Smithville asks for the longest drive of any market Paul works and gives back the newest houses in the Northland, the highest ownership rate and the largest lake in the metro. Whether that trade is worth making depends on your week.
Paul Sidwell represents buyers on both sides of a market where new construction and resale compete.
Before real estate, Paul worked in home construction and remodeling. Roughly seven in ten Smithville homes were built in 1990 or later and builders are still active, so he reads allowance lists, grading plans and phase schedules rather than model-home finishes.
Smithville sells a $286,000 builder plan and a $630,000 custom in the same month. Comparing a new build to a ten-year-old resale on price alone is how buyers overpay, and it is the subject of the book he co-authored.
Certified Residential Specialist, with ABR, CFSP, AHWD, CPS, RENE and e-PRO training, and co-author of a book on pricing to evidence, which is what reading a builder's allowance list against a real resale comparable actually takes.
Twenty-nine minutes each way is about 240 hours a year. For some households that buys a newer house and a lake. For others it does not, and Paul would rather say so before you write than after you move.
Humphrey Smith, known locally as Yankee Smith, settled on the Little Platte River in 1822 and built the first water-powered flour mill in Clay County. The settlement around it was called Smith's Mill before it became Smithville, and the city incorporated in 1868. The event that made the modern city came a century later: the Army Corps of Engineers authorized Smithville Dam in 1965, finished it in 1977, and impoundment from 1979 produced a 7,190-acre reservoir with 175 miles of shoreline, the largest body of water in the Kansas City metro. What followed was growth. Nearly seven in ten Smithville homes were built in 1990 or later and builders are still platting on Lake Meadows Drive, Blackhawke and the 194th Court blocks. The result is a small city with a historic downtown on the National Register, a lake that draws more than a million visits a year, subdivisions that did not exist when the dam was finished, and the longest commute of any market Paul covers. That is the trade Smithville asks a buyer to make, and it is worth making deliberately rather than by accident.
“Smithville asks for about 240 hours a year in the car and gives back the newest houses in the Northland and a lake ten minutes away. For some households that is a bargain. For others it is not, and I would rather say so before you write than after you move.”
A current read of the Smithville market as of mid-2026. Figures move month to month, and Paul prices new construction and resale side by side.
Grounded in named neighborhoods, schools, employers and real numbers, not generic filler. Open any category to read.
Buyers who asked a lot of questions and got answers. A few verified Google reviews:
“We were first time home buyers with a lot of questions. Paul was able to answer all of them, walk us through the things we didn't think to ask, as well as navigate everything with us. Kept us in the loop at all times, no matter the time or day of the week. Worked extremely hard to make sure everything was on track for closing! In the future when we buy or sell again, I'll be shooting Paul a message to get the process started again. Stellar guy!”
“Paul was invaluable to our search for our first home. He answered all of our questions, even ones we did not think of during the buying journey. He was very patient, knowledgable, and available throughout the process. We would definitely recommend Paul for any one looking to a buy a home.”
“I highly recommend Paul and his team for your next home sale or purchase! He and his team go above and beyond during the entire process and keep you in the know at every turn. He made the process as smooth and enjoyable as can be!”
A model home is a sales office. Paul reads the allowance list, the change-order terms and the phase schedule, and attends the builder walkthroughs so the punch list is written down by someone on your side.
New construction and resale compete for the same buyer here, which is unusual in the Northland. Paul prices both so the comparison is real rather than a brochure against a listing photo.
Smithville is the one market in Paul's coverage with a genuine recreational draw. It is also a market where rent runs under one percent of value, and he will show you both numbers.
Paul asks buyers to drive the route at the hour they would actually drive it, before they write. The trade only works if the drive is one you have actually made.
Redfin put the median sale price at $372,027 for the three months ending May 2026, up 5.5 percent year over year, and Homes.com puts the trailing twelve-month median at $365,000. The range matters more than the median here: recent sales have run from about $140,000 for a small in-town home to nearly $680,000 for custom acreage, and active builder inventory has listed from roughly $286,000 to $630,000. Which number applies to you depends mostly on whether you are buying new or resale.
That is a household question rather than a market one, and Paul answers it honestly. The mean commute is 28.9 minutes each way, the longest of the markets he covers, and only 10.9 percent of working residents work from home, the lowest share. Five days a week, that is roughly 240 hours a year. For some households that buys a newer house, a bigger lot and a lake ten minutes away. For others it does not, and Paul would rather say so before you write an offer.
Smithville is the one market in Paul's coverage where this is the first question. Nearly seven in ten homes here were built in 1990 or later and builders are still active, so new inventory competes directly with resale for the same buyer. New gives you warranty and nothing deferred; resale usually gives you a better price per square foot, an established lot and mature trees. What decides it is the comparison done properly, which means reading the builder's allowance list against a real resale comparable.
A 7,190-acre Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Little Platte River, the largest body of water in the Kansas City metro, with 175 miles of shoreline and about 5,000 acres of public land around it. The dam was finished in 1977 and impoundment began in 1979. It was built first for flood control and it supplies the city's drinking water. It also carries two full-service marinas, two swim beaches, 777 campsites, 36 holes of public golf at Paradise Pointe and more than 60 miles of trail, and it draws over 1.3 million visits a year.
Not as a cash-flow play, and it is better to know that going in. Zillow's rent index for the ZIP stood near $1,861 in July 2026 against a median sale price between roughly $373,000 and $406,000 that spring, so gross rent sits well under one percent of value. Add the 86.1 percent ownership rate and the renter pool is genuinely small. What Smithville offers an investor is time: appreciation plus tenants who tend to renew. The lake also makes this the one market where short-term rental demand is real, though the city's rules and any subdivision restrictions should be confirmed first.
The allowance list, the change-order terms, the grading plan and the phase schedule, in that order. Those four documents decide what your final price actually is and what your street will look like once the builder finishes. Paul reads them with you and attends the builder walkthroughs so the punch list is recorded by someone representing you rather than the seller. Outside the city's service area he also checks well, septic and the flood designation before an offer goes in.
One part of Paul Sidwell’s complete real estate reference, covering 22 domains of buyer, seller and investment expertise across the whole Kansas City Northland.
Visit paulsidwell.comA river town on the Missouri bluffs with a historic Main Street, Park University and planned communities above the valley.
The Clay County seat, built around a courthouse square platted in the 1820s, with Paul's office on Victory Drive.
A small river city that levies no city earnings tax, no city residential real estate tax and no city personal property tax.
The Northland's entry-price market, where roughly 45 percent of the housing was built between the 1940s and the 1960s.
A private-lake community of roughly 800 homes where a membership company, not the city, holds title to the lakebed.
Paul's complete real estate reference for the Kansas City Northland, 22 domains of buyer, seller and investment expertise in one place.