Buy & Hold in Kansas City? Hanover Place/Hyde Park vs Waldo?

[April O'Hare]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first time posting on bigger pockets although I've been lurking and reading and listening to a bunch of the podcasts. My husband and I are interested in buying an investment SFH here in Kansas City and we've done a lot of scouring of the areas and think we have our top locations narrowed down.

I think we know which direction we're leaning toward in regard to area but I'd love to hear some other opinions from the local people in the know since we aren't from here.

So my question is which location is more attractive to buy and hold in.  i.e. Which one do you think has the bigger potential for appreciation?  I know KC is more known as being a cash flow type of place and you shouldn't count on appreciation but if you had to guess?  I know which one I suspect of being best for this but wanted some unbiased responses to compare to my own pretty uninformed opinion, :)  

A.)  Hyde Park/Hanover Place area of town

-I personally love this area.  It's historical while being super close (walking distance even!) to Westport.  

B.)  Waldo

-To me this one seems rather far from the action but seems to be a perennial favorite in KC?  Clearly a great family location.

and just to throw a wrench into things a little, what about

C.) Longfellow (Hospital Hill?) 

I also dig the proximity of this location to Crossroads/downtown but it seems smaller and sleepier than Hyde Park.  

I'd love to hear your thoughts!  Thank you for reading!

[Matt Pritchard]

@April O'Hare I second what @Andrew Syrios said.  I think Waldo would be my first choice.  Also, admittedly, I don't know enough about Hospital Hill.  Hyde Park would work for having multiple units in an existing larger house.  But be careful on zoning.  They're picky.  Waldo rehabs are simple and easy.  

Everyone expects basements to leak a bit, so don't mess with finishing those.  Usually, they have nice hardwoods and some good looking trim work.  

I think Waldo and Hyde Park are near their full potential on values in the KC Market.  I think they'll grow in step with other parts.  Probably not looking at either of them being a big boom area.