Need help with KC, MO neighborhoods!!!!!! (Kansas City, Lee's Summit: for rent, how much, homes)

[shawnceltic]

KCMO, and d4kc great posts. Information that I'm definately looking for. Keep it coming if you have more. You folks have done a great job.

[AJK1535]

Originally Posted by shawnceltic

Any thoughts on this general area (13402 Oakland Ave, Grandview, MO 64030), and the commute to downtown area across the river?

Hi shawnceltic,

I currently live in Grandview and bought my house from the same people that have that house listed. I would say that the area on my street is generally very nice and I have great neighbors.

The commute to OP is about 20 mins and downtown (I used to work at Crown Center) is about 20 mins off peak or 30 mins in rush hour.

When I moved here in 12/07 I lived in OP. I prefer living there, but for a bang to your buck ratio, Grandview can't be beaten.

A few words of caution though. I don't really shop in Grandview as some of the people that I run into can be really ghetto. It has to do with the fact that there are not many grocery stores around the area of KC directly north of GV that are pretty shady so they come here.

I don't have kids so I can't comment on the schools.

I definitely enjoy the fact that I own my house for less than I could rent a townhouse or large nice apartment in JoCo or KCMO in a nice area. However, if money were no object, I would prefer to live in OP or Brookside.

Just my two cents.

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by shawnceltic

luzianne I do appreciate your input, but you need to read my original post to understand what I'm trying to get for info needed. I understand how real estate works.......I've been in it for quite some time.

I did read your original post, and based on what I know of the city (been here all my life) and the property values, etc., I was giving you my advice. I have said many times that I wish I had bought ten houses in my area at the time I bought my house, and rented the others out, because the property values have increased so much and I would be retiring right now. If I had bought in a different area, my experience may have been very different. I was just trying to help. I know about health care jobs in KC too, but based on your response to my other posts, I was afraid to attempt another answer.

[kcmo]

Luzianne, I know you will find this very difficult to believe, but for the past 10-15 years, the areas of town where property values have shot up the most have been in the Brookside area. Not JoCo. But KCMO.

JoCo numbers have been great, but Brookside was blowing everybody out of the water for quite some time.

Other areas like Waldo, Plaza and much of the Northland was doing very well, more comparable to many areas of JoCo.

Today, none of these areas are going up in value, the entire metro is going down a bit. But you can bet that Brookside will probably do as well, if not better than any other part of the metro when this bust is all over.

Other areas like the parts of the Northland and Eastern Jax should do just as well as similar areas of JoCo.

You also can’t just look at county or city stats when comparing things like this. Jackson County has far more urban and declining areas than Johnson, therefore , county stats will not look near as good as what they really are. Housing prices have gone down in many areas of Jackson County and others have been more stagnant, that doesn’t mean that a home in Brookside, Lakewood, Raintree, or a downtown Condo is any less of an investment opportunity than a house in Shawnee or Overland Park and many times it’s better. But when you have 100,000 vacant or blightened houses throwing off the stats, it really makes JoCo look good doesn’t it?

I have owned homes in urban KCMO as well as suburban MO and I can tell you that we have all seen this massive increase in property values over the past 10-20 years. I too wish I would have bought some homes in Brookside, (better investment than any of the suburbs back then). But hindsight is 20/20…

I did buy a home in Waldo and it nearly doubled in value in 4 years. I think those days are long gone, even in perfect Johnson County.

[luzianne]

Not necessarily, KCMO. Here is a map of all the zip codes in KC. It shows Brookside has gone up from 2003-2007, but it hasn't gone up as much as some other areas (Old Leawood up 43%, South Leawood 47%). All the areas to the east and south of Brookside have gone DOWN in value. And in my last post I wasn't telling him to go to Johnson County. In my first post I was asking why not live in OP if his wife was working there, but my next post, after he was asking for specific zip codes, I just told him to look carefully at the home values in various areas because because some are not a good investment. I didn't say the only place he would find a good investment is Johnson County.

I think this zip code map showing the property values 2003-2007 is a good resource. KCHomePrices

When you have 100,000 empty or blighted houses in an area and then a few nice properties - I'm sorry, but that brings down the value of all the property. Just like if I had a neighbors on each side of me who didn't keep up their property, my home value would go down. Or if there was a lot of crime in my area, that would bring the value down.

[kcmo]

I don’t have the stats, only memory, but I’m pretty sure the prices in that area simply skyrocketed in the 90’s (dwarfing most areas in the metro) and the more modest increases in the more recent years have been sort of a recovery from that. I mean homes in Brookside doubled and tripled over a very short time period. It priced us right out of the area, even though they did have a few more years of those crazy increases.

Jackson County is pretty big. I live in a nice area of Jackson County and would have to drive for a while to reach an area that is pretty is trashed. You probably live closer to “ghetto” areas than me, even though they will be in MO or KCK. Although when I lived in the city, I was only blocks from some pretty questionable areas. In either case, the value of my home has gone up. In the city, the primary reason was the location. There is a certain group of people that want to be in a location like that. Where I live now, it’s the schools and whatever.

I don’t want to make this a KCMO vs a JoCo thing. I understand your point that the original poster was going to be working in OP and why not look at houses there. I would tell them the same thing.

I just want to re-iterate that the MO side offers plenty of opportunities as well since most of your post tend to be very pro (JoCo and nothing else in KC can live up to that JoCo standard).

So, I will continue to chime in and let people know there is more to the Metro than what shade of beige you want your JoCo home to come in…

[d4kc]

shawn ... haven't been by that particular address ... the home I am looking at is less than a mile from there and the neighborhood (134th/Park Hills) is charming but things can change fast in a few blocks.

Wow - 13402 has some NICE updates!

hopefully you will have time to visit KC & get a feel for things?

There are houses built in the late 80s/early 90s near the 122nd/Harry S Truman area in grandview (not to be confused with truman road on the north/northeast side of town). I don't live there but drove through last weekend - has a very 'sparse' no mature trees feel but the houses were nice enough ... have seen 2 3bed split levels in the area - one $96K, one $115K.

have you considered Belton MO (a little south of grandview ... on 71hwy but around 155th-175th street, where grandview is more like 119ish to 140ish). I bet there are things in your range there too - and to get to OP you just go N on 71 to 435 W (like do a mileage check from the intersection of 58hwy&71hwy to 435&Metcalf to get some rough estimates)

I don't have kids but I think it's safe to say that both Belton and Grandview schools have a better reputation than KCMO.

i also drove around some duplexes in belton (on Shawn ave? Whisper?) - not too far from a grade school (could be a plus when it comes to renting out!)...and below 100K.

if you go to reeceandnichols.com, you can type in the name of a street and see everything for sale on the street - that's true for any street in the KC metro area.

all of my advice has been pretty MO-centric ... don't know much about KS! Maybe you can find something in your price range (top of range) between 63rd and 85th and between Metcalf/state line?

[WiseOwlSaysHoot]

OP, in what kind of house/neighborhood would you prefer to live? urban/suburban? new/historic? where are you coming from and what are you used to?

What is the address of the place on Garfield you mentioned? The street runs a long distance, and while I would avoid most of it, the very northern end, in KC's Northeast neighborhood might be an option for you. It's not the most squeaky clean neighborhood, but it's not too bad and has the potential to be a good investment. It's quite close to Downtown, and as DT keeps improving, I think we'll see home values go up.

[shawnceltic]

Originally Posted by luzianne

I did read your original post, and based on what I know of the city (been here all my life) and the property values, etc., I was giving you my advice. I have said many times that I wish I had bought ten houses in my area at the time I bought my house, and rented the others out, because the property values have increased so much and I would be retiring right now. If I had bought in a different area, my experience may have been very different. I was just trying to help. I know about health care jobs in KC too, but based on your response to my other posts, I was afraid to attempt another answer.

First of all you're much too sensitive. If I offended you in any way I apologize. You had wrote that you know I'm stuck on MO, and I'm not considering KS, and that my son was only 2 and that I'm not worried about schools right now, but it goes by so fast.......etc. I took that as you're implying that I'm going to try to sell this house I'm looking for. I do not sell real estate. I rent it out. Selling isn't part of my vocabulary for real estate unless I'm selling the house I currently live in to move to KC. All of my rental properties I keep. Anyways I'm sorry I offended you in any way, shape or form. I would appreciate any info regarding healthcare jobs.

[shawnceltic]

luzianne-

Cool map