Considering moving to Arkansas
 

Hey guys and gals. We are considering moving to your neck of the woods from Oregon. Was wondering what it's like down there. Looking at a nicely priced 17 acre property thta has two houses on it in the Fulton or Sharp county area. What kind of resources are there? We will paying cash for the property, and it has a historical property tax break, so the only thing we'll need income for is paying utilities, and food, and having money for the fun stuff. Planning on finishing the semi in May/June and using it to make the move in one shot. There is actually two families here (ours and my wifes best friends) that are gonna make the move, and they will be living in the second home. So, since the realtor is concerned with telling me all the good stuff, looking for your input as tot he real aspect of living in the Arkansas area. Oh yeah, are there any good old Fords fromt he 50's and 60's laying around?

Come on down!:) I don't know a whole lot about the area in question, only been there a few times on vacation, but it is nice. Brian_B would be the one to ask, he is from Mountain Home, right in the area. I am at the other end of the state.

As Jeff said COME ON DOWN I don't know much about the area in question but hopefully someone here will pipe up . Keep us posted on your progress. We could use some more chapter members.

Yeah, we've been eyeballing this house, and am very interested. We have to wait until the April 15th court date (the lawyers pushed the settlement date out a month) to see if we will have the money. If so, we are looking at a house built in 1906, and has 17 acres, and a second home. The fire truck won't be coming with, but the semi will. Hey Mech, I'll be bringing the first completed (I will have it finshed very soon) diesel powered 50's era Ford Big Job to the area. We'll have to see how they compare from the Mercedes powered 1/2ton to the CAT powered 5+ ton. We're curious as to the job market and how bad the tornado thing is down there. The region looks great, and the green green grass and tall trees are awesome. Here's a picture of the main house, the second gues thouse, and the creek that runs through the back part of the property. There is also a decent sized shop/garage big enough for my semi.

http://www.ucoffices.com/mlsPhotos/36/1/30/6120.jpg

http://www.ucoffices.com/mlsPhotos/36/1/30/6128.jpg

http://www.ucoffices.com/mlsPhotos/36/1/30/382423.jpg

Is that third pic the driveway?

Sorry just couldn't resist.. :-missingt

Will you be getting the mineral rights to the said property?

I will have to check on that. Over here, you buy, you get all the rights, didn't think to check about that over there. I know it said water rights, but I'll check the mineral rights.

Wow. Ash Flat Arkansas is going to be a real culture shock for you. Good people and pretty country side....but you are going to find yourself fully immersed in the south.

We do have a fair amount of tornados and large thunderstorms here in the spring and fall, but nothing like tornado alley in Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Winters are short and typically quite mild. Summers are long and often brutally hot with high humidity....but you get used to it being 100° ;)

I spent a better part of my military days in the south, basic was at Ft. Jackson S. Carolina, and AIT was at Ft. Gordon Georgia. I know what you are saying about the humidity, man was it humid. I'm liking the look, and am working on trying to get my dad to consider it too. He wants to start a ranch of sorts, and wants me to join him, as he knows I have been around farming, and ranching, and the whole cowboy thing with all my friends, and a couple of women I have dated. He's thinking California ( YUK ). So, I need to check on mineral rights, anything else I should check? I don't mind a tornado, if it aint one evil, it's another. We have massive wild fires here, along earth quakes, and volcanoes (yeah, every time st. helens pukes, we see the plume down here in Oregon). I think a tornado would be easier to hide from then lava flows and trembling earth. Does it snow much? When you say mild, how mild? We get 0 and -0 temps over here sometimes, but mostly it's in the teens and 20's.

I don't remember the last time it was below 0 here. I think we had three days this winter with lows in the teens....and maybe a dozen more in the 20's. This was considered by many to be a cold winter. Snow is rare...we had a lot this year, it snowed twice.

So far in March the mean average is 53. Januarys mean was 35. Today it was 71.

I lived in Ash Flat, Highland, And Cherokee Vilage for a few years. Absolutly beutiful country. One bit of advice Cherokee has been invaded by Illinois and local folks get alittle riled up when they get to talking about how things would be better if they did it the way Il did. The responce is usualy "Well if its that much better go back" :) For the most part you couldn't find better folks just take a look around and join in. Southern hospitality is still around up there. By the way welcome to The Natural State.:-drink

moved here by accident
 

I came down here in 2002 to help build the power plant in El dorado (way south of where you are looking at.) and met a wonderful woman and decided to stay. I grew up in upstate NY. Out in the country and have been happy here. The people on the most part warm and friendly (other than the unrelenting Yankee comments and jokes). But, I have also met some of the best friends that I have ever had here. As for old trucks and cars. I was blown away by the availability of solid vehicles from the 50's and up. Not to mention how cheap they were compared to the vehicles that I was used to seeing in NY. A car here that is driveable and roadworthy can be bought for as low as $1,000. In NY if it isn't falling apart from rust and runs you can expect to spend upwards of $5,000. Come and visit, there are some really nice hotels in that area near the lakes. If you do decide to make the move have a safe trip and I hope you enjoy your new surroundings.

Not to burst your bubble, but having moved here from WA state about 20 years ago, do keep in mind, yes, houses are much cheaper groceries are cheaper, you'll have heart failure when you see how cheap the taxes and vehicle fees and insurance rates are in comparison to where you are now , and there's a reason, earning potential here is quite a bit less as well. One of the trade offs, but once *in the system* the standard of living in the lower income level is generally higher than the standard of living at much higher income levels in most states due to the low cost of living. Just takes some getting used to not seeing the extra dollars.

As far as mineral rights, that area is kind of on the fringe, but most of the north western half of the state is sitting on one of the largest natural gas pockets around , and they've recently started drilling everywhere. It's gaswell boomtown around here Anyone who owns rights on their property and has a large enough tract is signing a contract and that's a nice little gauanteed income . Problem is, a lot of the rights were sold off by tract holders during the depression who though they'd never need them, so many deeds, the mineral rights are severed. in this state. Worth looking into.

There's a pretty decent race track in Batesville.
You'd be near some of the best fishing around here and if you happen to like old time music, it's just a short drive in to Mountain View and just about any Fri or Sat evening when the weather is nice there's all kind of folks out picking around the court square there, good stuff., They got a couple of fancy indoor theatrs too. My wife used to be a professional banjo player and she still plays up at the Ozark Folk Center State Park a few times a year.

Come on down, we'll treat you so many different ways, you're bound to like one of them:-X05

----------Robert