Kansas City at DSCR 1.25 with 20% down: Missouri side 243, Kansas side 3

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Kansas City at DSCR 1.25 with 20% down: Missouri side 243, Kansas side 3

David LurveyPro Member
Technology · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 5 votes

The state line is the whole story in Kansas City.

At DSCR 1.25 with 20% down, the bar most investors I talk to want, 246 of the 5,615 homes for sale I could price across the metro clear it today (Nov 6, 8,468 listed). That's about 1 in 23, the best ratio of any market I've posted at this bar. 243 of them are on the Missouri side. The Kansas side has 3 of 1,913.

Missouri side, where they are:
- Kansas City, MO: 173 of 1,897
- Independence: 20 of 338
- Raytown: 13 of 122
- Grandview: 7 of 54

Inside Kansas City, MO, five ZIPs hold more than half: 64130 (32 of 69), 64134 (25 of 75), 64127 (16 of 45), 64128 (14 of 37) and 64132 (14 of 37).

Kansas side: Overland Park 0 of 340, Olathe 0 of 290, Lenexa 0 of 120, Shawnee 1 of 106. Lee's Summit on the Missouri side looks the same: 1 of 307.

What: 230 single-family homes, most priced $120k to $155k, typically 3 beds, and 10 duplexes to fourplexes around $168k.

More down helps: 377 clear 1.25 at 25% down, 555 at 30%. At the lender's floor of 1.0, it's 1,427 at 20% down.

DSCR 1.25 means the 12-month lease covers principal, interest, taxes, insurance and HOA with 25% to spare. Vacancy, repairs, capex and management come out of that cushion.

Assumptions: 30-year loan at 7.25% (7.625% for 2–4 units). Taxes at 1.25% of price in Missouri and 1.33% in Kansas. Insurance from state defaults, which run about twice as high per square foot in Kansas as in Missouri. If that's wrong, it's part of why the Kansas side looks so thin, and I'd like to hear it. HOA as listed. Rents are two independent estimates for a 12-month lease. Site-built resale only.

KC landlords: what are 3-bed houses in 64130 or 64134 actually leasing for, and what are you paying to insure a Johnson County rental?

Disclosure: I run NetsPositive, the screener these counts come from.

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  • James JonesPro Member
    Investor · Collierville, TN 38017 · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 693 votes
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    David, I do not buy in Kansas City, so I will not guess at 64130 or 64134 rents. I can tell you how I test a DSCR deal in Memphis, and your $120K-$155K range is already above my buy box.

    I buy single-family under $100K, ARV $180K-$265K, Section 8 rent $1,395-$1,950 for 3BR and up. I use DSCR at 70-80% LTV, and I need the rent to hit the 1% rule first. A 2BR rents for less and sits longer, so I convert 2/1 to 3/1, often adding 400-650 sq ft by turning a carport or garage into a master bedroom and bath.

    At $120K-$155K, a 3BR would need $1,200-$1,550 a month just to hit 1%, before taxes, insurance, vacancy, and management. If the real lease in those ZIPs does not clear that with room to spare, I would not chase the DSCR screen. I would lower the price or move on.

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    • David LurveyPro Member
      OP
      Technology · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 5 votes
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      Fair, James. Your 1% check is a good second filter on this list. Of the 250 that clear 1.25 at 20% down today, the median asks $139,900 against a rent estimate around $1,410, right at 1%, and 128 of the 250 meet the 1% rule.

      Nothing on the list is under $100k, though, because the screen doesn't track listings below that price. Your Memphis buy box sits below what this covers.

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  • Ametria Chaney
    Realtor · Memphis, Shelby County · Member since 2026 · 304 posts · 108 votes
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    David, I'm a Realtor in Memphis, so I can't speak to what a 3-bed in 64130 or 64134 is actually leasing for — that's a question for the KC landlords and property managers here, and I'd trust their signed leases over any screener. But the principle in your post is the same one I see at home: a DSCR of 1.25 on paper is only as honest as the rent, the taxes, and the insurance underneath it.

    The part I'd want verified before I believed any count is the rent. A 12-month lease estimate is a guess until a signed lease and a property manager back it up, and a few hundred dollars a month either way can move a house across that 1.25 line. Same with insurance — if Kansas really does run about twice as high per square foot as Missouri, that alone explains a lot of the gap you're seeing.

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    • David LurveyPro Member
      OP
      Technology · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 5 votes
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      You're right, and the numbers back you up. Take $100 a month off every rent estimate and 115 of the 250 still clear 1.25 at 20% down. Take $200 off and it's 44. So the signed lease decides it, which is why I keep asking KC landlords for real ones.

      Agreed on insurance too. The Kansas default is the first thing I'll correct if someone posts an actual Johnson County premium.

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