Bella Vista bound (Benton, Bentonville, Highland: for sale, real estate, HOA)

[Otis74]

I'm so glad I found this forum. I've learned a lot just perusing it this evening. We'll be moving next August or September after I retire- if I can put up with the fun that that is my ever-in-flux job for that long.

We have been looking for house in bella Vista for about a month, but need one handicap accessible, and have had no luck finding one. We stumbled on a lot for sale which is mostly flat and in an area that doesn't have a lot of houses in it. The lots around it have pretty steep drops, so maybe they won't be built on any time soon.

We're leery about building in an area with a dreaded hoa- or poa in this case. From the sound of things here, they're not too terribly full of themselves.

Have any of you built a home in BV? Any issues with the POA groups? any recommendations for a builder? Any legitimate builder horror stories? how long did the build take? We emailed 6 builders when we started getting serious about building, but only heard back from two of them. I guess the rest have all the work they can handle right now.

I've seen many references to east side or west side of BV. What's the dividing line?

I look forward to your input

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Otis74

I'm so glad I found this forum. I've learned a lot just perusing it this evening. We'll be moving next August or September after I retire- if I can put up with the fun that that is my ever-in-flux job for that long.

We have been looking for house in bella Vista for about a month, but need one handicap accessible, and have had no luck finding one. We stumbled on a lot for sale which is mostly flat and in an area that doesn't have a lot of houses in it. The lots around it have pretty steep drops, so maybe they won't be built on any time soon.

We're leery about building in an area with a dreaded hoa- or poa in this case. From the sound of things here, they're not too terribly full of themselves.

Have any of you built a home in BV? Any issues with the POA groups? any recommendations for a builder? Any legitimate builder horror stories? how long did the build take? We emailed 6 builders when we started getting serious about building, but only heard back from two of them. I guess the rest have all the work they can handle right now.

I've seen many references to east side or west side of BV. What's the dividing line?

I look forward to your input

will do my best to answer some of your questions but can't answer them all. I am a strong BV supporter but not always right about my advise, so take it for what it is worth.

1-POA is just fine and our dues are very reasonable compared to most HOA and POA managed places. I am more than happy with them and between the advantages they offer and some of the medicare (if you are over 65) exercise programs they help pay for we can take advantage of the facilities at little or no cost. Yes, you will hear negatives but there are way more who support the POA than have problems with them.

2-which side to live on and the divider point: east of Hwy 71 to West. There is no right or wrong side. The west side is probable more popular, especially the Highlands area, but there are lots of really nice homes on the east side. I think you will find more flat lots on the west side.

It is always hard to recommend a builder or realtor. I would certainly suggest, especially since you need a handicapped accessible home you contact a realtor to check for you. Looking on line gives you a great start but most realtors are more than willing to help you check closer. They often even have an idea about homes that may be coming on the market.

Good luck and keep the questions coming.

[Tyryztoll]

Nita, do they enforce the fireworks restrictions in the BV neighborhoods? It’s an absolute free for all year round where I live.

[tocohara]

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

Nita, do they enforce the fireworks restrictions in the BV neighborhoods? It’s an absolute free for all year round where I live.

There were plenty of jerkoffz launching firebombs last night. The city permits this until midnight, Fri-Mon. I guarantee the times nor the days are not respected

If there is any justice in this world, a firebomb will land on their own homes and burn to the ground.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

Nita, do they enforce the fireworks restrictions in the BV neighborhoods? It’s an absolute free for all year round where I live.

I guess you have your answer. This year was very noisy for some reason.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by tocohara

There were plenty of jerkoffz launching firebombs last night. The city permits this until midnight, Fri-Mon. I guarantee the times nor the days are not respected

If there is any justice in this world, a firebomb will land on their own homes and burn to the ground.

So is that just July 3, 4 and 5 for BV or is it every weekend year round? My fine neighbors like to rehearse for the 4th pretty much the whole length of the calendar....even in winter. Most FW’s are illegal here but people just hop across the border to Wisconsin, stock up on the heavy artillery, come home then start drinking and launching. We’ll be sitting in our living room on any given night relaxing, watching a show and suddenly will hear what sounds like a road crew
trying to blast through a mountainside. Jolt our younger kids right out of a sound sleep. The cops do nothing about it unless of course a house does catch fire or a non participant gets hurt.

[Tyryztoll]

Sorry, Otis.....didn't mean to hijack your thread.

[Otis74]

No big deal. At least there was a little traffic on it. Really thought there would be more responses to the original questions

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by Otis74

No big deal. At least there was a little traffic on it. Really thought there would be more responses to the original questions

Hang in there, the other BV regulars probably haven't happened upon them yet. There are some good eggs in here who are happy to offer opinions and/or advice. I myself have been a prospective AR resident for about 5 years now....just haven't been able to grab the dream yet for a number of reasons, but never giving up. We never gave much thought to BV until recently when we discovered a good portion of it is served by Bentonville schools, which my research indicates are the best in the state. Obviously not a priority for you seeing you're nearing retirement, but we have 4 kids still in school. Since we also love the hilly topography in BV that seems like a great match for us, although we share a concern with you in that we also need handicap accessibility for our 7 year old daughter and it seems like a good portion of those BV homes are built upon hillsides with multi level decking and very steep drops at various points.....not exactly handicap friendly. I've seen a few on real estate sites who even build up a level area on their sloped backyard for their kids, a fire pit circle, etc.

One thing I just don't get about that vicinity is what the blazes is taking so long for them to connect I-49 from the Missouri line down to Bentonville. It's been discussed in here plenty, but in the meantime that BV traffic on 71 has to be somewhat of a headache at times, especially for the truckers and such.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

So is that just July 3, 4 and 5 for BV or is it every weekend year round? My fine neighbors like to rehearse for the 4th pretty much the whole length of the calendar....even in winter. Most FW’s are illegal here but people just hop across the border to Wisconsin, stock up on the heavy artillery, come home then start drinking and launching. We’ll be sitting in our living room on any given night relaxing, watching a show and suddenly will hear what sounds like a road crew
trying to blast through a mountainside. Jolt our younger kids right out of a sound sleep. The cops do nothing about it unless of course a house does catch fire or a non participant gets hurt.

Rarely do you hear any fireworks other than around the 4th and we heard very few on the 5th even. The 3rd and especially the 4th were the noisy nights.