Kansas City relocation Questions and Kansas city teaching questions

[msedwards83]

Originally Posted by kcmo

I would recommend Blue Springs or Gladstone. Both are nice middle class suburbs. Not too affluent (or expensive) although both will have some higher end areas, but still nice and well maintained with good schools etc. KC is already way cheaper than coastal cities, but places like Gladstone or Blue Springs are really nice because you can get the same home in those areas for about 20% less than say Lee's Summit or Parkville.

My wife taught in metro KC for many years (she now teaches near Baltimore). She taught in urban KCMO for most of her time there, but also a few suburban districts. There is not much left to the KCMO school district and I would avoid it if possible unless you find a school and principle you really like. Check out KCMO charter schools though. If you can get on any of the suburban districts, they are all good to teach at. It has always seemed tough to get in some of the better suburban districts like Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, North KC, Liberty, Park Hill etc unless you know somebody, but being a minority may help you get into a district if they don't have many African American teachers. Speaking of being African American, that won't be an issue anywhere in metro KC although Lee's Summit seems to be a popular suburb with affluent African Americans.

I think it would mostly come down to where you will be commuting to, but for the most part, you have all of Platte, Clay and most of Jackson counties to consider. The bigger problem will be finding a house. Good, houses in your price bracket are only on the market for a few days. There is just no inventory.

I'm putting a home on the market in Blue Springs in May, but I'm sure it will be sold sometime in May or I would say it would be worth looking into .

I had no idea houses were selling that fast. The lender I'm working with wants me to start in mid April early May. What are houses going for out there nowadays?

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by msedwards83

I had no idea houses were selling that fast. The lender I'm working with wants me to start in mid April early May. What are houses going for out there nowadays?

They are selling fast because there is so little inventory, especially in the 150-250k price range which is probably about the price range you will be looking at.

[JackieB23]

Originally Posted by msedwards83

I had no idea houses were selling that fast. The lender I'm working with wants me to start in mid April early May. What are houses going for out there nowadays?

My real estate agent hasn't seen a market this hot in a long time. kcmo is absolutely right; and you'd have to be lucky (as I was) to find a suitable house in a place you'd want to live for less than $150K unless you REALLY want a big-time fixer-upper (and who knows, maybe you do...)

I did it, but I was really lucky (house used to be a rental, agent representing the property mgt company did a poor job for them in a variety of ways - their pain is my gain) and I found my house in January, way before the normal "buying season".

We closed today, as a matter of fact. So hey, maybe you'll end up a neighbor in Gladstone!

(as an aside, if you're looking north of the river, I can recommend a great agent who helped me do all this long-distance. Hooray for modern technology!)

[msedwards83]

Originally Posted by JackieB23

My real estate agent hasn't seen a market this hot in a long time. kcmo is absolutely right; and you'd have to be lucky (as I was) to find a suitable house in a place you'd want to live for less than $150K unless you REALLY want a big-time fixer-upper (and who knows, maybe you do...)

I did it, but I was really lucky (house used to be a rental, agent representing the property mgt company did a poor job for them in a variety of ways - their pain is my gain) and I found my house in January, way before the normal "buying season".

We closed today, as a matter of fact. So hey, maybe you'll end up a neighbor in Gladstone!

(as an aside, if you're looking north of the river, I can recommend a great agent who helped me do all this long-distance. Hooray for modern technology!)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.!! I have to assume Zillow and Redfin are inaccurately reporting their home appraisals. I definitely don't want a fixer upper or as is sale. I pray all goes well for my family. My husband and children are making a huge sacrifice for my dreams. As I hope to give them a better life.

[JackieB23]

Originally Posted by msedwards83

Any help would be greatly appreciated.!! I have to assume Zillow and Redfin are inaccurately reporting their home appraisals. I definitely don't want a fixer upper or as is sale. I pray all goes well for my family. My husband and children are making a huge sacrifice for my dreams. As I hope to give them a better life.

I sent you the name of my agent via private message.

You definitely want the MLS feed you can get from an agent (Zillow/Redfin/Realtor.com are all okay but not 100% accurate).

Don't think of this as a sacrifice - think of moving to Kansas City as an upgrade!

[parmans97]

You're getting a lot of great advice here! As far as commute goes, if you want to be under 45 minutes, you can basically get between any two areas in the metro in 45 minutes or less, so you'll have plenty of choice.

You may already be here and figuring this out, I don't know!

Just to give you some clarity on some areas in the city, here's some honest talk. I believe you'll find that KC still has some distinct problems with self-separation of races. You'll find areas that are predominantly minority in the urban core and towards Independence, and an extremely lower percentage of minorities in the suburbs. Please don't evaluate that statement the wrong way--it does not mean you will face overt racism or redneck mentalities should you end up in the suburbs! It's simply a fact of the history of the city.

I think you'll find that no matter where you land, you're going to find extremely friendly people and great communities. If you want to preserve some of the "city" pace you are used to, Johnson county KS might be a good fit. Should you want a slower pace, that feels a lot like a small town, you might want to end up north of the river. If you like historic homes and some walkability, somewhere in the core might be perfect for you.

Ultimately, you'll want to find someone you can trust that won't steer you toward what they think you should have, but meets your desires for your new area. Best of luck!

Here's a couple quick resources you might find useful.


https://www.facebook.com/groups/1959...?ref=bookmarks
https://www.kchomesmarket.com/course...university-kc/