Moving to the area in 2018 (Springfield, Nixa: low income, sales, rental homes)

[leannebkr1965]

So a year ago I posted about Hollister as we were going to move to the area. We did not due to my husband not taking the new job. Now we fast forward a year and we have been checking with Zillow and Trulia to see what the rental properties are like in Springfield, Ozark, Nixa, Republic, etc.
My husband works for Menards and they are building 2 locations in Springfield and there is a huge possibility for sure we are moving Spring or Summer of 2018. What we came against is that the rentals we found are all managed by a property management company or realtor.

We are more than just a credit number. We have had our share of bumps along the way in life but the one thing that remains is that we have always kept and maintained a home for our kids, no matter what the cost. We have always lived in better than most areas to ensure safety for our family. But we are more than a number, more than a credit score and the places we tried last year simply went off of a credit score number, not even entertaining the idea that there may or may not be circumstances.

So, we are beginning our search a lot earlier and I come here wondering if there are landlords, property managers, owners, etc out there that look at human beings as human beings and not just a number.
We adopted our grand kids a year ago, they have been with us 2 years now. We like the Nixa and Ozark areas because we have heard there are good schools there. We also have 3 adult children but dont see them moving with us.

We have a couple dogs and a cat. We are hard working, responsible people who just simply want to make a good home and life for our kids and ourselves. Is there any good decent landlords who dont deal with just numbers or property managements? Also, what's up with the rent to own and lease to own companies out there? Real or false? Good, bad or indifferent?

Thank you
Leanne

[drk1000]

Leanne,
As I am sure you know there is a great new Menards in Hollister. Great addition to this area - has probably hurt sales at Lowes in Hollister. Should your plans change again and take your husband to the Hollister store you might benefit from my blog/wesite. My wife and I moved to the Branson/Table Rock Lake area about five years ago. The website relates our experience and observations about living in the area.

https://branson-explore.com/

Don

[Arrby]

Short answer, no. What you are asking is for is consideration of intangibles. This has been the basis of many, many discrimination complaints. I do not say it is fair, but credit scores are third party generated, quantified, and can be shown to have a reasonable correlation to performance.

Rent to own is usually quite legit, but I am not a fan. See https://www.zillow.com/wikipages/Rent-To-Own-Explained/ for a fairly decent explaination of how it works. I really advocate exhausting all the other low-income or disadvantaged buyer programs out there before signing up for rent-to-own. But I have to admit I have seen it work for buyers/renters in a few cases.

If you wish to look outside of Springfield, the Menard's on the east side of Springfield will be most accessible from Fair Grove, Strafford, and Rogersville. The west side location may actually abut the Springfield/Republic boundary. Within Springfield itself, the majority of rental properties will be either to the north near I-44 or to the south along or near Sunshine street for the east side location. For the west side location, most rentals will be along west Sunshine or west Battlefield. Be aware that the actual city boundaries and the school system boundaries do not always correspond.

[leannebkr1965]

Drk1000, I plan to share your blog with my mom who lives in So. California and want her to move to the area as well. I think she would love living on or near the lake.

Arrby, we are not really low income but have had struggles and such. But will look into any and all programs available. Would rather buy than rent anyways.

I dont believe we have our hearts set to live in Springfield the city but perhaps the cities around it. Schools and good neighborhoods with nice parks are a plus. And dog friendly as we have 2 dogs and a cat.

Finding the good vs bad areas of town are difficult as well since we do not know anyone so Im hoping to rely on sites like this one to help with that.

Thank you!

[Vols44]

Live in Republic and shorten his commute to the Sunshine and Zimmer location.

Duplexes seem to be the new version of starter homes so consider them an option. Building costs are too high for developers and construction companies to build homes less than 2000 sq ft and less than 150k unless it's an entire subdivision.

Rental homes go quickly. I'd scourge Craigs and drive through neighborhoods and spot for rent signs in person to get a feel for an area.

[leannebkr1965]

[quote=Vols44;49173913]Live in Republic and shorten his commute to the Sunshine and Zimmer location.

Thank you for the input and all the information. The Sunshine store does not appear to be moving along nearly as well as the east location. We will hopefully move to the east location but still unsure.

The hardest thing for us when searching is knowing exactly what is considered the 'north' part of town as we have heard that is the worst part of Springfield.
Nixa and Ozark are still my favorite locations and we are slowly looking in to Republic.

My older kids were both in the high school marching band here when they were in high school and we would compete at festivals and competitions with schools in the Springfield areas as well. We did some comparisons then too.

Hoping to know more in the near months to come.