Another "Retire in CO" thread... (Denver, Grand Junction: real estate, house)

[HTY483]

If you can afford just move to Durango. It's beautiful, somewhat remote and has all that you want. The extreme high cost of living is what keeps people away from places like Durango, Prescott, Bend and other scenic mountain towns out west. If you cant afford it you can always look to someplace like Ft. Morgan.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by EricBabula

.!

I like the idea of drawing a radius of acceptable commutes. ....
"I need to live here" feeling that we did in MT (Glacier Nat'l Park area) and CO (RMNP area)! ...

Friends who relocated to Columbia Falls MT, really enjoy it. 15+ yrs so far.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by COcheesehead

...

With the price of lumber and other Covid costs I would expect to pay at least $250/sq ft for a very basic house.

I can’t even guess what a log home would run.

Our new build ran $340/sq ft.

...

Mine was close to $340. You sure don't save money building relatively small on a bare lot but I am still ecstatic with the results.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by EricBabula

@brightdoglover - thanks for the input.

I'm going to look at Ridgway and areas around there. When I saw the pics and videos of Ouray, I was stunned! And, I know pics and videos never do justice to the reality of being there! So, if Ridgway is nearly as beautiful as Ouray, I could see being happy there!

As I learn more about Ridgway and the surrounding area, I may have more questions for you.

I kinda like the idea of buying land and building our own. That way, we get exactly what we want, and it will be new and maintenance-free for a while. I was thinking of a fairly modest house - 3+ bedroom, 2+ bathroom, basement (maybe 1,300 - 2,500sf), garage w/ storage. We would want room for family/friends to visit and to be able to entertain. I did see there is land for sale in the area. Kinda hard to tell what it is really like without being there (e.g. is it really sloped, unbuildable portions, too steep to drive up, too near a highway, etc.). We'll have to do our research, visit a few areas, narrow our shortlist down to just a few, then start working toward the reality of a possible purchase.

A fair number of building lots. Please, feel free to PM me. I had another poster who retired here from Texas and recommended for him an a apartment while he built, a lot in Elk Meadows and a broker who knew all the builders. It went really well for him. The lots available are quite buildable as far as I know. I happily recommend my broker- he knows everything and everyone and is absolutely ethical. Was a contractor/electrician earlier in life. Knows where all the bodies are buried about lots for sale! Really, I love to cheerlead for moving here and building. Please feel free.

[pikabike]

Rural-area homes with much land tend to be big and not necessarily good quality. A lot of people have trailer homes to get a quick move-in with low cost, allowing more cash to be spent on the land. If you yourself can build your house, you could do well. Otherwise, expect slim pickins other than less-than-wonderful existing structures.

If you hire contractors, expect an even worse struggle. Seriously. The resort towns draw good builders, but in the less tony areas, it is a good ol’ boy network, so bad sometimes that contractors coming in from other towns are not treated well by local suppliers.

Heads up if you go that route! So for that reason alone, a self-built simple small log cabin actually might be good. Except for the lack of good, suitable lumber... that woodsy log cabin is appropriate in places like the PNW, not so for the semi-arid southwest.

[pikabike]

BDL, “where the bodies are buried,” LOL and cringe at the same time.

A local told me a relative was excavating for a building and came upon an ancient set of bones. ALL work stops then.

It’s not so much murders in modern times whose bones ya gotta worry about.

[COcheesehead]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

Mine was close to $340. You sure don't save money building relatively small on a bare lot but I am still ecstatic with the results.

For us too. We wanted small, but nice.

We found with existing homes in our area nice just meant big and we didn’t want that in a retirement home. Plus we love our views. Glad we paid the price.

[EricBabula]

Originally Posted by pikabike

If you hire contractors, expect an even worse struggle. Seriously. The resort towns draw good builders, but in the less tony areas, it is a good ol’ boy network, so bad sometimes that contractors coming in from other towns are not treated well by local suppliers.

Good to know. Thanks for the heads up. I would not have guessed that, given how I keep hearing how genuinely nice most CO people are.

[EricBabula]

Originally Posted by COcheesehead

For us too. We wanted small, but nice.

We found with existing homes in our area nice just meant big and we didn’t want that in a retirement home. Plus we love our views. Glad we paid the price.

Terms like "small", "big" and "nice" are all relative. I've seen posts in this forum where people say they have a nice little log cabin (5,000sf). That, to me, is definitely NOT little! LOL!

I was thinking something like a 3 bed/2 bath home, somewhere between 1,400sf and 2,500sf. To me, that's moderate. To some, that's small. To others, that's a pretty large home. We do want room to have relatives/friends to be able to stay over, and to not be on top of each other. Seems about right-sized. No?

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by pikabike

BDL, “where the bodies are buried,” LOL and cringe at the same time.

...

A manner of speaking only! My broker knew why a place was priced the way it was or what the subdivision's upsides and downsides were and so forth. There was nothing that got past him.