Possibly Moving to COS - Help with Jobs! (Denver, Colorado Springs: sales, real estate)

[BuckeyePorcupine]

Hello everyone!


After much deliberation it appears Colorado Springs is my destination in June 2017. I'm getting married in May and we want to live in Colorado for a few years before we decide to start a family. We will either be renting a house or buying and flipping a starter/investment house. We're familiar with the area, having visited three times over the last two years and spending a cumulative total of 10 days here.


My current employer could transfer me to Littleton but I do not want a 90 minute commute in a gas guzzling pickup truck any longer. I want as much time in a day as possible to continue my education and explore my new state.


I'm 28 with no degree, but I've been working since age 16. I have some college classes under my belt - a mix of business, economics, sport and exercise studies, communications, and English. My work history includes being a sports mascot, basic factory labor, fast food, and retail. My most prominent experience however is 5.5 years with a call center, 4 years of which in leadership - I can handle any role in customer service, billing, tech support, coaching/management, or sales (inbound, outbound, or otherwise). I will likely be taking classes to continue my education at Pikes Peak Community College, but the program/focus is yet undecided.


My fiancée is 24 with a B.S. in Homeland Security with professional experience in emergency management and loss prevention as well as extensive volunteer experience with nonprofits.


What good employers could my fiancée and I target employment with in Colorado Springs according to our backgrounds? We would prefer employers that focus on work-life balance, decent pay and good vacation benefits.


Thanks for any recommendations! We look forward to finally living out our Colorado dream.

[TCHP]

Welcome!

Call centers, retail, security, and hospitality jobs are all around the city. Hours, pay, and benefits will vary greatly between them all. Best suggestion I could give is to use indeed.com or Pikes Peak Workforce (ppwfc.com) to search up options and see whats out here that meshes with want you want.

Not so sure that house flipping will be a viable opportunity here. It is very hard to score bargain prices on real estate that allow enough upside of repairs and updates and profit. Not impossible, but not likely, especially since you are new to town and may not understand some of the subtleties to the Cos market.

[BuckeyePorcupine]

Thank you, TCHP. I did some scanning on job sites recently and saw a few call centers, but it's crazy how much of a variance there is with culture, advancement from within, pay, benefits, etc. from center to center. That's why I prefer local insight - it offers something that Glassdoor or Indeed can't sometimes!


Thanks for the feedback on the real estate too. Colorado real estate as a whole looks very tricky - high prices are one big reason we were attracted to COS over Denver! That, and the traffic seemed much more reasonable down here too.

[beezle1]

Progressive Insurance has a call center here that I believe has a decent reputation.

[JohnCurtisEstes]

Originally Posted by beezle1

Progressive Insurance has a call center here that I believe has a decent reputation.

Been there, done that. If you enjoy back-to-back calls ALL DAY doing car insurance quotes then you will love it!


Unfortunately all call centers are like that, pushing as many calls to you as they can (=lower cost per call).


Most people go from call center to call center because of the monotony of the job after a year (or less).


I have been w/ a "major" cable provider for over 6 1/2 years and now make $20/hour- but you definitely work for it!

[TCHP]

I'm pretty rusty on the call center situation, but I'd say insurance or conference call centers will most likely be the higher end of the spectrum compared to simple telemarketing call centers. Progressive, California Casualty, Wide Open West, and Premiere Global will probably be the better ones to work at based on my limited knowledge.

Yes, Colorado real estate is tricky. While Cos is considerably less expensive than Denver, the odds of finding a property 50% under market value in a desirable neighborhood typically doesn't happen. We simply don't have the diversity of run down 30-50 year houses in neighborhoods that are up and coming to demand average to above average prices on refurbed units.

Example: Some pretty decent, moderately upgraded, move in condition houses in my neighborhood sold within in the last year in the low $300k range. This summer a couple of fixer uppers have come to market for mid to high $200s. Just knowing these two homes previous owners, I know both will have asbestos mitigation requirements and they have not had any updates performed to them since the 1950 and 60s. Outside, both will be fine, but it would not take a lot of effort to drop $50k on the interior refurb, electric and plumbing upgrades, and mitigation work. This may only leave $3-10k for profit, depending on how savvy you are about the improvement costs and asking price. Not exactly a stellar return on what could be 4-6 months worth of work, but if it is your primary dwelling and you occupy it for at least a year, then the figures could come out more in your favor.

[JohnCurtisEstes]

Originally Posted by TCHP

I'm pretty rusty on the call center situation, but I'd say insurance or conference call centers will most likely be the higher end of the spectrum compared to simple telemarketing call centers. Progressive, California Casualty, Wide Open West, and Premiere Global will probably be the better ones to work at based on my limited knowledge.

Yes, Colorado real estate is tricky. While Cos is considerably less expensive than Denver, the odds of finding a property 50% under market value in a desirable neighborhood typically doesn't happen. We simply don't have the diversity of run down 30-50 year houses in neighborhoods that are up and coming to demand average to above average prices on refurbed units.

Example: Some pretty decent, moderately upgraded, move in condition houses in my neighborhood sold within in the last year in the low $300k range. This summer a couple of fixer uppers have come to market for mid to high $200s. Just knowing these two homes previous owners, I know both will have asbestos mitigation requirements and they have not had any updates performed to them since the 1950 and 60s. Outside, both will be fine, but it would not take a lot of effort to drop $50k on the interior refurb, electric and plumbing upgrades, and mitigation work. This may only leave $3-10k for profit, depending on how savvy you are about the improvement costs and asking price. Not exactly a stellar return on what could be 4-6 months worth of work, but if it is your primary dwelling and you occupy it for at least a year, then the figures could come out more in your favor.

And somehow the capital gains tax on a house sold under 2 years is never mentioned either.


On HGTV no one EVER loses money on flips!

[BuckeyePorcupine]

Originally Posted by JohnCurtisEstes

Been there, done that. If you enjoy back-to-back calls ALL DAY doing car insurance quotes then you will love it!


Unfortunately all call centers are like that, pushing as many calls to you as they can (=lower cost per call).


Most people go from call center to call center because of the monotony of the job after a year (or less).


I have been w/ a "major" cable provider for over 6 1/2 years and now make $20/hour- but you definitely work for it!

I'm with a "major cable provider" right now pulling a similar wage. Call centers aren't that bad of a gig once you get to leadership, but that also depends a lot on the company culture!

[BuckeyePorcupine]

Originally Posted by TCHP

I'm pretty rusty on the call center situation, but I'd say insurance or conference call centers will most likely be the higher end of the spectrum compared to simple telemarketing call centers. Progressive, California Casualty, Wide Open West, and Premiere Global will probably be the better ones to work at based on my limited knowledge.

Yes, Colorado real estate is tricky. While Cos is considerably less expensive than Denver, the odds of finding a property 50% under market value in a desirable neighborhood typically doesn't happen. We simply don't have the diversity of run down 30-50 year houses in neighborhoods that are up and coming to demand average to above average prices on refurbed units.

Example: Some pretty decent, moderately upgraded, move in condition houses in my neighborhood sold within in the last year in the low $300k range. This summer a couple of fixer uppers have come to market for mid to high $200s. Just knowing these two homes previous owners, I know both will have asbestos mitigation requirements and they have not had any updates performed to them since the 1950 and 60s. Outside, both will be fine, but it would not take a lot of effort to drop $50k on the interior refurb, electric and plumbing upgrades, and mitigation work. This may only leave $3-10k for profit, depending on how savvy you are about the improvement costs and asking price. Not exactly a stellar return on what could be 4-6 months worth of work, but if it is your primary dwelling and you occupy it for at least a year, then the figures could come out more in your favor.

This was very well stated. I really am leaning towards renting at this point since I'm unsure if I'll be there long enough to get a serious return on investment. Thank you for your guidance - I'll keep an open mind to buying but only if the perfect situation arises!