How much of a down payment do I need to buy a house in Kansas?

Kansas offers first time home buyer assistance of up to 20% of their home's sales price for closing costs and down payments, but the buyer must provide 1% from their own funds. Many home buyers in Kansas will qualify for this assistance, but even if you don't, you may be eligible for a zero down payment mortgage through VA or the USDA. In addition, conventional mortgages typically only require 3% down, and FHA mortgages just 3.5%.

How much are closing costs in Kansas?

Kansas has some of the lowest closing costs in the country, at an average of just $2,793 for a home purchase. If you're considering a refinance, you can expect to pay an average of $2,150 at closing.

What does homeowners insurance cost in Kansas?

If you're moving to Kansas, the weather may produce a bit of sticker shock for your homeowner's policy. Kansas is the second most expensive state for home insurance, behind Oklahoma. In Kansas, $300,000 worth of coverage will cost you $4,939 per year, a whopping 78% more than the national average of $2,777.

What is the property tax rate in Kansas?

Kansas is the 14th most expensive state when it comes to property taxes, at 1.29% on average. It's estimated to be 25th in taxes as a percentage of average income, at 2.69%.

Kansas Mortgage Calculator | The Motley Fool

Kansas, the Sunflower State, is a great place to call home. Whether you're looking for the hustle and bustle of a city, or the open prairie, there's a city in Kansas that can meet your needs. Dreaming of a better life in a lower cost of living area? Kansas could be the answer. Use our Kansas mortgage calculator to figure out what it will cost to make the leap into your new home.

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Kansas, the Sunflower State, is a great place to call home. Whether you're looking for the hustle and bustle of a city, or the open prairie, there's a city in Kansas that can meet your needs. Dreaming of a better life in a lower cost of living area? Kansas could be the answer. Use our Kansas mortgage calculator to figure out what it will cost to make the leap into your new home.

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Kansas housing market 2024

Although Kansas has seen significant property value gains like the rest of the country, it's still an incredibly inexpensive place to buy real estate. In January 2024, the median sales price in Kansas was just $243,600, up just 2.4% year over year. Compared to the national median home sales price in January 2024 of $402,343, Kansas is a huge bargain.

Although homes in Kansas are cheap by comparison to many areas, there aren't many, with just two months of inventory in January 2024 on average across the state. This is probably why median days on the market was at 35 days during the same period, up just two days year over year. Despite the limited supply, though, many buyers are finding deals in Kansas, with the average seller getting just 96.2% of their asking price. Only 10.8% of homes sold above their list price in January 2024, indicating that Kansas may be a much easier place to find a home.

You may not necessarily find yourself in a bidding war for your Kansas home, but you'll definitely want to be ready to talk to one of the best mortgage lenders to find a good rate as soon as you start looking for a place to call home.

Here's a quick peek at some of the most important Kansas markets and how things are doing there.

Metropolitan Area	Median Home Value	1-Year Change
Kansas City, KS	$207,000	21.8%
Lawrence	$260,500	(4.4%)
Olathe	$387,000	(2.9%)
Overland Park	$425,000	2.4%
Topeka	$164,500	13.5%
Wichita	$205,000	16.5%

Data source: Redfin. Figures accurate as of Feb. 20, 2024.

How do I calculate my mortgage payment?

You don't have to calculate your own mortgage payment, that's why we've built this mortgage calculator to do the heavy lifting for you. But if you really want to get down to the nitty gritty and see how the sausage is made, this is the basic formula for doing your own basic mortgage payment math:

This formula will only calculate your base mortgage payment, made up of your loan principal and interest. Although the amount of each that you pay every month will change slightly, your P+I payment will remain steady throughout the life of your loan. Over time, the percentage of the payment that's allocated to interest will decrease, and your principal contribution will increase.

Although some mortgage payments will simply be payments of principal and interest, many include additional fees and money that you contribute into an escrow account for monthly. These fees include, but are not limited to:

Real estate taxes
Homeowners insurance
Homeowners association dues
Short-term homeowner association assessments
Flood insurance
Wind insurance
Private mortgage insurance (PMI) or mortgage insurance premium (MIP), depending on your loan type

To calculate your new mortgage with these additional expenses included, just click "show additional inputs" on the mortgage calculator above and add your estimated figures. It will get you a very close estimate of what to expect.

Things to know before buying a house in Kansas

Kansas has a very reasonable real estate market in most of its major cities, but the tax rate in the state is considerably higher than average. On average, Kansans pay 1.29% of their home's assessed fair market value in property taxes each year. That means that if your Kansas home is assessed at $125,500, you'll pay $1,625 in taxes. It's the 14th highest rate in the nation.

Kansas is already feeling the effects of climate change, which will continue to get worse in the future. Right now, warmer temperatures are driving both drought and flooding, due to heavy rainfall that isn't able to sink into the extremely dry summer soil. Tornadoes, as Dorothy Gale learned first hand, are also a significant problem in the state. Kansas currently averages about 100 tornadoes a year, but it's unclear how climate change will affect this number.

You will likely want to upgrade your homeowners insurance policy with additional coverage such as flood and wind insurance, for the specific location where you'll be moving. Ask your insurance agent what's appropriate, even if it's not required. You can also plug that number into the Kansas mortgage calculator to help give you a better estimate of your overall payment.

Tips for first-time home buyers in Kansas

The Kansas Housing Resources Corporation offers first-time home buyers down payment and closing cost assistance in the form of a forgivable second mortgage of up to 20% of the home's sales price. Home buyers must provide 1% of the sales price in their own funds, but provided their income is at or below 80% for their area and their home's price doesn't exceed $143,000 to $257,000, depending on the county, the rest will come from KHRC. Recipients must live in their homes for 10 years for the second loan to be fully forgiven.

Advice for all first-time borrowers

Even if you don't qualify for a mortgage purchase program in Kansas, you can still apply for other loans geared toward first timers, like FHA loans or conventional loans. They have low down payment requirements, so they can be easier to get, and can be used to buy a vast array of homes.

To qualify for any home loan, you'll want to work hard to make yourself more attractive to a mortgage lender. Here are a few tips:

Boost your credit score by always making on-time payments and keeping your credit utilization under 30%
Pay down existing debt if possible, to improve your debt-to-income ratio
Secure a steady job (or don't leave your current one)
Save money for closing costs and your down payment on a home

Once you're ready to apply for a mortgage (and while it is in process), hold off on opening new credit accounts, because every time you do, a hard inquiry takes a few points off your credit score. These stay on your credit report for two years, so plan accordingly.

FAQs

Kansas offers first time home buyer assistance of up to 20% of their home's sales price for closing costs and down payments, but the buyer must provide 1% from their own funds. Many home buyers in Kansas will qualify for this assistance, but even if you don't, you may be eligible for a zero down payment mortgage through VA or the USDA. In addition, conventional mortgages typically only require 3% down, and FHA mortgages just 3.5%.
Kansas has some of the lowest closing costs in the country, at an average of just $2,793 for a home purchase. If you're considering a refinance, you can expect to pay an average of $2,150 at closing.
If you're moving to Kansas, the weather may produce a bit of sticker shock for your homeowner's policy. Kansas is the second most expensive state for home insurance, behind Oklahoma. In Kansas, $300,000 worth of coverage will cost you $4,939 per year, a whopping 78% more than the national average of $2,777.
Kansas is the 14th most expensive state when it comes to property taxes, at 1.29% on average. It's estimated to be 25th in taxes as a percentage of average income, at 2.69%.

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