Lee's Summit vs Overland Park (Blue Springs, Raytown: apartment, rent, crime rates)

[f00dl3]

Well I'm wanting to move out of my parents house here in the next few months and cut my commute down from what it is now (32 miles each way not including the extra 1.5 miles to the gym in evenings). First, I want to get out of the way the fact that I work in Overland Park. I am wanting to skip the whole apartment process and start building up equity right away. I am wanting to cap my home purchase out at $155k - though lower is better. All in all, I just need to get out of the parents house since I'm almost 24 and need to start a social life which has been lacking due to the fact I'm living with the parents.

Keep in mind I'm VERY single right now to say the least... so this is a factor.

Advantages of Overland Park/Shawnee/Lenexa area

- PRO: Close to work

- PRO: Closer to family (though still over 20 miles away)

- PRO: Close to a growing young adult community of my faith.

- PRO: Lower property taxes

- CON: Higher cost of living, gas prices, groceries, gym membership (possibly up to $100/year higher depending on where I go!), etc.

- CON: Main drawback and !! big drawback: 6/6 houses I toured that were under $155k had either foundation cracks or is over 50 years old and shows it, or is in not so good neighborhoods (unless I'm just not looking right!) In my analysis I would be better off renting in Overland Park.

Lee's Summit:

- PRO: Lower cost of living

- PRO: Lower cost of home ownership (on average a $160k house in O.P. is $140k in L.S.)

- PRO: Lower cost of gasoline to get to work (~$.10/ga)

- PRO: Plenty of lakes to jog around and enjoy

- PRO: There is a branch of my current bank in Lee's Summit (whom I will likely be taking my loan out through)

- PRO: Downtown events every weekend.

- CON: Further away from work - 18 to 23 miles depending on location - but still closer then right now. Plus, I do like a bit of a commute.

- CON: Further away form young adult community and less chance of being able to possibly rent a room out to someone whom I have a higher confidence of trust in. (If I even decided to do this - I don't really like the general idea of renting out to someone unless I know I can trust them not to mess things up.)

- CON: 30-35 miles from parents, cousins, and grandparents. I currently like to hang out with my cousins almost weekly since they are the closest thing I have to brothers and sisters, and visit Grandpa at least once every 2 weeks to play checkers and chat with :-)

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by f00dl3

Well I'm wanting to move out of my parents house here in the next few months and cut my commute down from what it is now (32 miles each way not including the extra 1.5 miles to the gym in evenings). First, I want to get out of the way the fact that I work in Overland Park. I am wanting to skip the whole apartment process and start building up equity right away. I am wanting to cap my home purchase out at $155k - though lower is better. All in all, I just need to get out of the parents house since I'm almost 24 and need to start a social life which has been lacking due to the fact I'm living with the parents.

Keep in mind I'm VERY single right now to say the least... so this is a factor.

Advantages of Overland Park/Shawnee/Lenexa area

- PRO: Close to work

- PRO: Closer to family (though still over 20 miles away)

- PRO: Close to a growing young adult community of my faith.

- PRO: Lower property taxes

- CON: Higher cost of living, gas prices, groceries, gym membership (possibly up to $100/year higher depending on where I go!), etc.

- CON: Main drawback and !! big drawback: 6/6 houses I toured that were under $155k had either foundation cracks or is over 50 years old and shows it, or is in not so good neighborhoods (unless I'm just not looking right!) In my analysis I would be better off renting in Overland Park.

I was about your age when I bought my first house in OP. Are you looking in the 66204 zip code? Nice area with smaller homes but still close to plaza/downtown/etc. There are also houses in that price range in Shawnee, Prairie Village too although those can be pricier. Although you are right, most of them are older. But lots of foundations have cracked in the last 50 years. If repairs have been done properly, that isn't necessarily a problem. I have a great agent who would be happy to help you. If you would like you can send me a direct message and I will share his contact information with you.

If you are working in OP, living there makes the most sense to me.

Best of luck!

[northbound74]

I'd stay in the state I worked in, for the most part. As a single guy, I'd look at downtown. It just has that cool factor, but the KC area in general isn't known for having a great singles scene, unfortunately.
I've always thought that Roeland Park was nice. If I remember correctly, Fairway has a neighborhood or two that's within that price range as well.

[f00dl3]

Oh yeah forgot to mention - I'm kind of wanting to stay away from areas with higher crime rates :-).

It's kind of ironic really, because darn near half of me is thinking right now this would be soooo much easier if I was engaged about to be married and was planning the house for my future wife and kids - versus just buying for myself. Saw an awesome house that I loved today out in the L.S. area but the thing is, again, I have concerns because of the commute and the whole single factor. If I move out in L.S. am I burning potential bridges? And most of the IT jobs in the metro are Overland Park / Lenexa / Olathe - if I had to change jobs I could easily be back to 35+ mile commute.

[kcmo]

I would live in the Northland!

JK.

Unless you really like Lee's Summit and the things that are unique about Lee's Summit (lakes, nice downtown, lower COL etc) then I would probably try to stay in Johnson County.

The big reason being the commute. That is probably the worst commute in the metro (LS - OP). But you might find something in LS that you can’t find in OP that makes the commute worth it.

Eastern Jackson County needs more white collar jobs. There is such a massive pool of workers on that side of town that have to commute to JoCo, Downtown, Plaza etc.

[amf23]

I grew up in Lee's Summit and loved it. The single life in Lee's Summit isn't as strong as other areas in the metro, but is growing due to the rennovation of downtown. There are 6 lakes in Lee's Summit; Raintree, Lakewood, Lotawana, Longview, Jacomo and Winnebego. Plus, you are close to Blue Springs Lake.

As far as IT jobs go; my dad is a IT specialist for the government and works at the federal building in Raytown. (It has a KC address, but is basically in Raytown.) In rush hour traffic it is a 20-25 minute commute.

However, if your current job is in OP it only makes sense to look for houses in that area.

Buying a house is huge deal. You definitely need to be comfortable with your decision and weigh all of the pros and cons. Best of Luck!

[RichMonk]

As far as crime goes you really have to weigh all dangers. You are more likely to die in a long commute than be shot in a sketchy neighborhood. Just look at the number of deaths on the highway as compared to murders in urban areas. However, higher crime areas have their obvious negatives like muggings, break-ins and general grittiness. Personally I like the excitement of the city and am sick as ever of bad drivers trying to get me killed.

You might want to look into Shawnee. It has been a very long time since I lived there but it has a lot of sweet charm and is just minutes from the city (if by the Johnson & Quivira area).

[northbound74]

Originally Posted by RichMonk

Personally I like the excitement of the city and am sick as ever of bad drivers trying to get me killed.

[BostonToKC]

Originally Posted by RichMonk

Personally I like the excitement of the city and am sick as ever of bad drivers trying to get me killed.

Bad drivers (unless they are really BAD) are not trying to kill you per se. They are just trying to get to their destination and any vehicle in their path is an obstacle. While executing a reckless maneuver, they may inadvertently kill or injure you, so you are partially correct.

[RichMonk]

Originally Posted by BostonToKC

Bad drivers (unless they are really BAD) are not trying to kill you per se. They are just trying to get to their destination and any vehicle in their path is an obstacle. While executing a reckless maneuver, they may inadvertently kill or injure you, so you are partially correct.

I guess since I have been living in Chicago for the past two years I've grown to feel like people are trying to kill me on the road. One person actually did try to kill me by slamming his brakes in front of me and trying to run me off the road...all because I was trying to change lanes and he sped up to cut me off but didn't speed up enough so I still made it in...Apparently that ruined his morning and he decided I should die :P

I miss the relative sanity of KC drivers compared to Chicago.