Looking for advice from KC residents

KC Kings · 06-06-2005, 08:37 AM

I am in the process of moving, and just bought a new house last week. Both sides of the state line have thier advantages and disadvantages.

If you have kids schools are important, and I found a couple of different ratings systems, and the best rated school district (gold medal) included Blue Valley KS, Olathe KS, Piper KS, Park Hill MO, Blue Springs MO, Liberty MO, and Lees Summit MO. Missouri locations are scattered, but most of Johnson county Kansas is covered.

If you live in KCMO or if you work in KCMO, you pay 1% income tax which covers trash pick-up, (probably covers more but that is all you will see).

North of the River on the MO side is Clay county, and it is the fastest growing county in Missouri, and it is very nice with the average new house in the low 200's. If you move to the Missouri side you will have to be picky about where you live, but if you move to KS in Johnson county there are really no "bad" neighborhoods.

However, in Johnson county you will be paying about 1/3rd more in taxes than you will on the Missouri side. For homes in the low 200's Jackson/Clay county taxes are aprox $2400 per year, but Johnson county was over $3,000 and Wyandotte County (Piper district) was even higher than that.

Johnson County is closer to everything milage wise, but 435 and I-35 suck for traffic. I looked for houses in all of these school districts for over 3 months, and finally decided on a house in KCMO but Liberty school district, which is only 23 miles from downtown KC Kansas and 21 miles from Westport. Traffic across the Northland is also a lot lighter than JOCO, so 23 miles will take 30 minutes tops, while 23 miles up from Olathe can be a nightmare for traffic on I-35.

The house we bought was under $215k, 4 bedroom, 3 full bath, 3 car garage, 2400 square feet, oversized lot, and only 11 months old, (seller was transferred). You will not be able to find anything close to that size of house for that price in KS. But, driving to our house on the way down 291 there there is a farm and a trailer park, so if paying 20k more for a house and $100 more a month in taxes to live in a city where there are no blemishes but the houses are so close you can piss out your window and hit the neighbors house, you should move to the KS side.

If you need a good realtor with tons of patience, and doesn't mind when at the last minute he is asked to spend 24 hours over Memorial Day weekend house hunting, let me know. He also can get you a personal webpage where you can customize your own list of houses, he can set you up with that even if you don't sign him as your agent.

06-06-2005, 08:37 AM	#34
KC Kings Veteran Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: KC Casino cash: $10004900	I am in the process of moving, and just bought a new house last week. Both sides of the state line have thier advantages and disadvantages. If you have kids schools are important, and I found a couple of different ratings systems, and the best rated school district (gold medal) included Blue Valley KS, Olathe KS, Piper KS, Park Hill MO, Blue Springs MO, Liberty MO, and Lees Summit MO. Missouri locations are scattered, but most of Johnson county Kansas is covered. If you live in KCMO or if you work in KCMO, you pay 1% income tax which covers trash pick-up, (probably covers more but that is all you will see). North of the River on the MO side is Clay county, and it is the fastest growing county in Missouri, and it is very nice with the average new house in the low 200's. If you move to the Missouri side you will have to be picky about where you live, but if you move to KS in Johnson county there are really no "bad" neighborhoods. However, in Johnson county you will be paying about 1/3rd more in taxes than you will on the Missouri side. For homes in the low 200's Jackson/Clay county taxes are aprox $2400 per year, but Johnson county was over $3,000 and Wyandotte County (Piper district) was even higher than that. Johnson County is closer to everything milage wise, but 435 and I-35 suck for traffic. I looked for houses in all of these school districts for over 3 months, and finally decided on a house in KCMO but Liberty school district, which is only 23 miles from downtown KC Kansas and 21 miles from Westport. Traffic across the Northland is also a lot lighter than JOCO, so 23 miles will take 30 minutes tops, while 23 miles up from Olathe can be a nightmare for traffic on I-35. The house we bought was under $215k, 4 bedroom, 3 full bath, 3 car garage, 2400 square feet, oversized lot, and only 11 months old, (seller was transferred). You will not be able to find anything close to that size of house for that price in KS. But, driving to our house on the way down 291 there there is a farm and a trailer park, so if paying 20k more for a house and $100 more a month in taxes to live in a city where there are no blemishes but the houses are so close you can piss out your window and hit the neighbors house, you should move to the KS side. If you need a good realtor with tons of patience, and doesn't mind when at the last minute he is asked to spend 24 hours over Memorial Day weekend house hunting, let me know. He also can get you a personal webpage where you can customize your own list of houses, he can set you up with that even if you don't sign him as your agent.
Posts: 4,348