Bentonville, Arkansas Visit

[Anthony Van Guyse]

Hey all,

Very excited to be making my first post here on BP!

I am a finance and accounting professional from Los Angeles looking to diversify my investment portfolio through real estate. My primary goal is long-term appreciation via buy and hold investing. After extensive research, Bentonville, AR has arisen as an attractive candidate for my first rental property purchase. Some of the most attractive qualities I've noted are:

• - Strong economy and job market
• - Strong future job growth anticipated
• - Median age of homes well below US average
• - Solid percentage of home renters vs owners
  
• - Solid gap between average household income and cost of living
• - Very low crime rates
• - Highly rates schools
• - Overall good weather

From December 26th - 30th, I will be in Bentonville to network and conduct some on the ground research. I am looking to connect with local investors as well as future partners, agents, and property managers.

Please reach out if you would be interested in meeting up during my visit.

Thanks!

[Mark Caiazza]

Hi @Anthony Van Guyse,

I hope your trip to Bentonville is proving fruitful. There doesn't seem to be a huge presence of investors here on BP located in the NWA area. I don't have a ton of local knowledge of that area, but I can share with you my recent experience purchasing an investment property there. Like you, I took a short trip there to scope out the area and gauge the REI potential.

I'm a remote investor (active duty military) currently located in North Dakota, but I just picked up a long term buy & hold SFR in Rogers AR in October. It's a 3/2 in West Rogers (just south of Bentonville). The house is nothing special… a 1700 sq ft brick house in a B-class neighborhood built in the 1990's with 1990's décor.

After purchase, I found the rental pool seemed much smaller than some of the other markets that I’m in. There didn’t seem to be much interest in renting this house. I only had 4 interested renters in a month and a half timeframe. Luckily, one of them easily qualified and signed a lease. I’m hoping the lack of interest was due to the time of year just before the holidays. I’m sure the 1990’s wallpaper and laminate countertops didn’t help.

The Bentonville area seems to be the hot spot with the desirable schools and proximity to Walmart HQ, but you will pay a premium. You can find some lower priced properties East of the 49 in Rogers, but the neighborhoods aren’t quite as nice and the inventory is a little older. Centerton is West of Bentonville and has some new construction/schools going up… It just seems like a lot of farmland right now, but may be in the path of progress. Take all of that with a grain of salt as I am by no means an expert on the area.

Good luck with your trip… I’ll PM you some of the professionals I used and how they helped me out.