eek.....moving to Ft. smith

Looks as though I will be moving to Fort Smith, Akansas area. Anyone on here in that area? not likely I guess. I will be facing some challenges. it is near the Kiamichi mountains and there is very little ground that is immediatly suitable for gardening. Lots of rocks. It is beautiful though, with large oaks and pines all over in the hilly territory. And we will likely end up more land! yeah! we're going to talk with the bank Monday and see if we can swing renting this place out while still buying another. and further find out specifically what we could do as far as buying land and building. I have these trusses that we were going to use on this property but now we are thinking we will haul them to fort smith and build a cabin/house with them. moving is scary though!

Better you than me, more land or not!  It may be a perfectly nice place, but I hear that some of the people are even bigger idiots than here in WA, which I always assumed was impossible.

If you are going to rent out your place, be sure to pay some responsible person that you know well to keep an eye on it and handle repairs (even if they're just overseeing a contractor). 

And be sure to do a background check on a prospective tenant and where they used to live, don't just take their word for it.  The average American now isn't the same person of fifty years ago.  Now, they don't give a rat's patootie about your property, and feel free to completely trash the place, including working the place over with a sledgehammer if you ask for the rent regularly, or have to evict them.

Long-distance renting usually ends up to be a nightmare.  A kinda-sorta semi-normal tenant that realizes you are aren't around to keep an eye on them has a tendency to take advantage.  There are a lot of BS artists out there.  Get FACTS.  Talk to their ex-neighbors.

One thing to consider is renting to military that isn't due to be discharged soon.  If they trash the place, you can go to their superior officers and get reimbursed, and they will take it out of their pay.  Be sure to take photos of the place, inside and out, with that day's newspapers tacked up in camera range, proving that the place was in good shape on that day (just before they move in).

Good luck!

Sue

great idea about the military thing, thanks sue! were planning on extensive background and credit checks. Its only 1.5 hours so we will likely still be hands on renters. My husband will still have this territory and will be coming here anyway. We are going to talk to the bank today to see if we can even swing it. the folks are alot different down this way then in the west. but trust me they tend to think westerners are as big of idiots as westerners think we are! reminds me of the story that jared diamond told of how the new guinea people thought non natives were so stupid (and would have died if they were expected to survive on their own) while the  non natives called them stupid because they couldn't read! judgement must be made in context.

The back to the land and independent living type movements that the people on the coasts condescendingly think they started is the way many people have lived around here for ages and they roll there eyes when some californian makes it sound like they are progressive because they are pursuing it. they tend to see the "new age" ideas to be repeats of lessons that their forefathers taught them and that they are seriously out of touch with reality.  the real lesson is, there are morons everywhere whether they have western slang or a southern accent. we tend to retain the values and the ignorance we were raised with. unfortunatley over zealous bible beaters are largely responsible for the"idiot" label down here.  the republican party can't seem to extricate itself from their grip leaving all residents in the red states stereo typed as uneducated, unthinking people (and many are..I could name a few ) but alot of it is just about having different priorities and those prioritys are different because of the different enviroment (social and otherwise).  just as the pendulum will swing away from that it will likely start swinging back in the west. hopefully it will come to rest in the middle for us all.

I'm just talking basic, garden-variety stupidity.

I don't know a lot of people from Arkansas, but three of the four have buried their teenagers there, and all had the same cause of death.

Apparently, the big entertainment there for young men is driving a fast car (preferably red) up and down the highways at high rates of speed, baiting the cops.  When they pick one up, they high-tail it off the highway onto the backroads and do their best to outrun them.  The parents all know this (probably did it themselves), yet they STILL buy them the red camaro or the red firebird on their eighteenth birthday and the kid is usually dead or maimed not very long afterwards.

The really stupid ones are the ones who bury their oldest son, and then buy the second one a red sports car on HIS eighteen birthday...  slow learners.

All the Okies I've known seemed like regular down-to-earth folks.  Maybe it's just been the luck of the draw for me, but good luck with your plans.  Maybe your banks aren't doing what the ones here are.. they are only loaning to people who prove they don't need it, but will waver a bit if you offer your first-born child.

Sue

so far it sound like we can get a loan but we are going to be putting an actual down payment due to a signing bonus and/or taking the equity out of this house when/if we sell it. It seems odd to me that we even have the money to do it but we are finally reaping some of the rewards from decisions earlier in our lives. but we sure as heck still need a loan! if things were a little different we could probably go month building something but hubby is going to be working and I have 4 year old so we are taking the easy way out and either buying or building. we found a great fsbo for sale for 129,000 with 13 acres and a 1600 sq ' house. already established garden (listed perrenial herbs that were already there) fenced, ondura roof its sounds great! we will be seeing it thursday. the only thing is its a little farther from town then dh would like. the old guy who is selling and built it has a terminal illness and just wants to unload it.

How far is far from town?  An old trucker I used to know said "distance isn't measured in mile, it's measured in weather".

Having done a lot of driving, I understood what he meant.

How bad do the winters get there?  Is that part of the tornado area?  Flooding? 

My place is on high ground that drains well, but in the last major flood (last winter) my little town became an island for four days.  Sometimes it isn't where the house is as much as can you run (to or from something) if you need to. 

Sue

it is technically only 12 miles from ft. smith according to mapuest. the owner said 20-30 minutes to van buren.  The weather will only be slightly different than where I am at so I will go by that. some fronts may not quite reach ft smith that hit the tulsa area etc.. we just had our first freeze at the end of nov. it doesn't get really cold till january and febuary, highs are often in the 50- 60 range adn we say its realy really cold if its 18 . we are most likely to get snow in march it seems to me at least. we get an occasional ice storm which is really nasty. we do have tornadoes but they come with really cool storms! and with the technology they have they can tell you the intersection that the tornado is at and usually give a good heads up. there are sirens everwhere outside to warn you if you are outside and not near a television. storm season is spring (that might be obvious) but we that being said there are some coming thorugh tonite. I have never heard of any flooding in that area but every area has problem spots. its near the kiamichi mountains. which aren't real mountains but close.

well my place is officially for sale! anyone want to become an okie for a bit less than 100k?