sort of rec center. Here in BV we have 2 outdoor summer pools with lap swimming assigned times etc and one inside facility that is actually being refurbished right now. We have a great work out room with a bigger one being built, a pool that has lap swimming, water acrobics and water walking daily. Of course it has open swimming as well. Hubby and I do water walking 3 mornings a week. It also has a hot tub and a nice pool table area as well as a gun range. It used to have a 9 hole golf course, but that has been changed to a wonderful walking trail.
Thank you nmnita! Your rec center sounds great! We do need an indoor pool for mom...she is on some medication that makes her very sun sensitive, so outdoor wouldn't work for her. But otherwise it sounds great!
re: Bella Vista, I assume that commuting to Bentonville isn't too bad since it is so close? But if my job were further south, ie. Springdale or even Fayetteville, the commute would be correspondingly longer? When I was working (I lived in North Carolina for 12 years), but preferred commute was 15-20 minutes.
Thank you nmnita! Your rec center sounds great! We do need an indoor pool for mom...she is on some medication that makes her very sun sensitive, so outdoor wouldn't work for her. But otherwise it sounds great!
re: Bella Vista, I assume that commuting to Bentonville isn't too bad since it is so close? But if my job were further south, ie. Springdale or even Fayetteville, the commute would be correspondingly longer? When I was working (I lived in North Carolina for 12 years), but preferred commute was 15-20 minutes.
We are very anxious for our inside pool to be re-opened as it is only about a 3 min drive from our house. Because it is a total make over it will take about 4 months and they just started less than a month ago.
As for the commute from here to Bentonville, depending on where you live it can be a short one or take as long as 35 minutes during commute time. On the west side of town, toward the Highlands we have a new by pass that gets you into Bentonville in about 15 or 20 minutes. If you have to use 71, depending on the time of day it can be a little longer. Yes any further south than Rogers can be a bit of a drive, especially if you have to drive to Fayetteville. Again, it depends on what time of the day you are on the road. The good news it is nothing like commuting in Dallas or Houston or San Antonio for that matter
Hey everyone, quick update. We did make it up there. We were there by 2 on Thursday and stayed until Saturday. Of course, there was great weather! We spent most of our time in Bentonville/Rogers. And we are definitely considering moving there! We're crunching some numbers. Mom did "like" both Bella Vista and Fayetteville, but is not a fan of living with the constant up and down. A lot of the homes in BV seem to have back decks with lots of steps. Mom has had double knee replacement and wants a single story house with a mostly level lot. So I think it will probably be Bentonville/Rogers.
We did speak with a realtor, and we spoke to an insurance agent to get a very rough estimate on property insurance. (Less than half of what we currently pay.) We drove by the Bentonville Community Center but did not go in. We did go in to the Rogers Adult Wellness Center which looks like it will work great for mom.
I have checked electric and water rates via the city (Bentonville) web site. Surprisingly, electric is slightly more expensive that what we currently pay but water is a little less.
I can see why there are some complaints about traffic. And it seems to me that there are fewer "easy" alternate routes compared to other places I have lived. That said, coming from the DFW area, traffic wasn't bad at all! (Did see a backup of some sort on 49 on Friday afternoon in the southbound lanes.) We were in the area of 49/Walnut Street/S. Walton Blvd. quite a bit.
So, we are crunching numbers. And determining what we would need to do to our house to get it on the market. And what time frame we think we could do it in. But we are pretty serious. So thanks for the responses!
Hey everyone, quick update. We did make it up there. We were there by 2 on Thursday and stayed until Saturday. Of course, there was great weather! We spent most of our time in Bentonville/Rogers. And we are definitely considering moving there! We're crunching some numbers. Mom did "like" both Bella Vista and Fayetteville, but is not a fan of living with the constant up and down. A lot of the homes in BV seem to have back decks with lots of steps. Mom has had double knee replacement and wants a single story house with a mostly level lot. So I think it will probably be Bentonville/Rogers.
We did speak with a realtor, and we spoke to an insurance agent to get a very rough estimate on property insurance. (Less than half of what we currently pay.) We drove by the Bentonville Community Center but did not go in. We did go in to the Rogers Adult Wellness Center which looks like it will work great for mom.
I have checked electric and water rates via the city (Bentonville) web site. Surprisingly, electric is slightly more expensive that what we currently pay but water is a little less.
I can see why there are some complaints about traffic. And it seems to me that there are fewer "easy" alternate routes compared to other places I have lived. That said, coming from the DFW area, traffic wasn't bad at all! (Did see a backup of some sort on 49 on Friday afternoon in the southbound lanes.) We were in the area of 49/Walnut Street/S. Walton Blvd. quite a bit.
So, we are crunching numbers. And determining what we would need to do to our house to get it on the market. And what time frame we think we could do it in. But we are pretty serious. So thanks for the responses!
Glad you had a good trip and enjoyed seeing briefly what NWA had to offer. yes, we do have a lot of homes in Bella Vista with steps inside of out. The positive thing, if you are talking inside, most of those homes have 2 or 3 bedrooms on the main level. If you are talking outside, we do have lots of level lots or if there are steps they are such that they do not have to be used. I would say a worse problem and one that does bother us is, the drive ways. They can be very steep, one way or the other. We are lucky, we live on a perfectly flat lot so do not have any concerns.
As for the senior or community centers. I know the Rogers is a first rate facility and Bentonville center is highly thought of. Right now, with our rec center being refurbished many of our water walking friends are working out in Bentonville.They really like the facility.
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My Wife has been offered 2 jobs in the last month and she isn't looking. 
