Moving to Colorado, Seeking Advice

[Jon/xpm]

Howdy!!!!

I am going to be making the big move to Colorado and seeking some advice. I will be moving next month (December) because my toxic apartment lease will finally be over. What places would you recommend? I was looking at Pueblo and Colorado Springs area because I need something with high speed internet, phone, etc for my work at home job. Also needing the rent to be under $900 per month (actually prefer to be $700 to $800 range or lower). I read something the other day which said to rent a house/condo/townhouse over an apartment because of all the bad reviews. Any truth to this? I believe they have different types of heating and ac units, anything to avoid when looking? If anyone knows the Pueblo / Colorado Springs / Other area, what is the safe places to move into? Also any other moving advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jon/xpm

[Chili]

Howdy!!!!

I am going to be making the big move to Colorado and seeking some advice. I will be moving next month (December) because my toxic apartment lease will finally be over. What places would you recommend? I was looking at Pueblo and Colorado Springs area because I need something with high speed internet, phone, etc for my work at home job. Also needing the rent to be under $900 per month (actually prefer to be $700 to $800 range or lower). I read something the other day which said to rent a house/condo/townhouse over an apartment because of all the bad reviews. Any truth to this? I believe they have different types of heating and ac units, anything to avoid when looking? If anyone knows the Pueblo / Colorado Springs / Other area, what is the safe places to move into? Also any other moving advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jon/xpm

I lived in Colorado Springs in the 90's but I'm sure it's very different 20 years later, so I have no useful advice. That said, not only big cities have high speed internet.

Oh, and in before Jluv!

[SS Junk]

Also needing the rent to be under $900 per month (actually prefer to be $700 to $800 range or lower).

[jluv]

You'd have to try really, really hard to find an actual town without high-speed internet and cell phone service. I live in the only town in the most remote county in the lower 48, and we have both.

If one of your reasons for moving to CO is the mountains, forget Pueblo. It's in the plains/high desert. It's also full of factories and shit like that. It's the cheapest major city in CO for a reason. Personally, I like much smaller mountain towns, so Colorado Springs wouldn't be my choice, either, but it just depends on what you like. Some of the smaller towns away from ski resorts might have weaker economies and surplus inventory, which can equal good deals on homes. That said, $700-800/month, even $900, isn't going to get you much. You can find great deals on rental properties during the winter in some of these small towns, but when the snowbirds come back in May or June, they'll kick you out. As for house/condo/townhome vs apartment, it's case-by-case, just like anywhere else, and your money may take you a little further in an apartment.

Not knowing what you like, it's hard to recommend a specific place. Do you care how close you are to a major city, a Home Depot, Best Buy, Target, and shit like that? I don't mind being far away from that stuff, and prefer it, actually. I love the San Juans in Southwest Colorado. I could live anywhere I want, and I chose Lake City. It's very small and remote, and high altitude, so it isn't for everyone, especially in the winter (which is practically 6-8 months here). There are lots of similar places like Ouray, Silverton, Creede, South Fork, etc. If I needed to be in a slightly larger town, I'd probably choose Gunnison, Buena Vista, Salida, maybe Montrose. A little larger still and you have Grand Junction, Pagosa Springs, and Durango.

Good luck to you, and if you decide to get more serious about any of the towns I mentioned, let me know, and I could probably offer more detailed advice.

[Jimbo]

Pueblo was pretty slummy back when I stayed there. I've heard not much has changed.

[Sean88gt]

Pueblo was pretty slummy back when I stayed there. I've heard not much has changed.

But may be all that is in his budget.

[CyaNide]

Going for the weed?

CN

[ColonelAngus]

What about Cañon City? I haven't done a lot of research on it but it seems like a cool town being close to the Royal Gorge and all.

Rent below $800 is going to rule out lots of places in Colorado though unless you have roommates.

Make sure to ask if the place you are looking to rent has AC. A lot of places up here don't and it does get hot up here during the summer.

[jluv]

What about Cañon City? I haven't done a lot of research on it but it seems like a cool town being close to the Royal Gorge and all.

Rent below $800 is going to rule out lots of places in Colorado though unless you have roommates.

Make sure to ask if the place you are looking to rent has AC. A lot of places up here don't and it does get hot up here during the summer.

Decent town if you don't care to actually be in the mountains. Like Pueblo, it's high desert. I don't see the draw of living in CO and not being in the mountains, but maybe that's just me. My in-laws were shopping for houses in Canon City about a month ago, but it was too flat for their taste and they couldn't find anything worth a shit in their price range ($200k-ish). They aren't having much luck find anything anywhere in that price range that's not super tiny and/or run down, for what it's worth.

Virtually no one here in LC has A/C. It is fucking miserable (above 80) in my living room for 2-3 hours a day for about 1 month out of the year, as I have large South-facing windows, designed to pull in heat for winter months. It's not an issue the rest of the time or in the rest of the house. Window units aren't ideal because they dry out the already extremely dry air. I tried a swamp cooler this year, but it's just too big and loud and doesn't make enough of a difference. If I built a home, I'd add central air for sure. I'm at 9k feet. I would imagine homes in lower elevations stay warmer and would need A/C a lot more.

[kenny c]

I would check out Boulder. College town, inexpensive rent in some places, inexpensive places to hang out, etc.

[Sean88gt]

I would check out Boulder. College town, inexpensive rent in some places, inexpensive places to hang out, etc.

Is this sarcasm? Boulder is one of the most expensive cities in the US.

[Sleeper]

He also lives in Austin soooo.

[FunFordCobra]

Lmao you will not find any decent place for 800 right now. Try doubling that for a single bedroom on an "OK" neighborhood. I was paying 975 to live in the absolute ghetto in Thornton. (5 minutes north of denver)

Not to mention all the taxes you pay and the denver working tax. My calculations from living there a year is that you need to be bringing home 60k a year AFTER taxes to live comfortably as a single adult, and that's in an apartment. Sure you can live like the kids who move there (5-10 people in a 500 Sq ft apt) which you WILL be dealing with.

I shopped for houses but I can not bring myself to pay 500k or more for a 2 bedroom house. 300k for a small condo... I worked residential electrical troubleshooting about a year there so I know these new houses inside and out. They are typical 100-150k homes with a 400% denver mark up.

My solid advice to to move when many more states make "it" legal or wait for a solid realestate crash here. The pay is not high enough in denver right now by far if you are a newbie. Denver was a fun experience but after a year I knew that I moved there too late to really make a stable future for myself.

Let's say this.. I moved to West Palm Beach and have a 4 bd room house 5 miles from the beach in a GREAT neighborhood for what I was paying in denver for a 500 Sq ft apt in the ghetto in Thornton and also bringing home almost double what I was paid in denver.

Just sharing my 2015-2017 experience.

[jluv]

Lmao you will not find any decent place for 800 right now. Try doubling that for a single bedroom on an "OK" neighborhood. I was paying 975 to live in the absolute ghetto in Thornton. (5 minutes north of denver)

Not to mention all the taxes you pay and the denver working tax. My calculations from living there a year is that you need to be bringing home 60k a year AFTER taxes to live comfortably as a single adult, and that's in an apartment. Sure you can live like the kids who move there (5-10 people in a 500 Sq ft apt) which you WILL be dealing with.

I shopped for houses but I can not bring myself to pay 500k or more for a 2 bedroom house. 300k for a small condo... I worked residential electrical troubleshooting about a year there so I know these new houses inside and out. They are typical 100-150k homes with a 400% denver mark up.

My solid advice to to move when many more states make "it" legal or wait for a solid realestate crash here. The pay is not high enough in denver right now by far if you are a newbie. Denver was a fun experience but after a year I knew that I moved there too late to really make a stable future for myself.

Let's say this.. I moved to West Palm Beach and have a 4 bd room house 5 miles from the beach in a GREAT neighborhood for what I was paying in denver for a 500 Sq ft apt in the ghetto in Thornton and also bringing home almost double what I was paid in denver.

Just sharing my 2015-2017 experience.

That's Denver, though. Denver sucks. if your income comes from the outside (like the OP working from home), and you can handle serious cold, lots of snow, and being remote, you can get a lot more for your money in the actual nice parts of Colorado. There's a ton of insane beauty in this state, but it ain't in Denver. Still, $800/month won't get it done.

[bcoop]

Lmao you will not find any decent place for 800 right now. Try doubling that for a single bedroom on an "OK" neighborhood. I was paying 975 to live in the absolute ghetto in Thornton. (5 minutes north of denver)

Not to mention all the taxes you pay and the denver working tax. My calculations from living there a year is that you need to be bringing home 60k a year AFTER taxes to live comfortably as a single adult, and that's in an apartment. Sure you can live like the kids who move there (5-10 people in a 500 Sq ft apt) which you WILL be dealing with.

I shopped for houses but I can not bring myself to pay 500k or more for a 2 bedroom house. 300k for a small condo... I worked residential electrical troubleshooting about a year there so I know these new houses inside and out. They are typical 100-150k homes with a 400% denver mark up.

My solid advice to to move when many more states make "it" legal or wait for a solid realestate crash here. The pay is not high enough in denver right now by far if you are a newbie. Denver was a fun experience but after a year I knew that I moved there too late to really make a stable future for myself.

Let's say this.. I moved to West Palm Beach and have a 4 bd room house 5 miles from the beach in a GREAT neighborhood for what I was paying in denver for a 500 Sq ft apt in the ghetto in Thornton and also bringing home almost double what I was paid in denver.

Just sharing my 2015-2017 experience.

You realize there are more cities in CO than Denver, yes?