Guides · The House

The House

Foundations on Kansas City clay, sewer laterals, radon, appraisals, and disclosure law. What the inspection finds and what it costs.

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Kansas Law Puts a Radon Warning in Your Contract and Licenses the Guy Who Tests It. Missouri Does Neither. Same Metro, Same Rock.

Every residential sale contract in Kansas has carried a state-mandated radon paragraph since July 1, 2009 — K.S.A. 58-3078a writes the words for you. Kansas also requires anyone who tests or mitigates radon to be certified by KDHE. Cross State Line Road and both protections vanish: Missouri requires no radon language in the contract and does not require radon contractors to be certified at all. The geology does not stop at the state line. The law does.

15 sources · 2026-07-14

Neither Missouri Nor Kansas Requires a Seller to Fill Out a Disclosure Form. The Duty You Are Actually Relying On Belongs to the Agent — and Missouri's Version Is the Broader One.

The internet will tell you Kansas requires seller disclosure and Missouri is caveat emptor. Go read the statutes. Neither state imposes a seller's property-condition disclosure form — the one you sign in this metro is a contract document, not a legal mandate. What actually binds is a duty running to the LICENSEE, and the two states word it differently in a way that matters: Kansas says 'actually known.' Missouri says 'actually known or that should have been known.'

15 sources · 2026-07-14

Buy an Acreage in Johnson County and the Septic Inspection Is Mandatory. Buy One Twenty Miles East in Cass County and Nobody Will Ever Make You Do It.

Johnson County, Kansas makes the seller have the septic system inspected before the house changes hands — tank pumped, drainfield mapped, well water screened. Cass County, Missouri rewrote its entire onsite wastewater ordinance in February 2026. The word "sale" does not appear in it. Not once. We read all 29 pages to be sure.

14 sources · 2026-07-14

In Kansas City You Own the Sewer Pipe All the Way to the Main — Including the Part Under the Street

KC Water's own rulebook says it in one sentence: the property owner maintains the service line from the main to the building. Not to the property line. To the main — under the curb, under the pavement. Johnson County says the same thing, but Johnson County will reimburse you up to $6,355 to put the street back. Kansas City will sell you a permit.

17 sources · 2026-07-14

Your Finished Walkout Basement Is Not Square Footage. Fannie Mae Has Said So Since April 1, 2022 — and That Is Where Your Appraisal Gap Comes From.

The listing says 3,200 square feet. The appraiser will write down 2,000. Under ANSI Z765-2021 — required by Fannie Mae since April 1, 2022 and by Freddie Mac since November 2, 2023 — a level is below-grade if ANY portion of it is below grade, 'regardless of the quality of its finish or the window area of any room.' A walkout with a wall of glass and a wet bar is still below-grade. It still has value. It just isn't gross living area.

16 sources · 2026-07-14