[csu87]

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

Well I have never owned a home before but we plan on buying our first house when we move out there. My fiance is graduating college in December and I graduated a couple years ago so we have only lived in apartments. We aren't looking for a huge house or anything, not sure on a budget yet because I don't know how much money she will be making.

We would be fine having to drive a little to get to stores, we are looking for some quiet. We are right next door to the biggest school in TN.

Just in $/sqft terms, Colorado Springs ~$100-150/ finished sqft, Fort Collins/Loveland/Windsor (Northern Colorado) ~150-200+/finished sqft with Fort Collins and Windsor being on the high side of that range. Boulder is the $200-300 range and depending on where in Denver, you get all the ranges, but the desireable places are in the 150-250+ range.

If you want a more mountain town feel, I know quite a few people that have moved to Drake (Between and Loveland and Estes Park up the canyon in the mountains) and you can find some pretty good deals and its a 30-60 minute drive into town once construction is done in 2018. But during construction, there is very limited access in and out and its a 3hr round trip if you miss the small windows to get out.

Also, buy in the Fall/Winter. Prices take a dip here in those times. No one likes to house shop in a blizzard.

[The Chaddening]

Originally Posted by csu87

Just in $/sqft terms, Colorado Springs ~$100-150/ finished sqft, Fort Collins/Loveland/Windsor (Northern Colorado) ~150-200+/finished sqft with Fort Collins and Windsor being on the high side of that range. Boulder is the $200-300 range and depending on where in Denver, you get all the ranges, but the desireable places are in the 150-250+ range.

If you want a more mountain town feel, I know quite a few people that have moved to Drake (Between and Loveland and Estes Park up the canyon in the mountains) and you can find some pretty good deals and its a 30-60 minute drive into town once construction is done in 2018. But during construction, there is very limited access in and out and its a 3hr round trip if you miss the small windows to get out.

Also, buy in the Fall/Winter. Prices take a dip here in those times. No one likes to house shop in a blizzard.

All very useful information, thanks! I want the mountains but a 3 hour drive to civilization seems a little too far I am planning on staying with the same company I work for now. They have locations in Westminister, Denver, and Aurora.

[The Chaddening]

Originally Posted by csu87

Just in $/sqft terms, Colorado Springs ~$100-150/ finished sqft, Fort Collins/Loveland/Windsor (Northern Colorado) ~150-200+/finished sqft with Fort Collins and Windsor being on the high side of that range. Boulder is the $200-300 range and depending on where in Denver, you get all the ranges, but the desireable places are in the 150-250+ range.

If you want a more mountain town feel, I know quite a few people that have moved to Drake (Between and Loveland and Estes Park up the canyon in the mountains) and you can find some pretty good deals and its a 30-60 minute drive into town once construction is done in 2018. But during construction, there is very limited access in and out and its a 3hr round trip if you miss the small windows to get out.

Also, buy in the Fall/Winter. Prices take a dip here in those times. No one likes to house shop in a blizzard.

Speaking of the winter. My e92 is RWD, how would I fair in the winter up there?

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

Speaking of the winter. My e92 is RWD, how would I fair in the winter up there?

You will need snow tires, and most of the time you will not have an issue getting around. It is the random storms with heavy accumulation the snow plows can't keep up with that can be a problem. Even with storms like that though, the main roads will be clear within a day or two.

[csu87]

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

All very useful information, thanks! I want the mountains but a 3 hour drive to civilization seems a little too far I am planning on staying with the same company I work for now. They have locations in Westminister, Denver, and Aurora.

Westminster is a nice area and I am just finishing up some water infrastructure projects for them so you'll have fresh drinking water now. Aurora has nice areas but you will have to live on the outskirts to be in them.

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

Speaking of the winter. My e92 is RWD, how would I fair in the winter up there?

fine with a good set of winter tires. I used to rock a 2wd pickup in the winters no problem.

[Flying Ace]

I'm confused....so this move isn't job related? wow. I would go to Boulder then.

B/c most moves, you have to consider job situation.

[1LRM3]

Lived in Summit County for a bit... lovely area but pricey... great skiing, golf, and mountain sports... nice communities... etc.

[Mandi90TT]

Depending on your profession, tech industry in CO Springs is huge. Denver as well, but cost of living is cheaper in the Springs

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by csu87

having lived all over the state, I like Northern Colorado, but it is getting expensive to live up here. My house, that i just bought 11 months ago, has gone up in value over 100k (just had an appraisal).

I lived in Colorado Springs as well, and the same house in the Springs, cost 100-150k more up in northern colorado. Im talking exact same model new home with exact same finishes and same lot size.

If cost is an issue and you want a city that is close to the mountains and tons of outdoors stuff to do, the northern end of Colorado Springs is where I would live. It is a nicer area, and District 20 is one of the top school districts in the state. It is also a newer area and they are building like crazy.

If you want a mountain home, there are lots of little towns up the canyons that you can find houses for a decent price, but, it will be a decent trip to get to any restaurants or stores.

Boulder is way too "Hippy" for me, and cost of living is outrageous. Denver is getting to a crazy level of home prices as well and the market is cut throat. A few guys that work for me have recently bought houses and they had to come in with quick close, no contingency offers that were 10-20% over asking.

Whats your price point if you dont mind me asking? Ive bought 3 houses and sold 2 in the last 3 years so ive got a decent understanding of the Colorado Real Estate and pricing for different areas.

Some of what you describe sounds like Florida circa 2006-2008.

[08njSTEP]

I was also thinking Colorado Springs. There used to be an ice cream place called Mr. Michelle's downtown. The owner was a magician as well as restaurant owner. When I was little he came to our table and did tricks. The one I remember was he made candy come showering down from the ceiling lights.

Colorado College and Air force Academy are in that area.

[Scrubber]

Check out Longmont. Lived there as a kid and recall it was close to Boulder and Denver. Lower cost of living too since not in a major metropolitan area. That or just move out to Estes Park

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

I like that they emphasize high intensity and competition. It sounds like crossfit without olympic weightlifting and with more focus on cardiovascular conditioning. First crossfit workout I ever did was a 1000m row, rest for a couple minutes, then repeat. Never been pushed to that limit before. Grown to like rowing a lot actually.

That's exactly what it is.

When you move out to CO, give it a try, first class is free. It's a bit gimmicky in tracking your heart rate, but the cardiovascular exercise is top notch IMO. If you like rowing then you'd probably like OT. Some days you focus on strength and do a bunch of short distance rows, other days they lean more towards endurance/power and focus on distance/keeping the wattage high. Other days it's a combination of both. Assuming you move to a populated area such as Boulder, they have OT studios (I think just one), Denver has about 3 or 4 of them.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Some of what you describe sounds like Florida circa 2006-2008.

Or the DC metro area circa now.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

All very useful information, thanks! I want the mountains but a 3 hour drive to civilization seems a little too far I am planning on staying with the same company I work for now. They have locations in Westminister, Denver, and Aurora.

Ahh Westminster...land of strip malls and some random airport.

[PoorLurker]

Telluride

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

All very useful information, thanks! I want the mountains but a 3 hour drive to civilization seems a little too far I am planning on staying with the same company I work for now. They have locations in Westminister, Denver, and Aurora.

These locations are all within the Denver metro area, which means the cost of living will be high if you plan on living close to work.

[The Chaddening]

Originally Posted by JasonCSU

These locations are all within the Denver metro area, which means the cost of living will be high if you plan on living close to work.

Any good locations maybe 30-45 minutes from here the Denver metro?

[csu87]

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

Any good locations maybe 30-45 minutes from here the Denver metro?

anything north of denver up to Windsor/Fort Collins area. I live in Windsor, and it takes me ~30 minutes without traffic to get to my 2 project sites in Westminster, 45minutes or so to Golden, and 1.5-2hrs to Copper Mountain. If there is traffic though, that can severely impact the drive. Doesnt happen much, but there are some retards out there that ruin it for everyone.

if you are looking for somewhere that is on the cheaper side, but close enough to Denver and the mountains, Johnstown, Frederick, Firestone, Dacono and Erie are all up and coming areas that are still relatively cheap.

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

Any good locations maybe 30-45 minutes from here the Denver metro?

Not really. The metro area is one large urban sprawl, and with the ridiculous amount of traffic we have around here now, it takes that long or longer just getting around said metro area.


Edit:
What csu87 is saying is true, however don't expect those travel times anywhere near rush hour.

[csu87]

Originally Posted by JasonCSU

Not really. The metro area is one large urban sprawl, and with the ridiculous amount of traffic we have around here now, it takes that long or longer just getting around said metro area.

you ever drive from the north end to the south end of Denver on i25 on a Friday afternoon? its taken me 5 hrs before.

[Axius]

On a scale of one to ten, how much to do you enjoy Marijuana and skiing/snowboarding?

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by csu87

you ever drive from the north end to the south end of Denver on i25 on a Friday afternoon? its taken me 5 hrs before.

Oh yeah, it can be absolutely insane. The amount of volume we have now combined with people not understanding the concepts of the fast lane and alternating with merging traffic is a recipe for some serious road rage.