LOT PURCHASE DETAILS

Thanks for considering ownership in the Bella Vista Property Owners Association (POA). Upon completion of a purchase, the new owner is entitled to membership privileges in all POA amenities and services. This POA website utilizes an “online auction” format as follows: We conduct an online auction when we have lots available, which can be as often as once each 30 to 45 days. Check availability on our HOME PAGE, or you can CLICK HERE to request email updates. During an online auction, our lots will be on display for a 4-day period, giving site visitors this time to research, ask questions, register to bid, place bids, etc. To learn more about a lot offered in the online auction list, you will simply click on that lot. You’ll then see more information about the lot, including a satellite image, the legal description (lot, block, and subdivision name), the type of lot (membership lot or building lot), a googlemaps link, current bid price, etc. The highest completed bid price at the end of day-4 of the online auction will be the winning bidder, and will be immediately notified by email and/or phone. Winners will be required to complete their purchase as outlined in the “Terms” section below.

AVAILABLE LOTS

During the 4-day online auction period, go to https://lotsinbellavista.com/ to view and research the POA-owned lots currently available. When lots are on display they will be identified with a legal description, which is a lot number, a block number, and a subdivision name (ex: Lot 1 Block 1 Avondale Subdivision). All lots are vacant and unimproved, and are located throughout the various 300 Bella Vista subdivisions. If there is a lot available in the subdivision named “BV Original”, buy it for membership privileges only because lots in BV Original subdivision will not qualify for a building permit. Lots located in all other subdivisions are classified as building lots and will qualify for a building permit if all Architectural Control Committee (ACC), Bella Vista City (CITY), and Arkansas Department of Health (STATE) conditions are met. All lots confer membership privileges to the owner. It is your responsibility to know which type of lot you are purchasing.

BIDDING REQUIRES REGISTRATION

To bid on property in our online-auction, you must first register. In the registration process you’ll be required to give us your first and last name, a “Display Name” (the Display Name will be visible to other bidders and can be whatever name you wish), your email address, your mailing address, and your phone number. It is important that you are accurate and complete in the contact information you provide as this will be used by POA staff to reach you if you are a winning bidder. Also during registration you will establish your own password, which is visible to no one else and should be kept in a secure location in case you want to login and bid at some time in the future. Once registered you can login anytime to access your account Dashboard, where you can view current listings or recent orders, manage your contact information, and edit your password or other account details.

BIDDING INSTRUCTIONS

Bidding on a lot is a contractual obligation. When deciding if you are going to bid, be sure you are happy and ready to pay if yours is the winning bid. This site uses Automatic Bidding! Automatic bidding can keep your bid in the lead, without your having to be on the website. With automatic bidding you will simply enter your “Max Bid” (the highest price you are willing to pay), and the site will then automatically keep you $100 above other bidders, up to the Max Bid amount you selected. If the bid goes higher than your Max Bid, you will be sent an email notice that you have been outbid, and you can then either set another Max Bid or do nothing.
[SIMPLE EXAMPLE: You decide to bid on a lot with a current bid of $1300. You can use your cursor to set your max amount at $3000 and click the Max Bid button. Your bid is then registered as a bid for $1400 because bidding increments are pre-set at $100. Another bid comes in later for $1500. The site will then automatically place your bid at $1600. If no other bid is made on this lot before the end of the auction, you win the auction with your bid at $1600.]
If you don’t want to use Automatic Bidding (if you want to manually bid each time), you can simply click the “Max Bid” button and your bid will be placed at $100 above the current bid.
With Automatic Bidding, if you see you are outbid immediately after placing a bid, it is because you set your Max Bid amount too close to the current bid amount, and other bidders have set the same or similar Max Bid amount. In order to stay in the auto bidding, you would need to set a higher Max Bid amount.
With Automatic Bidding, the Auction History tab can sometimes show that one bidder has beat another bidder with the same bid amount. This is not unusual and could occur when a bidder has an Auto Bid in effect, and a second bidder comes along and makes their bid at the same amount the current Auto Bid is at. Since the amounts are the same and the auto bid was placed earlier, that is the bid that would succeed if there were no more bids placed. In this circumstance, for the second bidder to succeed in placing a bid, they must bid higher than the Auto Bid that is in effect. When a registered bidder is logged in, their screen will show them as “Winning”, when they are indeed winning.

EXTENDED BIDDING

Last-minute bidding has been known to occur on some properties, which could possibly lead to very high bidder volume with possible delays in electronic transmissions. While our website has been fitted with the resources necessary to handle this high volume, we have also incorporated “Extended Bidding” technology. Here’s how it works: Our online auctions are set to end at 2:00 PM on day-4 of the auction. But, during the last 5 minutes of an auction, any bid received on a lot will automatically extend the auction by 5 minutes, for that lot. The auction will then continue on for that property until a 5 minute period has elapsed without any additional bidding. As always, the highest bid at the end of an auction is the winning bid.

WARRANTY

There are no warranties of title. We have done our best to eliminate any issues with title, but the POA, its directors, employees or agents do not warrant title. The POA encourages all prospective purchasers to do their own title research.

TAXES

All lots will have taxes paid through 2022.

RIGHT OF REDEMPTION

It is possible that certain lots which the POA took ownership of through a foreclosure action, may be subject to a right of redemption by the prior owner or owner’s agent for up to one (1) year from the date of such foreclosure action. AND/OR It is possible that certain lots available now through the POA were sold previously by the Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands for delinquent real estate taxes. If you were to purchase a property and it is then redeemed by the prior owner, you will receive payment of the purchase price plus six percent (6%) interest, plus any accrued assessment or taxes from the previous owner. If you were to purchase a property that was later found to have been sold previously by the Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands for delinquent real estate taxes, Quiet Title work may be necessary before you can get a title insurance policy to build a home. If you are the winning bidder of a lot, the above circumstances would not disqualify you from receiving your recorded deed from the POA and receiving your full POA membership privileges.

TERMS

A winning bid binds the parties to the following terms and conditions in their entirety. Failure to comply authorizes the POA to disqualify the winning bidder in favor of the next highest bidder(s), or to offer the property again at the next online auction, at the sole discretion of the POA. Winning bidders must provide complete and accurate first/last name, a “Display Name”, email address, mailing address, and phone number. The contact information provided will be used by POA staff to reach participants. The final bid price will be the purchase price. There are no closing costs. Since some buyers are local and some are not, we will outline various acceptable settlement methods upon making contact with the winning bidder. Acceptable payment methods include credit/debit card, wire transfer, money order, or personal check. If a money order or personal check is used for payment, it must be “overnighted” to the POA. In any case, all sales are final and the POA must receive full payment no later than 96 hours after close of the auction. The POA will prepare, record, and deliver the deed within about 3 weeks of receiving verified payment.

POA MEMBERSHIP CARDS

Membership cards are typically issued between 30 and 45 days after purchase date. If you would like to obtain membership cards in advance of receiving your recorded deed, please contact David Thornton via email at davidt@bvvpoa.com, or call David at 479-936-1864.

NAME ON DEED

The winning bidder will be contacted by email and/or phone within 24 hours. At that time, we will need to know the name that is to go on the deed. If you have any questions about the deeding process, please email us in advance at: davidt@bvvpoa.com.

ASSESSMENTS

The winning bidder will be responsible for paying future POA assessments, currently $16.00 per month, beginning the month following purchase. Assessments may be paid monthly, or pre-paid quarterly, semi-annually or annually. Assessments are due the first day of each month and are considered delinquent on the last day of the month. Six percent (6%) interest may be charged on assessments that are delinquent 30 days or more. Assessment payments may be made by the following methods:

Automatic bank draft withdrawals from checking or savings accounts
Online Payments at https://bellavistapoa.com/members/, under “Assessments”
Payment over the phone with a Member Services representative at 479-855-8000 (option 2 when prompted)
Monthly payments by mail

RESOURCES FOR GETTING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE LOTS:

The Benton County Geographic Information Systems (GIS) website can be a good resource for learning more about lots that may interest you. The following shows general instructions on using the GIS website with a laptop or desktop PC. Phones and tablets may be different. You can go to: https://bentoncountyar.gov/gis/. Once on their site click on “Interactive Maps”, then on “Basemap”. A shaded window will pop up with a county disclaimer, which will require you to click on “Accept” to continue. Then click the Menu icon (3 horizontal bars) at the upper left of the screen and select “Layers”. The Layers box will pop up on the upper right of the screen. Scroll down in that box until you see “Places”, which by default is selected with a checkmark. Click the checkmark to deselect “Places”. Scroll further in the “Layers” box and select “Aerial: 2023”. Then scroll further and deselect “Hillshade”. Now you can zoom in and out on the map using the scroll wheel on your mouse or the +/- keys on the map page. You can also click to grab the map with your mouse to move the map up and down, side to side, etc. To search for a lot using the parcel number, click the Menu bars at the upper left of the screen and select “Search”. The Search box will pop up on the upper right of the screen. Choose the “Text” tab. In the “Select search layer to begin” dropdown list, be sure “Parcels” is selected. In the Search field put the parcel number in the following format 00-00000-000 and hit enter. The lot will come up on the screen with a red border, and a row with more information on the lot will rise from the bottom of your screen. You can hide this new bottom row by clicking “Results” at the top right of the screen. Zoom in/out on the lot as you wish. Click on the subject lot (or any other lot) to obtain more information about that lot. The Benton County GIS mapping system is very detailed and offers users a number of functions. For more information on using these functions you can access the tutorial by clicking the Menu bars at the upper left of the screen and select “Help & Info”. All information acquired from this site is provided by Benton County as a service to the public and the Bella Vista Property Owners Association is not responsible for its accuracy.