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Armour Boulevard is an area of Kansas City that once was plagued with rampant crime and decrepit buildings, but these days, the area has changed to one of the bourgeois areas of town where  new apartment buildings draw young professionals and a cleaned up residential demographic. One of the groups credited with the transformation of the neighborhood is Antheus Capital who began investing $100 million into the area in the form of renovations in twenty four buildings along Armour Boulevard since 2006. Once final, the group will have created 1,500 market-rate apartment units in midtown. Currently, more than 1,200 new residents are occupying these spaces.

Choosing where to live in Kansas City is a complicated process, considering that there are many neighborhoods within the city and also several in the outlying sub-cities. Armour has undergone a significant makeover in the recent decade, appealing to many 20-somethings who enjoy jogging outdoors or have dogs they take out walking at night. Rents are reasonable, with one bedroom units available around $600 per month.

Crime has dropped significantly as development has progressed and the building appealed to recent grads thanks to the Teach for America group that helped young people spread the word about new and affordable housing options. Newer buildings are raking in $950 for a one bedroom and offer amenities like a gym, a pool, movie theater, and club room. Despite the growth, there are still a few Section 8 properties on the street that have proven to cause a few problems.

Blight and poverty are never really a good look for a neighborhood, and aside from statistically raising the crime, it also lessens the value of maintained homes in the area. Here in Kansas City, the neighborhood known as Town Fork Creek is one of these areas transitioning into an undesirable region as more and more homes are boarded up, lawns run overgrown, and houses continually get abandoned. A

side from turning off potential residents from moving into the area, it makes current residents stuck. Vacant homes are breeding grounds for violence, homeless inhabitance, and drug use. The Kansas City movers have learned that the Missouri Abandoned Housing Act will likely come to the neighborhood’s aid to take properties for rehabbing from absentee/irresponsible owners.

In order to be eligible for the group’s assistance, a property has to be vacant for six months, delinquent on property taxes, and be deemed as a nuisance to the community. So far, the agency has made an agreement with Legal Aid of Western Missouri to open 60 cases each year to fight these properties, followed by filing lawsuits in at least 15 cases in an effort to transform blighted neighborhoods in the metro area. There are hundreds of homes already in this state that qualify, so the need to begin the process is urgent.

The metro Kansas City market had a great month this past August, with the Home Builder Association of Greater Kansas City sharing that there were 354 single-family permits issued last month—bringing the total for the year up to 2,710 permits, which is a 33.7 percent leap over 2012 and the strongest performing year thus far since 2007. In addition, Jackson and Johnson counties are both posting positive growth by about 40 percent from 2012 numbers, and the apartment aspect of the real estate market is continuing to be strong and growing substantially.

The Lenexa local movers have found that there was a 77.1 percent growth in multi-family residential permits in the area. As far as sales growth, there was a 9 percent rise in residential property sales, and the average sales price was 12 percent higher than 2012 data shows. Also, the supply in the area shows that the local market favors both buyers and sellers, with a healthy supply available but not overly so.

Hopefully the momentum continues, and 2013 proves to be one of the strongest recent years on record. We’ll keep you posted as real estate data pertaining to the local market comes available.

A landmark in the downtown Kansas City area is potentially becoming an apartment complex, according to reports from the Kansas City Star. The building is noted as the first modern skyscraper in the area when it was first erected back in 1965. The building used to serve as the headquarters for Commerce Bank until 1985, and currently sits with a 60 percent vacancy. The remodel will offer a solution aimed at filling the building with residential tenants rather than businesses, and would transform the building into a 265 apartment residential space with a small area of the building delegated to commercial tenants. The Kansas City local movers have learned that the existing state of the building is certainly in limbo, with a special server managing the building now following a loan delinquency by the owner last year.

The current proposal was created by the Kansas City Sustainable Development Partners and it would allot floors 10 through 24 for residential purposes, and leaving floors 2-9 and 25-30 as office space to be leased by local businesses and corporations looking to set up shop in Kansas City. The project is predicted to cost $71 million and is up for consideration by the city’s development agency.

A new hotel is planned for downtown Kansas City, according to recent reports in the Kansas City Star which share that a Tennessee developer called Chartwell Hospitality LLC plans to break ground in early 2014 on a 10-story building that would house a Marriott Courtyard and a Residence Inn. The hotel would have over 250 rooms, a 166-space parking garage, and additional yet unconfirmed amenities. The investors feel that the time is right for a new downtown hotel, and they are excited to bring a new development to the area.

The hotel is going to be located in between Main Street and Baltimore Avenue from 16^th Street to Truman Road. It will also be one block east of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and along the new streetcar route that is planned for the Main Street stretch. The buildings in that radius that are not dubbed as historical landmarks will be demolished to make way for the new tower. The cost for the project has not been disclosed, but the funding has not called on city tax breaks and has been supplied by private financing. The Kansas City movers have also learned that the two hotels will be branded separately but share the pool area. The hotel is projected to be completed sometime in 2014 if all goes according to proposed schedule.

Despite a notable housing boom in the Kansas City area, one thing has remained glaringly slow in the midst of the hot market—condos are not feeling the love like apartments and single family homes. While some cities have condos flying off the MLS in record speeds, Kansas City is simply not one of those markets. No new condo projects are planned as of now, and realtors and owners are struggling to sell existing inventory. But why? Well, the local industry insiders attribute this trend to the fact that buying a condo is less appealing in this region to buying a single family home. The Kansas City movers know that densely developed urban areas like Chicago, Miami, and New York are well known for condo developments and high-rises as a preferred residence. Here, however, traditional homes are still relatively inexpensive.

A few years ago, a small condo boom hit Kansas City in areas like Country Club Plaza and downtown. Following the market crash, the impact was less than major metro cities, but the level that condos tanked at that point still lives vividly in the memories of local potential buyers. Condo buyers also face larger down payments due to the historically high foreclosure rate of these types of purchases. This unfortunately also helps perpetuate the cycle, as it makes it more difficult for existing owners to unload property.

In many areas of the country, potential homeowners are in need of a little help to make their dreams of buying a home into a reality. The city of Kansas City, Missouri has created a program called the KC Dream Home Program, which is designed to help low-to-moderate income individuals/families buy their first home. There are a few designated requirements to the program, but overall the Dream Home program seeks to help out a select number of families by working with participating lenders for a second mortgage that is zero percent interest.

One of the requirements of the program is that the home must be in the city limits. Established areas that are desirable for the program are Truman, Swope, Heart of the City, Hickman/Ruskin, Downtown, Briracliff/Winwood, and Citywide. The Kansas City local movers are glad this program seeks to boost the economic independence of families here while also helping to fill vacant homes in these regions.

The program is currently accepting applications. Learn more and apply here: KCMO Official Application Page.

According to real estate data firm RealtyTrac, homes facing foreclosures in the Kansas and Missouri areas has declined from July 2012 to July 2013, marking a continual decline and bringing an optimistic mood to the local real estate market. The Mission Hills local movers have found that foreclosure activity for July 2013 was 64 percent lower than numbers in March 2010, when the housing market was hitting rock bottom following the financial crisis.

In Missouri, problem properties decreased almost 40 percent from July 2012-July 2013. That works out to about one in every 1,405 homes listed as a home in foreclosure proceedings. Nationally, foreclosure rates are improving in most parts of the country, but nine out of ten of the highest foreclosure rates are located in Florida, with the highest number of cases in Miami.

Sometimes, renting is more financially reasonable than buying a home. And in some US cities, your rental dollars can go far in getting you an awesome property for a reasonable price. Kansas City has been noted as the city where renters can actually get the most for their money, according to Zillow.

The list, which names 10 cities, judged a variety of criteria such as current rental prices, price per square foot, low year-over-year changes in rent, and the cost of rent compared to buying a home.The Leawood local movers can certainly reaffirm that this metro is one of the most affordable in the country.

The complete list is as follows:

10. Milwaukee, WI

9. New Orleans, LA

8. Columbus, OH

7. Fresno, CA

6. Tucson, AZ

5. Virginia Beach, VA

4. Las Vegas, NV

3. El Paso, TX

2. Wichita, KS

1. Kansas City, MO

New construction is certainly picking up in the Kansas City metro, with special emphasis on multi-family residential development. According to the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City, the city is experiencing the biggest building boom in apartments since 2001. Permits for new building were issued which will bring an estimated 1,700 units to the area–which marks a 2229.2 percent increase from the units planned for the beginning half of last year.

The Lenexa movers have investigated into what makes Kansas City such an ideal place to live in an apartment over a house. Apartments are easier to obtain lending for over houses, and apartments can be easily rented out to others as an investment property. The area has experienced a growing trend of people who prefer renting over owning, thanks to the flexibility of a rental lease and the ability to move as jobs move or companies relocate headquarters.

As rentals remain popular, rents rise and vacancies bottom out. This makes buying an apartment a wise investment for many–if you can afford it.