Why Kansas City?

Kansas City Real Estate Investing

Here you will find even more info on the differences between Kansas & Missouri regarding both real estate and culture.

It has been my great pleasure to help people from all over the country purchase investment real estate here in Greater Kansas City.  Or more specifically, Blue Springs, Kansas City, Lee’s Summit and Independence, Missouri.  And also Kansas City, Overland Park, Lenexa, Olathe and Leawood, Kansas.

The thing that is so difficult for some people to understand about Kansas City real estate investing is how you can come to Kansas City, purchase a property, hire a property manager and still run positive cash flow with as little as 10%-25% down.  But I help people like yourself accomplish this all the time.  Well, no so much in reality.  With today’s financing the income property may cash flow at 10% down but the banks are still going to make you put 20% to 25% down to buy an income property.

If you are checking in from California, Washington, Florida, Maryland or New York (places where other clients of mine are located) then you are going to be pleasantly surprised by what you will find here.  Kansas City traditionally has a stable, educated work force that exceeds the national average in wages. And yet our housing is usually right around the national median, as far as pricing goes.  That is a formula for disposable income.

You might be interested to know that Kansas City has weathered “The Great Recession” better than most cities.  Our unemployment is always well below the national average.  And our housing correction has been more in line with the rest of the Midwest…which has fared relatively well.

(And by Midwest I don’t mean Michigan, Ohio, etc.  Look at a map!!!!!)   🙂

A commercial real estate agent from Kansas City told me that KC has more restaurant seats and shopping center square footage per capita than any other city in America.  Now I have not verified this, but it sounds right.  Excellent school districts, four seasons, college sports, professional sports and a wide array of the arts also help to attract a diverse workforce.

Some of the larger employers in Kansas City are headed by Sprint/Nextel and followed by Kansas City Southern (railroads), Garmin, YRC Worldwide (trucking), Cerner, DST and more. I hope you notice a nice mix of older/traditional business and new technology.  Ford & GM also have plants here that have been recently upgraded.

We don’t get the great swings the coastal states get, either up or down.  I know there are a lot of advantages to timing the markets out on the coasts.  But we have also seen first hand what happens when the coasts lead us into irrational times.  We went from irrationally optimistic to down right devastated.  Here in Kansas City?  Well, the real estate investors that bought sensible neighborhood rental properties and bought them on sensible numbers have done quite well, thank you. 

Long term residential real estate investing is what I urge my clients to consider.  A favorite strategy is to hold a property 6-8 years and then use a 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange (see more info elsewhere on this website) to leverage yourself into more holdings.  Eventually there will come a time when you may prefer to pay down your mortgages as quickly as possible to hold some units free and clear.  That will all depend on your individualized needs and goals.  Goals I can help you with.

Look at Kansas City very closely and I think that you will agree that it is a great place to put at least some of your real estate portfolio.

I really appreciate it.  I have found that it isn’t that easy to find someone who is straight-forward and honest in real estate where rather large dollars are involved.  Thanks for being that honest resource. – Jim W.