Help finding a home.

[musclesprout]

Well… I suppose after years of lurking (bar one incidental post a few months ago) I suppose it’s time to go to the experts for some advice concerning my current situation. I currently live downtown. My wife and I are renting a wonderful place at the Library Lofts. It’s truly a great place. I’ve been a tenant here for over a year now, and after considering a move to the redone lofts on Walnut, they cut us an excellent deal when signing our next years lease. It’s a perfect location as well seeing as we both work in the loop. As great as it is however, I can’t get over the nagging feeling that I’m throwing money away by renting when we could just as easily be making house payments. Even worse, we would like to buy a place in the city, and I believe the house prices will only be going up over the next few years considering the resurgence of life going on in KC. Which brings me (sorry for the detour) to my question: what neighborhoods should we check out and why?

Before you answer, here is a little more about our situation and a bit about our thought process thus far. First of all, we both work in the loop, so considering we like to use our car as little as possible, that’s a consideration. We pull in an annual salary in the mid 60k range, and are looking for a place in the 100,000 to 150,000 range. We also have lived pretty meager the last few years and therefore have no outstanding debt (no student loans, no car payments etc) and have put aside a healthy chunk of money to get the home purchase started.

One catch I guess would be that we are looking to have kids (one or two) in the relatively near future (3 years maybe?) That means we’ll be looking for three bedrooms at least (thus more than likely pushing the condo idea out the window). Night life is not too important seeing as neither of us is into the bar scene. Not that we don’t go out, it’s just when we do go out we tend to gravitate towards the more low key locations (of which thankfully River Market has several). Same with shopping; we tend to prefer smaller quirkier stores than larger shopping areas. We also prefer using public transportation when possible and bike most places in the area we go to, so proximity to buses is a consideration as well.

Our thoughts so far? First decision I suppose was city or suburb. Parkville was the only suburb we considered, and we put some serious thought into it. Nice place, good schools, close to work, nice park, older homes… still can’t get over the feeling we’d still feel disconnected from the city and regret living there. It’s still an idea, but it’s kind of on the back burner for now. In terms of in the city? Looked at the northeast and really liked what we saw. Close to the river market, close to downtown, home prices weren’t bad although some places looked like they could use more work than we could reasonably supply (we got plenty of home lovin to give, but we’re not the handiest couple in the world). The only other place we’ve looked is around the Roanoke Park area. Some places were really nice. Loved the idea of being close to a park; if the city is your backyard, a park close by would be ideal. Also like the idea of living in Westport, but a bit further away from the bar area (again, not anti-bar scene, just have no need to live near it). And that’s about it, and that’s where I’m looking for advice.

Anywhere else you’d suggest looking? Anything I’m forgetting to take into consideration. Parkville has the schools, but it’s not in the city, living in the city gives the undeniable “city for your back yard feelâ€

[ComandanteCero]

What school district serves Waldo?

[Boognish]

KCMO serves most of Waldo - that's where I lived and where I went to school.

Great post - glad to see you delurk (again!) Don't let anyone give you crap about anything that gets said, people take things way too seriously. For your price range, have you considered North Kansas City? It's very close to downtown, has great bus service, and good schools and great walkable amenities in their own right. For your particular situation (including the school issue), I can't shake that being your best bet, for my money.

[skim82]

hmm... well,


Are you sure you would'nt consider a condo right now?  B/c if you don't plan to have kids for awhile, then that is probably your best bet. 

The Quality Hill area is awesome.  However, it's going to be tough to find anything larger than 2 bedrooms inside the loop for under $150,000.  Trust me, I've looked.  Have you ever considered Fairway?  I love the smaller homes and the close proximity to the Plaza and DT.  They also have great schools, I believe Shawnee Mission. 

Also, i keep hearing about the Columbus Park area... might want to check that out... just please keep in mind that you have 9 months to move to a suburban home if she does get pregnant... maybe you should focus more on the possible appreciation in $ of your next investment instead of worrying 3 years out...  You can't predict the future, but one thing is for sure, even if you get a 2 br. condo/loft downtown, it will appreciate very nicely IMHO within a couple of years.

[Sportster]

O.K. (putting on my cheerleading outfit) 

I'd take a good strong look at Historic Northeast. Overlook what the suburban trogs are saying about it and take a drive through on a Sunday afternoon. PM KC Realtor and have him show you some homes in your price range over in this neck of the woods - there are plenty with tons of charm and would suit your needs and likes. Hell, PM me and I'll show you around some afternoon if you like!

Scarritt is a pretty social group and there's a group of us who get together every 6 weeks or so for cocktails and trading "war" stories from the neighborhood. 

As for schools - with the $$$ you save on ptoperty taxes and the like, send em to a charter or private school. Depending on your level of tolerance, some of K.C.'s elementary schools over here aren't bad. But once you get to middle school, its time to go provate or parochial.

These threads are an excellent way for people to not only get acquainted with the urban core, but also a great way to introduce people to new neighborhoods and trade great information.

Sportster
...gimme an n-o-r-t-h-e-a, aww screw it, come and visit, it ain't that bad! 

[bahua]

If you want your kids to get a good education without your help, live in the suburbs. If you want a richer quality of life until you have kids, or if you want to send your kids to private school, live in the city.

[nota]

I live in the Parkville area and we love it.

That said, I doubt that you would be as happy if you both work every day DT.

Parkville has all the daily amenities and more and the traffic into the city isn't really terrible compared to many large cities, but you just sound like city people.

If you have any Parkville questions, PM me. I'd be glad to answer.

[KCRealtor]

[quote="musclesprout"]
Well… I suppose after years of lurking (bar one incidental post a few months ago) I suppose it’s time to go to the experts for some advice concerning my current situation. I currently live downtown. My wife and I are renting a wonderful place at the Library Lofts. It’s truly a great place. I’ve been a tenant here for over a year now, and after considering a move to the redone lofts on Walnut, they cut us an excellent deal when signing our next years lease. It’s a perfect location as well seeing as we both work in the loop. As great as it is however, I can’t get over the nagging feeling that I’m throwing money away by renting when we could just as easily be making house payments. Even worse, we would like to buy a place in the city, and I believe the house prices will only be going up over the next few years considering the resurgence of life going on in KC. Which brings me (sorry for the detour) to my question: what neighborhoods should we check out and why?

Before you answer, here is a little more about our situation and a bit about our thought process thus far. First of all, we both work in the loop, so considering we like to use our car as little as possible, that’s a consideration. We pull in an annual salary in the mid 60k range, and are looking for a place in the 100,000 to 150,000 range. We also have lived pretty meager the last few years and therefore have no outstanding debt (no student loans, no car payments etc) and have put aside a healthy chunk of money to get the home purchase started.

One catch I guess would be that we are looking to have kids (one or two) in the relatively near future (3 years maybe?) That means we’ll be looking for three bedrooms at least (thus more than likely pushing the condo idea out the window). Night life is not too important seeing as neither of us is into the bar scene. Not that we don’t go out, it’s just when we do go out we tend to gravitate towards the more low key locations (of which thankfully River Market has several). Same with shopping; we tend to prefer smaller quirkier stores than larger shopping areas. We also prefer using public transportation when possible and bike most places in the area we go to, so proximity to buses is a consideration as well.

Our thoughts so far? First decision I suppose was city or suburb. Parkville was the only suburb we considered, and we put some serious thought into it. Nice place, good schools, close to work, nice park, older homes… still can’t get over the feeling we’d still feel disconnected from the city and regret living there. It’s still an idea, but it’s kind of on the back burner for now. In terms of in the city? Looked at the northeast and really liked what we saw. Close to the river market, close to downtown, home prices weren’t bad although some places looked like they could use more work than we could reasonably supply (we got plenty of home lovin to give, but we’re not the handiest couple in the world). The only other place we’ve looked is around the Roanoke Park area. Some places were really nice. Loved the idea of being close to a park; if the city is your backyard, a park close by would be ideal. Also like the idea of living in Westport, but a bit further away from the bar area (again, not anti-bar scene, just have no need to live near it). And that’s about it, and that’s where I’m looking for advice.

Anywhere else you’d suggest looking? Anything I’m forgetting to take into consideration. Parkville has the schools, but it’s not in the city, living in the city gives the undeniable “city for your back yard feelâ€