The Best Value Properties in Independence, MO
• • ☕️ 4 min read • By Noah Blumberg •
Two different services, the Motley Fool and PolicyGenius, have designated Independence, Missouri one of the best places to to invest in real estate in 2022. The Motley Fool seems to be taking cues directly from PolicyGenius's article so perhaps it's a bit of a retelling situation, but both companies put their names on the claim. PolicyGenius is very explicit with its numbers to demonstrate its point. Independence, MO has low rental vacancy, low prices, low taxes, and strong home value appreciation.
Independence has a population of about 120,000 and is a suburb of Kansas City, MO. On top of the attractive financial situation in Independence, it's also a highly ranked area in which to live. We wrote about nearby Overland Park, KS, another Kansas City suburb, recently because it was ranked as one of the best places to live in 2022.
The Independence Housing Market by the Numbers
Although the data is a few years old, HomeArea.com has some interesting data on Independence. Among cities in Missouri, Independence is the place where it's most attractive to buy rather than rent. The price to rent ratio was 14.5 which is essentially saying it would take 14.5 years for the median rent to eclipse the median price for a real estate property. This is a relatively short time, thereby making buying a much better deal. Anything higher than a 20 price to rent ratio can indicate a bubble and unfavorable buying conditions.
The data makes a pretty compelling case for Independence. As opposed to looking at the price to rent ratio, PolicyGenius takes an updated look at the inverse —rent to home value ratio, which is 6.25%. Rent is still on pace with prices, indicating favorable conditions for buying a rental. The price for the median real estate property is low at $165,000. Appreciation is strong at 68%, the effective property tax rate is low at 1.33%, and rental vacancy is low at 4.9%.
The Properties
A look at recent property sales puts the median value property values at $165,000, but as you can see from our list, the set of properties currently for sale has a median value of $172,000. It's a small sample size but it could be telling us that, as the experts predicted, real estate prices are going up.
One surprising thing is the median square feet for homes in our list. 1398 square feet is lower than we're used to seeing. There are lots of small homes in the area in addition to some truly huge ones on the top end.
The #1 property looks like quite a deal. 10 bedrooms in recent construction for $630,000. As is sometimes the case, details are sketchy for the property. It's listed as a condo but the description says it's townhomes. It's likely a multi-family property, perhaps 5 2-bedroom units, which could make for a wise investment given the good real estate market conditions for buyers looking to rent.
Here are the top 50 properties. To see them all or get a list for another city, order a custom list!| Median List Price | Median Sqft | Median Lot Size(SqFt) | Median HOA Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| $172,000 | 1,399 | 8,712 | $200 |
| Score** | Property | ZipX** | Type | Beds | SqFt | Lot Size(sqft) | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55.14 | 2929 S Harvard Ave | 1.25 | condo | 10 | 6060 | 17,424 | $630,000 |
| 46.37 | 15900 E Salisbury Rd | 1.25 | single family | 5 | 2212 | 217,364 | $379,000 |
| 45.52 | 19101 Holke Rd | 1.36 | single family | 4 | 1354 | 27,878 | $100,000 |
| 44.63 | 213 S Crysler Ave | 1.25 | single family | 4 | 2932 | 4,986 | $175,000 |
| 40.26 | 3500 S McCoy St | 1.27 | single family | 3 | 2301 | 7,841 | $130,000 |
| 38.75 | 326 N Ash Ave | 1.30 | single family | 2 | 1310 | 4,250 | $68,000 |
| 35.78 | 1822 N Redwood Dr | 1.29 | single family | 5 | 7164 | 40,057 | $670,000 |
| 34.78 | 808 W 31st St | 1.27 | single family | 4 | 3188 | 21,780 | $259,000 |
| 34.69 | 136 E Nickell Ave | 1.25 | single family | 4 | 2137 | 6,534 | $174,900 |
| 34.47 | 11400 E 13th St S | 1.25 | single family | 2 | 1541 | 10,796 | $99,900 |
| 33.96 | 1208 N Spring St | 1.25 | single family | 3 | 2038 | 8,712 | $145,000 |
| 32.98 | 1825 Rankin Dr | 1.27 | single family | 3 | 2200 | 9,647 | $160,000 |
| 31.85 | 3416 Blue Ridge Blvd | 1.25 | single family | 3 | 2512 | 15,678 | $199,900 |
| 31.03 | 806 S Forest Ave | 1.25 | single family | 2 | 1378 | 6,098 | $100,000 |
| 30.88 | 921 S Hawthorne Ave | 1.30 | single family | 3 | 1946 | 8,712 | $155,000 |
| 30.87 | 612 S Huttig St | 1.30 | single family | 3 | 1012 | 6,254 | $88,500 |
| 30.76 | 12804 E Bowen St | 1.27 | single family | 2 | 2064 | 9,739 | $140,900 |
| 30.56 | 316 W Sea Ave | 1.25 | multi family | 0 | 3546 | 8,712 | $160,000 |
| 30.35 | 1819 Indian Ave | 1.36 | single family | 4 | 2132 | 11,462 | $209,900 |
| 30.24 | 816 S Kisner Dr | 1.21 | single family | 4 | 3120 | 8,496 | $265,900 |
| 29.89 | 411 E Hereford Ave | 1.27 | single family | 1 | 660 | 14,591 | $60,000 |
| 28.45 | 1107 S Cottage St | 1.25 | single family | 3 | 1050 | 17,531 | $110,000 |
| 28.29 | 1912 S Evanston Ave | 1.25 | single family | 1 | 624 | 5,309 | $45,000 |
| 27.55 | 1110 W 24th St S | 1.25 | single family | 3 | 1747 | 11,934 | $170,000 |
| 26.00 | 1807 S Overton Ave | 1.25 | single family | 2 | 875 | 5,803 | $75,000 |
| 25.70 | 2511 Tamaqua Ave | 1.27 | single family | 4 | 2128 | 8,712 | $209,950 |
| 25.70 | 16403 E Ellison Way | 1.27 | single family | 4 | 1986 | 8,816 | $225,000 |
| 25.46 | 1200 E Pacific Ave | 1.25 | single family | 3 | 1024 | 10,711 | $110,000 |
| 25.26 | 511 E Angus St | 1.27 | single family | 4 | 1408 | 14,407 | $172,500 |
| 25.20 | 108 E College St | 1.25 | single family | 3 | 1422 | 5,140 | $148,900 |
| 25.05 | 11303 E 13th St S | 1.25 | single family | 3 | 1200 | 6,300 | $125,000 |
| 24.84 | 15306 E Swearingen Rd | 1.25 | single family | 3 | 1199 | 86,249 | $229,000 |
| 24.16 | 112 S Huttig Ave | 1.30 | single family | 2 | 840 | 6,970 | $85,000 |
| 23.97 | 12705 E 38th St S | 1.27 | single family | 4 | 2582 | 9,596 | $285,000 |
| 23.86 | 3906 S Sterling St | 1.25 | single family | 2 | 1960 | 69,696 | $279,900 |
| 23.64 | 12300 E 43rd St S Apt 6 | 1.27 | condo | 2 | 1194 | 1,199 | $115,000 |
| 23.63 | 414 S Hocker St | 1.25 | single family | 2 | 914 | 5,454 | $89,900 |
| 23.49 | 123 E Short Ave | 1.25 | single family | 2 | 948 | 6,230 | $99,500 |
| 23.34 | 14600 E 40th Ter S | 1.27 | single family | 3 | 1998 | 8,314 | $210,000 |
| 21.91 | 3907 Crestview Dr | 1.25 | single family | 2 | 1156 | 9,623 | $125,000 |
| 21.66 | 712 N Liberty St | 1.25 | single family | 3 | 1644 | 7,928 | $200,000 |
| 21.55 | 3312 S Mark Twain Ave | 1.46 | single family | 4 | 2448 | 9,350 | $365,000 |
| 21.11 | 1121 S Main St | 1.25 | single family | 4 | 1914 | 19,608 | $275,000 |
| 20.98 | 805 N Apache Dr | 1.21 | single family | 3 | 2061 | 12,491 | $239,500 |
| 20.75 | 520 S Arlington Ave | 1.30 | single family | 2 | 868 | 7,218 | $100,000 |
| 20.75 | 18812 E 19th Ter S | 1.36 | single family | 4 | 2305 | 10,309 | $324,900 |
| 20.68 | 1203 W Waldo Ave | 1.25 | single family | 3 | 1244 | 9,148 | $149,900 |
| 20.58 | 719 N Spring St | 1.25 | single family | 3 | 1178 | 7,327 | $148,000 |
| 20.57 | 221 N Davidson Ave | 1.21 | single family | 3 | 1104 | 10,019 | $129,900 |
| 20.57 | 1822 N Dover St | 1.29 | single family | 4 | 2120 | 7,841 | $279,900 |