All Forum Posts by: Marissa Carroll

I personally stay away from that area. I would consider it slumy. The first thing I do when I see a property that seems very affordable is put the address in several crime mapping services. There are three different ones I use across the Kansas city area, since different municipalities report to different services. If the crime seems non-existent, use a different mapping service. Even really nice areas have some crime. Look at schools too. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking that neighborhood shows 1s on the "great schools" rating site. Not that it's the end all be all, but it gives you an idea.

Just my two cents on the area. Hope it's helpful. There are plenty of areas around town where the prices seem too good to be true, because they basically are.

Good luck!

Definitely do the radon testing. It's the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers, and most of the kansas city area is generally above the average EPA allowable limit.

I've lived at several apartments in Kansas City, and all of them have raised rent $20 at various price points... so make what you will out of of that. It's 2.5% of my current rent.

@Kathleen Leary Interesting. The last apartment complex I rented from in Overland Park required renters insurance of which I had to show proof. Most the others have just strongly suggested it.

@Michael Lewis - Depends on the windows. 10K is one the higher end but it's not unreasonable for certain brands.

If you're just doing basic residential drawings and 3D visualization, sketchup might work for you. It's inexpensive and easy to use. If you need professional drawings, you might just contract them out instead of buying the software.

Definitely not. Companies are hiring like crazy where I live. Also, in my field (construction industry), our work is some of the first to dry up at the beginning of a downturn and the last to come back after a recession. We can hardly keep up with the work coming our way. I've talked to a lot of people in my industry and we think there might be another two years or so. It feels like 05/06 to us.

Congrats @Laura H. ! That's a great price for Lee's Summit. I see you have $9k for your rehab. Is that pretty close to what you actually spent? I'm curious since I think I have a tendency to over estimate that line item. 

@Yuki Chan There is both a Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO. Generally when people are talking about Kansas City, they mean the Missouri one. Hope that helps.

Welcome to the forum @Steve Sabol. Any idea what type of properties you're looking to BRRR?

Good luck from one newbie to another!