Real Estate Agent · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2015 · 16 posts · 8 votes
I'm new to investing. Currently live in Minneapolis and have been wanting to purchase my first buy and hold property for over a year now, but with the market as hot as it is I haven't found anything that made sense. My fiance is from Kansas, and we are planning on moving near Topeka.
It looks like you can get so much more for your money down there. Can anyone tell me certain areas of Topeka I should stay away from?
Look at Shawnee Heights, Washburn Rural, and Topeka Seaman school districts are the best. Certain areas of SW Topeka not in those school districts are nice, but be careful as many are not. Stay away from the N, E, and W sides of Washburn. South of Washburn is OK as long as it is not in the flood plain. Just my two cents, I would be happy to give more specific advice when you locate a property.
Jason Biegert is correct about which School districts are held in the highest regard and generally are more desirable areas. In the area around Washburn University I would only slightly disagree. I feel houses on the West side of the campus are better with more home ownership and thus are easier to attract renters and get higher rent.
Topeka does not have what I would consider war zones but definitely has areas of lower income where houses do not appreciate. It is hard to define the areas because there are quite a few pocket areas of good neighborhood surrounded by others that are not good.