Advice on Good Areas to Buy a Home in the Area

Updated on August 10, 2006
A.R. asks from Olathe, KS
11 answers

We moved here from Plano, TX and thought we found "our home". After praying about it for a while now, we have decided to look around for a while. Our dilemma is that we are not familiar to the area and not sure where we want to buy. We have also done some serious soul searching and decided we want to ease up on the more "pricey" homes that we were interested in and focus on having more free cash to do fun things with our children. I add that so it might spark some ideas in nice communities that are still reasonable. I know this can be a huge range and without going into detail on how much we would like to spend, I would just appreciate some feedback on this from anyone who knows the area fairly well or who may have just recently been house hunting as well! Thank you, A.

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So What Happened?

Well, we put an offer on a home in the community of Parkside at Arlington Park! Thanks for the advice...I really appreciated it!

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L.T.

answers from Kansas City on

Try Carriage Crossing. We're on 130th Terrace and love it! The houses were built in the late 80s-early 90s so the area is well established with no construction. There are a few houses for sale in the 290-330k range. We're in Blue Valley school district and it's in the top three in the state (if not the top). We're close to everything, too. I can refer a couple of realtors if you need one of those as well.

We just moved here in November from VA and absolutely love the area!!!

Good Luck!

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J.R.

answers from Kansas City on

We just bought our 2nd house due to size constraints after our 2nd child. We moved from a great area to an even better area and are both very familiar with the Overland Park/Kansas City area. I have a great agent that was super helpful to work with. If you would like to give me a few details, I'd be happy to help in any way I can.

J.

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S.

answers from Kansas City on

A.: We moved almost a year ago from McKinney up to this area. We chose to live in Shawnee for many reasons. One was the price of the homes (you get a lot for your money), the schools (awesome) and the overall feel of the people here. We looked in Overland Park as well but felt that the homes were more pricey than here. But don't get me wrong, you really can't go wrong anywhere in Johnson County. Anyway, you can send me a private email if you just want to talk about moving from TX to KS, I'd love to hear from you!

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C.P.

answers from Kansas City on

A.,

We are getting ready to sell our home by owner. It is in Olathe near Kohl's on 135th in a neighborhood built in the late 90's that is full of trees. It is a gorgeous neighborhood that also is near I-35 and shopping. We have 4 BR, 3 1/2 baths with a HUGE backyard, huge deck, and a finished basement with a wetbar, full bath, and 2 extra rooms to use as an office, playroom, or workout room. We love our house since it is perfect for entertaining but have to move from this 2 story to one level due to our dachshunds' backs being bad. There is a community pool and the Olathe trails are accessed right off our subdivision so it is great for walks and bike rides. Let me know if you would like more info. My phone is ###-###-#### and my email is ____@____.com C.

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A.L.

answers from Kansas City on

My husband is from Texas, and knows the Plano area pretty well. My suggetion to you is to look in Overland Park or Lenexa. Leawood is a beautiful area also, but also very expensive. Check out the Overland Park area (between 95th and 135th). My husband is a mortgage broker is you need one, and we know a lot of real estate agents.

A.

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R.H.

answers from Kansas City on

Hi A.. My husband and I have been looking at houses all over Johnson Cty for the past year. Yep. A long time to be looking. we finally decided on a custom build by a new builder. My husband looks into everything when considering where to build. Schools, shopping, if roads will be widened nearby, what is or will be in the backyard, size vs. cost, you name it, we probably know.

We currently live in Olathe but will be putting our house up for sale within the next couple weeks then move into an apt while our house is being built. We are at about 159th and Blackbob/Lackman and are building in a new division across from Heritage Park (literally 1/4 mile up the road from where we are now. There are a lot of new divisions going up on 159th. If you would like more information, please shoot me an email with your number and I can give you a call. ____@____.com

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L.A.

answers from Kansas City on

Hi A., welcome to the KC area. We moved here from Lewisville TX!

It depends on where you're looking. I live in what would be considered "North Overland Park" and I love it. We're around 95th and Antioch/Switzer. The homes are older, 30-40 years, but very well built and have been maintained well. I've been in this house 9 years, and the only major thing I've had to do is replace the roof. The elementary schools are smaller, and we've loved ours (Pawnee). We have a nice mix of neighbors as far as ages and diversity and I know all the neighbors on my street, and some of the ones behind me. I think the trend here is to move "out south" and some of these older, established areas are overlooked. BTW, I paid 113,000 for this house 9 years ago, and recently had it appraised for $175,000. Not bad!

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L.R.

answers from Kansas City on

A. - I work for a real estate company. I would be happy to have the top agent call you.

L.

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T.O.

answers from Kansas City on

We have recently been house hunting as well and thought for the money and the school quality south western Johnson county was the bet buy. We looked at homes in Olathe, Gardner and Spring Hill. We liked Olathe the best it has all the ammenities we want near by, great schools, nice parks and friendly people. Good luck in your home search.

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N.

answers from Kansas City on

I am not sure what your range is, but there are several communities in the Stilwell/Stanley area of Overland Park that are pretty reasonable. Hampton Place has a nice range, Wilderness is nice, Regency by the Lake is nice. It is next to a very nice community, Lionsgate. Speaking of Lionsgate. That is a very nice area with a lot of children. The homes run from the high end of these other neighborhoods to very expensive. There is a very large range. Anyway, I hope that helps. Basically, most of the neighborhoods south of 135th street between Nall and Switzer are all desirable and all have a lot of young kids. You just pick the price range you are comfortable with. The neighborhoods between 135th and North to 110th Street are nice as well. You can probably find a bigger home for the dollar. These will be a little older 10-20 year old homes. They are nice neighborhoods as well, just not as many children. The kids are all a little older, more in line with the age of the homes. Hope that helps.

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D.O.

answers from Kansas City on

Hi A. -
My name is D. and I live in Gardner. We use to live in Overland park, but moved to Gardner and built our home in 2002 in a brand new sub-division - Willow Springs. But there are SO MANY new hmoes going up in Gardner, that I don't even know the name of half of the subdivisions. I think I have to agree with Tara O. and her advice on Gardner, Olathe and Springhill. I will mention that the only for-seeable drawback for these areas, is the intermodal that BNSF is trying to build west of Gardner. This will included increased truck traffic (mainly in Gardner - but will also increase highway traffic as well)....but it is not a done deal yet.....We love the area we are in, and there are a TON of young families moving in. The starting price ranges for homes in our subdivision (to build) is upper 150's - but that would probably just be the basic model. If you need a GREAT realtor, I would HIGHLY suggest Karen Barber who works at Reece & Nichols in Gardner. She also became a friend of ours after the sale of our prior home and purchase of new home - she will work hard and do the best for you...I Promise!!! Good luck on your search. Let me know if I can help you with any other questions!!!!!

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