Can a Single Mother of 3 young children survive in Kansas City? (Overland Park: apartment, rent)

[lkruger79]

Hi, I have tried to search the questions to see if I could my answers but every situation is so different....

BACKGROUND/CURRENT SITUATION:
I have three children that I am raising on my own. Ages are 11, 4, and 2. I live in NW Iowa right now in a small town where my 11 year old stays home alone and rides bike to the pool and everyone knows everyone and its very very safe. My rent for a small 2 bedroom house is $275 a month. I make 30k a year and I barely make it. I have school loans and one loan to the bank for my car, other then that I have no debt. I have an opportunity to transfer within my company to the Overland Park plant doing a job that I think I will like much better. My current position does NOT offer a chance for advancement or opportunity to learn new things. I lived in Chicago so I do understand big city living (but then I only had one child to worry about).

MY QUESTIONS:
Where is the best/safest place to live near Overland Park? Are the schools safe? Concerns about daycare for the smaller two Children (here is 760 a month for both). What would be a minimum I would have to earn salary wise to survive there?

I don't want to hurt my kids in any way trying to make a move like this. Trying to get as much REAL feedback before I make a decision.

Thanks!

[WildcatNmyheart]

Well I live 60 miles away and $275 a month is pretty much unheard of around here unless you are in a really really bad part of town. Overland Park is a very nice area (my dad worked there for 20 year) so I am going to guess you will be hard pressed to find rent that cheap. On the other hand Kansas and Missouri are both cheap states to live in.

[lkruger79]

I know I wouldn't be able to find that kind of rent there. I was giving that as a reference of what I pay and what I make. So if I got this job I would like to know what is a good salary to have to live in OP. 40K - 45K? More? Would you say its a nice place to raise a family? Or am I nuts?

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by lkruger79

I know I wouldn't be able to find that kind of rent there. I was giving that as a reference of what I pay and what I make. So if I got this job I would like to know what is a good salary to have to live in OP. 40K - 45K? More? Would you say its a nice place to raise a family? Or am I nuts?

Northern portions of Overland Park are older and more affordable. The average rent is around $850-900 for a two bedroom apartment. Housing prices in the older area of the city will probably be less than $225,000. If you run across a property under $150,000 it probably needs a lot of work or is architecturally deficient.
It is probably a good place to raise a family, but I grew up there many years ago. The city has changed a lot in the past 20-30 years with many new housing subdivisions built up on the south side of the city as well as a multitude of office parks. It is a much faster pace of life compared to Iowa.. but nothing like a Chicago.
Schools- are generally well regarded. The districts in JOCO are Shawnee Mission, Blue Valley, and Olathe.

[KevK]

If you are at the lower end of the scale, maybe you should take a look at Olathe. It is in Johnson County and it is cheaper than Overland Park. Generally the closer you are to Kansas City Missouri in Johnson County, the higher the cost is. Olathe is a bit of a ride to KC MO but it has nice houses and decent schools.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by KevK

If you are at the lower end of the scale, maybe you should take a look at Olathe. It is in Johnson County and it is cheaper than Overland Park. Generally the closer you are to Kansas City Missouri in Johnson County, the higher the cost is. Olathe is a bit of a ride to KC MO but it has nice houses and decent schools.

Olathe does have newer houses, but most are cookie cutter with very shoddy construction. Other people can back me up on that point. Also, Overland Park as a whole just "feels" nicer than Olathe.
I guess the question for the OP would be if they prefer a newer housing area or an older housing area in terms of apartment/condo/house.

[cp1969]

Originally Posted by lkruger79

I know I wouldn't be able to find that kind of rent there. I was giving that as a reference of what I pay and what I make. So if I got this job I would like to know what is a good salary to have to live in OP. 40K - 45K? More? Would you say its a nice place to raise a family? Or am I nuts?

Overland Park, even though it is one of the better suburbs of KC, will not be anything like the situation you are leaving. The State will probably ring you up on charges if anything happens to your 11 year old if you leave him home alone. Median family income is something like $62K, so if you start out at 2/3rd's of that, make sure you have a good opportunity to advance or you will probably struggle the entire time you live there.

Housing in N. OP is not as expensive as Granite Stater says. Go to Century 21 or Reece Nichols (realtors) websites and look around. There are plenty of decent houses, not needing repair, under $150K. Watch out for the repos; they will be the ones which say "no disclosure; sold as-is." Avoid those. Also check the neighboring suburb of Mission. The Reece Nichols site has a feature where you can draw a line around the area in which you want to search.

Good luck in your decision.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by cp1969

Housing in N. OP is not as expensive as Granite Stater says. Go to Century 21 or Reece Nichols (realtors) websites and look around. There are plenty of decent houses, not needing repair, under $150K. Watch out for the repos; they will be the ones which say "no disclosure; sold as-is." Avoid those. Good luck in your decision.

You probably get more bang for the dollar on the MO side of the state line for <=150K overall...

[lkruger79]

Originally Posted by cp1969

Overland Park, even though it is one of the better suburbs of KC, will not be anything like the situation you are leaving. The State will probably ring you up on charges if anything happens to your 11 year old if you leave him home alone. Median family income is something like $62K, so if you start out at 2/3rd's of that, make sure you have a good opportunity to advance or you will probably struggle the entire time you live there.

Housing in N. OP is not as expensive as Granite Stater says. Go to Century 21 or Reece Nichols (realtors) websites and look around. There are plenty of decent houses, not needing repair, under $150K. Watch out for the repos; they will be the ones which say "no disclosure; sold as-is." Avoid those. Also check the neighboring suburb of Mission. The Reece Nichols site has a feature where you can draw a line around the area in which you want to search.

Good luck in your decision.

Thanks for the advice. If we moved there I wouldn't be leaving her alone. I would have to find some kind of care for all three. Thanks! What a decision it is moving when you have kids....

[GraniteStater]

lkruger79,
I wish you the best on your potential move to KC!