Your Feedback on these Springfield Suburbs (Nixa, Ozark: appointed, real estate market, coupons)

[Amerikrainian]

We're finally visiting Springfield on Monday, for 10 days, to get a better feel for the Greater Springfield area. We have three small kids and prefer quiet areas that are near enough to parks, lakes, and basic stores like Big Lots and food stores. We don't usually go to museums and such, but we homeschool and try to find affordable activities for our kids (like community sports or YMCA, and Chuck e cheese -- if you have those).

A realtor will be showing us listings within Springfield and will probably provide plenty of info about the various sections. But we will be checking out the suburbs(?) around Springfield on our own. So can you offer insight about any of the following areas:

Willard/Ash Grove
Bolivar
Buffalo
Rogersville
Aurora
Clever

I ask because we can buy more house (or a larger lot) in these areas for the same price. And they aren't too far away. But since Springfield is a small city, I don't know if these spots offer what we want, or if we'll always have to drive for activities.

Thanks for any help.

[Arrby]

Willard: In Greene County. Shares a boundary with Springfield. Quite convenient to the northwest Springfield shopping district at Kansas and I-44 (Wal-Mart Supercenter, Dillons grocery, Lowes, Big Lots). There is a decent grocery in town and little else. Nice park on the west side.

Ash Grove: Greene County. On the same highway but 10 miles farther away on no one's favorite highway. Dollar General may be the largest store in town.

Bolivar: Polk County (county seat). Quite a bit of shopping locally (Wal-Mart Supercenter, couple of grocery stores, Meeks Lumber, Walgreens). YMCA. Library. Some rather nice parks. 30 minutes to the Kansas/I-44 shopping area.

Buffalo: Dallas County (county seat). Some shopping, but you will want to go to Springfield fairly often. 30 minutes to north east Springfield, but there is very little available at that corner of town. You either need to go to the Kansas/I-44 area (six or seven miles on I-44) or continue on south about 10 miles to the south east corner of Springfield, where the heaviest concentration of retail is located. But why not look at Fair Grove (Greene County) instead? It is half the distance to Springfield. Both have a park or two, neither has a pool.

Rogersville: Greene County. Easy 15 minute access to the south east corner of Springfield with all the major stores, the mall, several shopping centers, and the YMCA. By far the area which strikes me as most easily meeting your requirements. Real estate is priced correspondingly higher than your other choices.

Aurora: Lawrence County. 45 minutes to almost anywhere in Springfield. You have to drive through Marionville, Billings, and Republic to get to Springfield (and why not locate in one of those towns instead?). Pretty limited local shopping and services.

Clever: Christian County. About 30 minutes to Springfield's second largest retail concentration at Campbell and James River Expressway. However, you can likely do 75% of your shopping in Nixa, just 11 miles away, as many of the chains and grocery stores have locations there as well. Clever itself has very little in the way of services or shopping.

Other considerations: Medical care. Most doctors and medical facilities are located in south central to extreme south Springfield. Bolivar has a growing, but far smaller hospital and group of physicians. Traffic. Traffic can frequently be a problem around the south side of Springfield, although less so from Rogersville. Libraries. Greene county has a very impressive library system and there are branches throughout the county - Fair Grove, Rogersville, Willard, Ash Grove, etc. None of the surrounding counties have anything comparable. You can get a card if you live outside the county, but there is a fee. In addition to the city and county parks there are many opportunities to get out into nature in and around Springfield - the Mo. Conservation Dept. has the Nature Center in south east Springfield, lakes, Conservation Areas, and there is the Frisco High Line hiking, biking rails to trails conversion.

If you like Chuck-E-Cheese you will have to try The Incredible Pizza Company. Also, take the kids to Bass Pro Shop - the exhibits are good for a couple of hours of free entertainment.

[Amerikrainian]

@Arrby

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply. I was beginning to think nobody would

Willard looks like a good spot, especially for something that isn't in the southeast corner. Good library, some amenities, affordable, near Lake Norman, I see they have a family center and a sports complex too (both of which, I gather, are like YMCAs except run by MO state?). Also an affordable area.

Then Rogersville and the other common spots like Nixa and Ozark (besides, of course, within Springfield itself). I'll check out the Pizza Co. We try hard to find all kinds of free and affordable activities, coupons are great for that stuff.

My kids already like Bass Pro and Cabela's stores (we'll call that proper upbringing But I will like to see how big the HQ is there in Springfield.

What about zoning or other considerations? How much of a problem would it be, for instance, if I want to build a structure on my property? And recycling programs? I know there are always the details a person can't think to ask about.

[Arrby]

Lake Norman? Perhaps you mean lake Stockton?

The Willard Family Center is either a city or county project - I cannot remember which. It can only be loosely compared to the YMCA. It has a very nice outdoor pool.

Zoning is fairly strict in Greene County. No other county around Springfield has any zoning at all, except Christian county. Some communities do have their own building codes. Where there are building codes a "structure" would have to be built to code and subject to setback requirements.

Springfield has a recycling program, but you bring your stuff to them - two locations. There is a fee for out of town residents on the honor system.

[christina0001]

Great response by Arrby, I have nothing to add. Good luck on your decision! As someone who also relocated from out of state, IMO nothing will surprise you and give you insight like an in-person visit. Let us know how it goes.

[Amerikrainian]

Okay, here's the update.

Have visited about a bunch of houses in the area, along with Bass Pro, Lake Springfield, Library Center (Campbell Ave) and Nathaniel Greene Park complex (which has the Japanese Gardens and other stuff). So far we think Springfield is beautiful. I'm sure it has its less nice parts like any city of any size, but most of the houses we've seen are super nice and in great-looking neighborhoods. We picked the houses carefully from lots of listings but still are very surprised with the neighborhoods in our price range (max $150k). The Library (Campbell Ave) is big and looks like it has some neat classes and opportunities there. Most folks are friendly enough. Most of the areas we've seen appear well maintained. Plus there is an active homeschooling community (due to MO preserving this liberty) and are lots of affordable family activities.

We live just outside of Philadelphia now, where I'm from. But nowadays I avoid going to the city, usually, because it's too many people, too much traffic, and takes too much time. Springfield looks like it has plenty to do, but is small enough that everything is close together and the area is easy to move around.

We also checked out Nixa, which looks nice too. The Community Center had a track and playground. While my kids played at the playground, I went inside the get details. It seems that the community centers (in Nixa, and elsewhere I assume so far) are just big gyms with swimming pools. They don't have classes for kids like YMCA, or adult classes, although the Library does has some of that.

We still have plenty to see, and will be visiting some homes with a realtor tomorrow. So we'll try to pick her brain for details of each area we visit.

By the way... When we moved to Indianapolis several years ago, the realtor advised us, when making our purchase offer, that most homes there go for 97% of their asking price. We ended up overpaying for that home, because of that advice. When we sold, we were fortunate to have an agent who negotiated well, that kept us from owing on that house, though we ate all of our improvements.

The other day, Imentioned that this agent could give us an idea on each house of what she thought it might sell for. She again said the same 97% statement. Now, i understand the real estate market might be strong here, but it makes me nervous that she didn't even mention negotiating. Your view on all this?

Thanks. If anybody is interested, I'll post the final view of our trip at the end.

[Arrby]

Houses often sell for much less than the listing price - but it varies widely. Ask for actual selling prices on neighborhood houses ("comps" in real estate speak) in areas which interest you. Having cash in hand, or having financing pre-approved will help a great deal in making an aggressive offer.

Many years ago I made a low-ball offer (I thought) on a house I really did not want - my wife did, I didn't - and it was accepted so fast I almost got whiplash. Other times, my offers have been rejected by owners with totally unrealistic expectations. Every situation is unique, and I find the best thing to do is make an offer on a property such that either way it goes - accepted or rejected - I am not disappointed.

[Amerikrainian]

That's good info. Thanks for your insight.

At some point I'll probably post a thread on the best lender (best=lowest fees and rate) in the area.

[TxStorm72]

Originally Posted by Arrby

Many years ago I made a low-ball offer (I thought) on a house I really did not want - my wife did, I didn't - and it was accepted so fast I almost got whiplash.

This very thing happened to me when I purchased the house that I am in now back in 2007. My first impression of this house was "next", but the wife loved it and very much wanted it, so when we found out that the house had multiple bids on it I threw out a number that I thought was very low-ball, although it was pretty much the limit that we could afford. They even payed much of the closing costs.

[Amerikrainian]

Okay, folks, we head back east tonight. Springfield is a great small city/big town. Not sure yet if we'll be relocating here, but it's a very strong possibility.

Here are my observations:

1) Affordable - 150k can get us a nice home (brick or brick face) with 3+ bedrooms, 2+ bathrooms, and around 1/3 acre. I'd prefer 1/2 acre, but that's rare in the newer neighborhoods where we're looking. Anyway, land's cheap enough to buy a few acres nearby cheaply and go camping there if we want to.

2) Beautiful - Mountains, hills, lakes, etc.

3) Easy to navigate. - The real estate agent said her son says "You can get anywhere in Springfield within 15 minutes." Looking at the map, I was thinking of Philadelphia and how everything is on different sides of the city. But when we drove there, it's all a short drive. Somebody else mentioned traffic on another thread--not compared to where I'm from! And that's huge plus, because I want to spend as little of my life as possible sitting in a car in traffic.

4) Arts & Culture - I've read some people taking potshots at SW MO, calling it a bunch of uneducated hillbillies or whatever. When I looked into art and music classes for my kids, I was amazed at how many opportunities there are. Maybe it's because it's close to Branson, maybe it's a MO thing. I don't know, but there are private art classes as well as classes offered through the art museum, arts council, etc. Same with music (instruments and singing). I would call it a lot even for a much larger city.

5) Ditto with sports. Outside Philly we have loads of small boroughs and townships. Each has sports teams. But Springfield has an active parks department which runs team sports and lessons in everything from baseball to archery.

6) Outdoor culture - I dont think it would be hard to find a hunting buddy here And I'm sure there's a whole bunch of places to go for it too. Same with fishing. MO even publishes a cool outdoor magazine for kids called "Xplor", which is free.

7) Conservative - The face of this country is changing, and it affects every state and town to some extent. But, judging by the culture here and the absence of overbearing government regulations in areas of business and homeschooling, there are probably more people here who agree with traditional values. So that's about as good as it gets these days.

Other:

I thought people would be friendlier, but about half are friendly enough to talk, so that's good enough.

I don't have any insight or opinions about the job situation, as I'm self-employed and raising my kids to run their own businesses.

Somebody in another thread mentioned the two coal power plants. Does that mean the air really isn't much better than where I'm from? Can anybody answer that?

Somebody said the neighborhoods are "fairly transient" too. Is it true? Can anybody else comment on that?

Enjoy!