I live in Merry Lea Farms, which is a 30+ year old community off Mission Road from 140th to 143rd Streets. All properties are a minimum of one acre, some lots have mature trees (including mine), houses are well built and usually sell in your price range. I am not a realtor so can't give statistics to answer the resale question, although, as has been pointed out, there are so many ways to answer that question. This is a stable community with acreage (I enjoy the view of my neighbors' acres even though I have just one. Also on a cul-de-sac (all three streets except 143rd are..) plus minutes' walk from elementary and middle schools. Someone is always selling or considering selling in the future. I may put my house on the market after Jan 1. Good luck! kjhi2003@sbcglobal.net

There is a house that just came on the market. It's a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house on 1.5 acres - with an orchard! This is a house that has been in the same family since it was built in 1940. Not in Leawood or Olathe but Overland Park around 69th & Lamar. And it's priced under your budget.

Mission Hills and Old Leawood have an established history of maintaining value through wars, recessions, and stock market rides. Olathe prices increased in the years after the railroad transit station was started. (Warren Buffet & BNI) This is a 20 year project and no one knows what effect the station will have on surrounding real estate values (and traffic) but the expectation is that it will be a positive one. Whispering Hills is nice but just doesn't have the history to compare to Old Leawood or Mission Hills. For Resale.

If you are planing to live in the house for almost 10 years and looking for some acreage; then my suggestion is to look between 151st street and 159th street more specifically between Mission rd and Quivira. Currently, there are few houses with acreage within your price range in that area. Feel free to contact me if you need more information.

I'm not sure there is a set answer to your question, I could literally research sales comps for hours and come up with ten different answers.

For instance 21208 Whispering Dr. in Whispering Hills sold in 1999 for $219,950, then again in 2004 for $234,500. It sold again in 2008 for $225,000.

10480 Deerfield Lane in Mill Creek sold in 1994 for $444,500 and sold again in 2009 for $635,000.

This, at first glance would mean that Whispering Hills homes hold their value better, but there are so many variables, condition, improvements, reason for selling.

Someone may have gotten a great bargain because someone else had to sell.

Anyone, could use these statistics to draw any number of conclusions.

Here is a link to all the active listings in both of those neighborhoods, there are only six homes on the market.

http://portal.heartlandmls.com/de.asp?k=49468XEEBV&p=DE-…

Please let me know if I can help you or if you would like to see any of these homes.

D. Ben Edsall
Broker – ARM, AEREP
Turn-Key Properties LLC
7312 E 67th St.
Kansas City, MO 64133
816-313-8876
http://www.turnkeyproperties.org
http://www.batescountyrealestate.com
http://www.tiffanyhouses.com

We want to stay in Johnson County and would like to have at least a half acre with the back yard being south to south east preferably. I know we have a lot of criteria. We don't mind some work if the location is good and the house is well built. My question does not seem to be well written. The focus of the answers concerned the acreage when my main question is which location is best for resale. Thanks for any help.

Are you strictly looking for resale or are you looking for the most house for the money, school districts, level of finish, and other amenities? I know of a great house in Olathe area..not too far out...that is a great deal. It is a foreclosure and needs some work. Are you open to that? Tell me a little more about your search.

David@DavidVanNoyJr.com
(913) 259-HOME

I agree with the previous answer that there is not much acreage in south Johnson county. You can however have more to look at if you are willing to go to a little further south. Another consideration is to look in Cass County Missouri which begins at State Line and 155th. There is Loch Lloyd less than 5 minutes from 150 highway. But if you go just a little further south there are several nice newer properties in your price range with acreage. Some are in subdivisions and some are not. If you definitely want a home in a subdivision there is a nice one with underground utilities called Lone Pine.

Hope this helps you. I wish you the best in your search.

Acreage is hard to find in most of Johnson County, it largely depends on how much land you need and what you intend to use it for. I am the only Accredited Equestrian Real Estate Professional in the area. http://www.IEREP.com If your goal is to have horses, many of the areas with acreage still restrict using it for livestock.

I will include a link with available homes in the search area you mentioned. I have expanded it a bit, but please let me know if I can help you with more research.

Here is the link to the listings I found. I have included everything with three or more acres.

http://portal.heartlandmls.com/de.asp?k=49468XEEBV&p=DE-…

Please copy and paste this to your browser, it will take you to a list of properties from the MLS.

At present there only appear to be five homes with 3 or more acres in that area. Please let me know if you have any questions I can help you with.

D. Ben Edsall
Broker - AEREP
Turn-Key Properties LLC
816-313-8876
http://www.turnkeyproperties.org