Louisburg, Spring Hill, or Olathe??? (Overland Park, Lenexa: real estate, housing, rent)

[wperiman]

I am moving to a role in Overland Park. I was considering the Louisburg area but a realtor recently told my wife that it was an hour drive, that it was tiny with one store, and she would have to drive forever to even buy groceries. She also said selling a house in Louisburg would be much more difficult than selling one in Olathe or Overland Park.

We are looking to spend between $200k and $250k on a house so I was looking for something outside so I could get more house for the money. We do not have children at home any longer but schools are important since we may be moving again in 2 - 4 years and I need to have something that will sell.

The realtor is pushing Olathe but I have heard it is quickly becoming a community that puts on airs of being a sophisticated community. I am more of a mid-sized town person myself.

One other option is Spring Hill which I hear very little about. This could be because it does not have much of a personality.

I guess I will also look on the Missouri side, maybe Belton.

Can someone give me feedback?

Thanks.

[Plains10]

It really depends on the exact size of town you are looking for. Are you looking to move to one of the established suburbs in the KC metro or are you set on looking at the exurban areas that are more removed from the metro area? In terms of quality of construction a lot of the homes in Olathe or Spring Hill will be cookie cutter. The houses may look big on the outside but cheap materials are used to keep the costs way down. Another thing is that the smaller towns on the fringe of the metro tend to be EXTREMELY conservative as well. If you want to avoid a town that is very conservative I would not include Gardner on your list.
I am not sure about Olathe being sophisticated? It has been a farm town up until the past 15 years. Overland Park has always been a suburb from the very beginning.
Some smaller towns outside of the metro area that you could also add to your list in Kansas might be Tonganoxie, De Soto, or Lansing. Tonganoixe and Lansing are located in Leavenworth County, which is northwest of the KC metro. De Soto is in western Johnson County near the Kansas River and is also located right near K-10 highway. These three towns will definitely have homes in your price range although parts of De Soto are getting expensive.
If Overland Park is still in the running it is DEFINITELY a buyers market. Their are many homes in the 250K range in ESTABLISHED neighborhoods in central and northern Overland Park. These areas have more of a Midwest flavor with large shade trees, sidewalks, and houses with brick trim on the exterior.

[Versatile]

Your realtor has easily exposed himself as a liar! Louisburg has a Price Chopper for groceries and is not an hour away from from the world. More like 20 mimutes from Overland Park. Walmart in Paola about 8-12 miles away. Pretty much anything you would need on a daily basis is in Louisburg. I would cancel out Spring Hill. The commute north from Spring Hill to Olathe is on a very dangerous section of highway. I think you will like Louisburg.

[Plains10]

If you want to live in Johnson County I would recommend looking into De Soto. The commute time to Overland Park would probably be lower than Louisburg. If you want to work and live in Overland Park their are many nice homes in many established neighborhoods for around 250K. It is definitely a buyers market because I have seen many homes that have been for sale for several months that are not selling fast. Also, I think many of the newer houses are cookie cutter in Louisburg. In my opinion I would much rather buy a 20-30 year old home than some of these newer cheaply built houses. However, if you are looking for a "smaller" town than Louisburg would fit the bill. Be aware that the area will likely see a lot of population growth in the coming years as the rampant suburban sprawl continues to expand south of the KC metro.

[jiston2000]

We literally almost bought a house in Spring Hill. We liked the town, and it is definitely growing, as is Gardner. Great schools for both. The only problem is this--Spring Hill/Gardner are filled with mostly new homes--great, the only problem is that you get about half the house that you could get if you bought an older house. The only problem with buying an older house is that they are always dated, and would require a ton of work to bring them into this decade. In Spring Hill (and that is cheaper than JOCO) most of the houses we looked at were $200-250,000 for 1800 square feet, plus a partial basement. And you still get very basic cabinets, carpet, etc, no granite, no Corian, no Berber, NO TILE, etc! And then they charge $800 a square foot if you want tile in a bathroom! To me, those items should come standard. We couldn't believe it, so we started looking at used instead, to be able to put in our own "upgraded" features. We are currently selling our house with tons of upgrades that new homes in this price range do not include for $240-250, plus about 21-2200 sq feet plus a full basement, so it is a big difference. Are you still house-hunting or did you already find something?

[Plains10]

I have friends who also really do not like the quality of construction of some of the new subdivisions. Their was a story awhile ago about a resident in Lenexa who was very angry about a home building company that did not meet her expectations with regards to the new home. Apparently, cracks were developing on the inside of the home along with other problems. I would choose a 20-25 year old home any day over some of the newer cookie cutter construction. Yes, some of the older homes may need some updating, but a lot of the interior upgrades can be done quite easily like some new light colored paint instead of wallpaper. That can do a lot to brighten up a dreary room. Some of the "older" neighborhoods in Overland Park are especially nice because of the wide variety of architectural styles that exist. Another big plus is the great shade trees that line the streets along with sidewalks. Some of the newer developments do not even have sidewalks! We have become such a car-dependent society for sure.

[SteF95]

Population (year 2000): 2,576. Estimated population in July 2005: 3,313 (+28.6% change)

Males: 1,223 (47.5%)
Females: 1,353 (52.5%)

see the growth in housing in 2004, 2005, and 2006 below

Single-family new house construction building permits:
2000: 27 buildings, average cost: $160,500
2001: 31 buildings, average cost: $145,300
2002: 43 buildings, average cost: $135,200
2003: 42 buildings, average cost: $135,000
2004: 120 buildings, average cost: $144,200
2005: 114 buildings, average cost: $150,800
2006: 104 buildings, average cost: $183,200

[Plains10]

Originally Posted by SteF95

Population (year 2000): 2,576. Estimated population in July 2005: 3,313 (+28.6% change)

Males: 1,223 (47.5%)
Females: 1,353 (52.5%)

see the growth in housing in 2004, 2005, and 2006 below

Single-family new house construction building permits:
2000: 27 buildings, average cost: $160,500
2001: 31 buildings, average cost: $145,300
2002: 43 buildings, average cost: $135,200
2003: 42 buildings, average cost: $135,000
2004: 120 buildings, average cost: $144,200
2005: 114 buildings, average cost: $150,800
2006: 104 buildings, average cost: $183,200

I am sure the new home construction permits will be down so far this year because many other towns are reporting that new home construction permits are off quite a bit compared with previous years. I guess Louisburg is catering to the real estate developers. I would hate to see Miami County become the next Johnson County with suburban sprawl developements everywhere. Also, Miami County does not have very many non-farm jobs relative to the population so most people who live there have to commute a fairly long distance into the KC metro.

[jiston2000]

Yes, Plains 10, I agree exactly!

[ecoates2]

Hello,

My only advice to you is you would be better off buying a house in Overland Park if you are planning on moving in 2-4 years. We just moved from Gardner back to Overland Park and we were very lucky to sell our house. Most of our neighbors in Gardner that had their house for sale could not sell it. Because the market is crappy right now, and who knows what it is going to do, buying new construction in a growing town out south you will find it harder to sell later. I loved Gardner, but there is a lot of new houses going up out south so people are buying new homes, not resales. So if you are not planning on being there for 5 or more years, I would not buy out south.