OT: May relocate to your state, tell all!

Hi Everyone,

My husband has some serious health issues that has lead to him not being able to work. We need to downsize and relocate BIG TIME. AR is one state we were considering. Please if you have time, let us know the good, bad and ugly. I hear the cost of living is good for retirees.... I still work and will do so until I die LOL But he was the big bread winner and our mortgage is now more than I bring home :-(

Any help, suggestions, links, photos and such would be greatly appreciated. We are looking in the northwest corner of the state.

Thanks,
Kathy

Hi Kathy,

I live in Central AR, just outside of Little Rock. We moved here almost 6 years ago from San Diego....what a change! But....it's one we would do again in a heart beat.

Housing is certainly less expensive, gas is usually about thirty cents cheaper per gallon than what my family pays at home. Tornado season is no fun, and they can get some pretty impressive snow falls in the NW corner of the state, but you're from IL, so that shouldn't bother you. The scenery is beautiful, shopping isn't as great as home, but then, we don't spend $$ like we used to. 

We don't regret moving here, and some of our family members would come here too if they weren't upside down in their mortgages.  We got out of CA just before the fall of the real estate market.

People are very friendly and have been super nice to us while we were learning our way around. The culture is different than CA, but that was expected and is generally warm and hospitible. Every where you go you'll find someone who doesn't want "strangers" moving into their areas, so when we run into those types we just ignore them. Mostly people wonder why we came here from such a beautiful place and I remind them that AR is just as beautiful as where we lived in San Diego(away from the coast).

Good luck!

 Hi Susan,


Thank you for taking the time to respond. I am originally from the south so I know about the people and yes they do give strangers an evil eye, but once you fit in you are part of a family.  Yes, living outside of Chicago I am use to snow, but i hear if you do get snow it goes away quickly.

Please tell me the houses there have basements?  I would want one for tornados for sure.  We live in a town now they call tornado alley LOL  But I feel safe with a basement. We need to move somewhere we can afford.  WE are not upside down but won't have that money to walk away to put in a new house.  With my husband on disability I am not sure if they count that as salary to qualify for another house.  They tax the poor man so I guess they should count it as salary.

Thank you again for the response.  My son, future DIL and I will be taking a trip down there at the end of March. I will let you know what we think...

Take care,
Kathy

Hi Kathy,

I have lived in or around Northwest Arkansas my whole life. It is a beautiful palce to live. I am posting some links for NWA that you can look at to see bits and pieces about the area. There is a great support group that meets once a month in Fayetteville, AR.

http://www.accessfayetteville.org/ a college town with lots of places to visit or live. Home of the Razorbacks.
http://www.beautifulbellavista.com/ a recreational community with a lot of retirees. Has great access to many different areas.
http://www.eurekasprings.com/ has a unique history of it's own and is close to http://www.holidayisland.com/ which is another recreational community.

I hope these help and if you have any more questions just let me know.

Terri

 Hi Terri,

Thank you SOOOOOO much!  I am excited about the thought of living south again. I was born in WV and miss the warmth of living in the south.  WE are going to visit at the end of March and very excited.  How far is Fayetteville from Bensonville?  We are thinking about that area...

Thanks again,
Kathy

Kathy,

I am a recruiter so I sell people on our great state all the time. :)  Feel free to send me a private message if there is anything I can do to help you guys as you look at different areas.  You mentioned that you will still be working, so I'm not sure if you have a particular area you need to be in but I will tell you about a few.  The Heber Springs area is known for a lot of retirees living there and it is a GEORGEOUS part of the state.  However, depending on what your husband's healthcare needs are you may want to be closer to larger town.  Fort Smith, AR (2nd largest city in the state) was recently named as the #1 Lowest Cost of Living in the U.S. (by Kiplinger).  I know all of the physicians there and could give you some good recommendations for that as well.  I will post a link that has some photos that a local Fort Smith physician took. 

www.bartsillsphotography.com
www.fortsmith.org
www.fortsmithar.gov