Mission Hills #3 richest neighborhood in america?

[mister816]

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/ar ... estate-buy

i'm not much for starting topics, but this kind of shocked me and i thought i'd share.

[trailerkid]

why is this shocking?

[Highlander]

why is this shocking?

I think it has ranked high for a very long time.  It's small and totally developed so no room left for lower rent greenfield development that would dilute the income bracket. 

The biggest surprise might be because wages are lower in the Midwest relative to the coasts but another midwest burb, Westlake in Dallas, ranked #1.    Personally, I love the look of the place with the stately homes among wooded hilly terrain.  So much nicer than some of the newer ritzy places like Cedar Creek and Hallbrook.   

[moosnsqrl]

I found it surprising that any place in TX or KS beats out Beverly Hills/Pacific Palisades/Brentwood or Westchester/Hamptons/???. Mission Hills is beautiful but seems like a big fish/small pond situation. Big money on both coasts just seems so much, well, bigger. I guess it's my innate midwestern sense of inferiority at work.

[chrizow]

i think the two main factors being measured here are household income, and homogeneity.  i would expect that places like beverly hills or "old money" east coast haunts would not register too strongly using such a measurement because there may not be much "income" to measure - i.e. too many people who earn essentially $0 per year in ages but have $40M in the bank.  by contrast, your mission hills, kenilworths, and westlakes may contain comparatively higher percentages of actual wage-earners and less trust fund/investment-scheme/old money skaters.  just a theory.  

[droopy]

i think the two main factors being measured here are household income, and homogeneity.  i would expect that places like beverly hills or "old money" east coast haunts would not register too strongly using such a measurement because there may not be much "income" to measure - i.e. too many people who earn essentially $0 per year in ages but have $40M in the bank.  by contrast, your mission hills, kenilworths, and westlakes may contain comparatively higher percentages of actual wage-earners and less trust fund/investment-scheme/old money skaters.  just a theory.  

My initial reaction was surprise as well, but then I rationalized it as chrizow did.  Basically, most in Mission Hills are earning a more traditional income via employment and paying taxes on it rather than "old money" in tax shelters.

[ignatius]

I've always thought Mission Hills is/was actually mostly 'old money' compared to Leawood/Halbrook, etc..  Income on investments still counts as household income.

[chingon]

Mission Hills might be old money by KC standards (i.e., compared to Hallbrook or the Links at watersdown at shillford of avon on the tine of Stillwell), but I think KC old money is what real old money would hire to handle their money.

[bobbyhawks]

Mission Hills might be old money by KC standards (i.e., compared to Hallbrook or the Links at watersdown at shillford of avon on the tine of Stillwell), but I think KC old money is what real old money would hire to handle their money.

That sounds correct to me.  I would guess there are probably a few hundred people or families in KC that have the kind of cash they can hand down for multiple generations without anyone even thinking of trying to work.  That said, I think there are only a handful of people in that group who decide to be completely worthless.  MH is so small and there really aren't any crappy parts.  Beverly Hills is 10x the size by population and is bound to have a few areas that bring down the average income.  As for places like the Hamptons, I doubt that is the primary residence for most people with homes there.  Just a guess, though.

[Highlander]

MH is so small and there really aren't any crappy parts.  Beverly Hills is 10x the size by population and is bound to have a few areas that bring down the average income.  As for places like the Hamptons, I doubt that is the primary residence for most people with homes there.  Just a guess, though.

I think you've hit the nail on the head.  It's only a few thousand people and totally landlocked.  It cannot grow into crappy neighborhoods nor is there any room left for measley 350,000$ homes to start cropping up.    Even larger Leawood incorporates some pretty dismal housing just south of 75th along state line diluting its per capita wealth.  That's why OP has really sagged lately in the richest communities rankings, it's just too big. 

[bobbyhawks]

That's why OP has really sagged lately in the richest communities rankings, it's just too big.

Sure, but I doubt you could find any subregion of OP or Leawood, if you took a cookie cutter of MH and plopped it on the map, that has even half of the total wealth per mile.  We like to compare neighborhoods in KC, but in reality, there is one super rich neighborhood (with some of the MO side of that same hood mixed in) and a handful of other really really nice neighborhoods that have a few super rich people in them.

[aknowledgeableperson]

It cannot grow into crappy neighborhoods nor is there any room left for measley 350,000$ homes to start cropping up.    Even larger Leawood incorporates some pretty dismal housing just south of 75th along state line diluting its per capita wealth. 

In some cases MH houses have been bought and torn down to be replaced by a bigger house.  And some have bought adjoining lots that were rather small to tear down and build bigger.  That's how they take care of the crappy and the $350,000 houses.

[drumatix]

Anyone know the down & dirty details of how Kansas' unlimited homestead exemption for bankruptcy cases works? As I understand it, the big ritzy homes in Mission Hills can't be seized if the owner's declare bankruptcy. Is your company going down the tubes? Quickt... dump all of your assets into real estate.

[bobbyhawks]

Anyone know the down & dirty details of how Kansas' unlimited homestead exemption for bankruptcy cases works? As I understand it, the big ritzy homes in Mission Hills can't be seized if the owner's declare bankruptcy. Is your company going down the tubes? Quickt... dump all of your assets into real estate.

I think in Kansas the place has to be your primary residence and bankruptcy does not absolve you of mortgage and loan payments on the property.  I don't believe you are able to turn around and sell that house for profit, but you are able to maintain your residence (and continue to pay property taxes).  I'm no lawyer, though.

http://www.bankruptcylawnetwork.com/200 ... ankruptcy/

I'm not sure how it works anymore, but Florida used to be known as the most generous on this end.  There is an amazing history of scandalous people suddenly moving to Florida.  I think this happened in some of the Tyco/Enron/Worldcomm cases, as well as with OJ Simpson.

[FangKC]

Mission Hills confronts McMansion issue.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/27/32 ... -over.html

[WSPanic]

Mo' money, mo' problems.