It's a go, moving to Cos! (Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs: apartment, rental, condo)

[beezle1]

Originally Posted by rochester_veteran

Thanks beezle1, some nice places there and I left my contact info on their websites so I can get what the rents are and availability! The earliest I can move in will be 9/1/2019 or thereabouts. I'd like to keep my rent around $800 a month but I can go as high as $900 a month.

I am guessing those places may be well over the budget you are wanting to pay, but who knows. See what they come back with. There seem to be a ton of those brand new 'luxury' apartments going in, and not much in the way of afforable places that are new. As others have said, you may do better to keep an eye out for older, smaller complexes.

Have you tried looking at what comes up on padmapper.com? As always, if you see something too good to be true, it probably is. Be wary of anything that sounds odd in your search.

[rochester_veteran]

Originally Posted by LHS79

You won't be on the more-desirable North Side of CS with that budget- a good place to look would be South of Academy/Platte or East of town as previously mentioned.

LHS79, thanks for the tip! Now that I'm retired and on a fixed income, I do need to stay within my budget. At 63, I retired early and am getting my health care through the VA, but there's an income cap that I have to stay below or else I'll lose my coverage, so taking on a part time job is out of the question for now. My VA counselor told me after a few years in the system, the income cap will no longer be applicable, but to be honest, after working for 51 years, I'd rather not work anymore and go out with my family and friends and play everyday! I'm looking forward to hiking, biking and taking road trips in Colorado and to National Parks! I have a buddy I served with in Germany who lives in Grand Junction and I plan on visiting with him and then jumping out to the various points of interest on the Western Slope, such as Grand Mesa, the Colorado National Monument, Arches and Mesa Verde, to name a few!

[LHS79]

Originally Posted by rochester_veteran

LHS79, thanks for the tip! Now that I'm retired and on a fixed income, I do need to stay within my budget. At 63, I retired early and am getting my health care through the VA, but there's an income cap that I have to stay below or else I'll lose my coverage, so taking on a part time job is out of the question for now. My VA counselor told me after a few years in the system, the income cap will no longer be applicable, but to be honest, after working for 51 years, I'd rather not work anymore and go out with my family and friends and play everyday! I'm looking forward to hiking, biking and taking road trips in Colorado and to National Parks! I have a buddy I served with in Germany who lives in Grand Junction and I plan on visiting with him and then jumping out to the various points of interest on the Western Slope, such as Grand Mesa, the Colorado National Monument, Arches and Mesa Verde, to name a few!

I am a Vet (USAF) too and appreciate your service!

You will love it here- all of the things you love are right outside your door. So much to do in South/SW Colorado and if you ski you avoid the I-70 mess.

I grew up north of Denver in what used to be a small town. I was stationed at NORAD when I got out of the service and stayed in the area- I am glad I did.

You couldn't pay me enough to live near Denver any more- just driving up there from here will drive you nuts.

[rochester_veteran]

Originally Posted by beezle1

I am guessing those places may be well over the budget you are wanting to pay, but who knows. See what they come back with. There seem to be a ton of those brand new 'luxury' apartments going in, and not much in the way of afforable places that are new. As others have said, you may do better to keep an eye out for older, smaller complexes.

Have you tried looking at what comes up on padmapper.com? As always, if you see something too good to be true, it probably is. Be wary of anything that sounds odd in your search.

I'm OK with living in an older place, as long as it's in a decent neighborhood, been well kept and is not infested with vermin. I'm a simple man (my favorite tune BTW) and I'm not seeking luxury, just a roof over my head that's clean, where I can hang my hat.

I'll check out padmapper.com, I didn't know about it. I've been checking on zillow.com and also craigslist for Colorado Springs and I know there's 1 bedroom apartments within my budget, I just need to be careful not to move into a dump. My friend, "Schatze", will help me with that and I trust her to go with her recommendation on a place. We go back a long ways, 43 years!

[beezle1]

There are some apartments in your price range I think, across from the East Library at Montebello and Union. I have always thought this was an ok area. A few years ago my daughter was looking and we were interested in this area, but didn't actually go look at any.

[otowi]

You might see if any of this can help you - housing resources for Colorado veterans -
Housing Resources for Colorado Veterans | Veteran

[rochester_veteran]

Originally Posted by LHS79

I am a Vet (USAF) too and appreciate your service!

You will love it here- all of the things you love are right outside your door.

I grew up north of Denver in what used to be a small town. I was stationed at NORAD when I got out of the service and stayed in the area- I am glad I did.

You couldn't pay me enough to live near Denver any more- just driving up there from here will drive you nuts.

Thank you for your service too, LHS79. I served in the USAF as well, 1974-79 and was in the Air Weather Service at Vandenberg AFB for a year (the Cali Central Coast is beautiful!) and then 3 years in Germany, in a weather detachment that provided weather support to an Army Airfield that was just north of Mannheim. Loved my time in Deutschland and my friend in Cos, "Schatze", is a German girl.

I lived in Denver from 1980-83 and met my wife there where we both worked for St Joseph Hospital. We got married in Aurora. Denver was a lot smaller then and I can't believe how much its changed! I worked for a while for a commercial HVAC company and one of the projects I worked on was a new building for Martin Marietta that was one of the first to go up in what's now known as the Denver Tech Center! None of that was there when I lived there!

When I visited Cos last August and visited "Schatze" and her husband, I was so impressed with the place and everything that happened during that visit convinced me that moving to Cos was the right thing to do!

My son, daughter in law, grandson and I went to the Denver Zoo on my visit last August. Even City Park has changed and I see a golf course is being built in part of it. After the Zoo visit, I showed them where my first apartment was on Clarkson and 14th, the Satire Lounge, a favorite of my wife and I and the place that used to be known as "Good Friends" that was on the corner of Colfax and St Paul, where my wife and I first hooked up. We also drove down the alley in back of St Paul and I showed them my apartment when I lived there. With the exception of Larimer Square, downtown Denver is not recognizable to me as it's all new!

I lost my wife to cancer back in 2017 and it's been a tough go of it ever since and one of the reasons I'm moving to Cos is to start a new life. Just planning for the move is giving me hope! I'm also a little nervous about it as I've been living in the same place for nearly 24 years. I'm giving all my stuff to my daughter and she's taking my place over. All I'm bringing with me is my clothes, dishes, photos, wall hangings and pots and pans. I looked into PODS for moving my stuff, but it's expensive and I might as well use the money I'd be spending moving my stuff and buy a new bed and furniture in Cos and have the place I'm buying them from, move them into my place for me!

[Colin777]

You may want to tap into the Life After 50 paper. There are links listed for apartments which are popular among retirees, happenings for socializing, and many other notifications that you might be of interest to you to help you get connected:
https://la50pikespeak.com/

[rochester_veteran]

Originally Posted by Colin777

You may want to tap into the Life After 50 paper. There are links listed for apartments which are popular among retirees, happenings for socializing, and many other notifications that you might be of interest to you to help you get connected:
https://la50pikespeak.com/

Thanks Colin for the tip! I will check out the Life After 50 website.

[rochester_veteran]

I'll be in Colorado Spring on Monday-Wednesday, May 6 through May 8, 2019, searching for a 1 bedroom apartment that will be available on September 1, 2019, when I would like to move in. If anybody here knows of one, either reply here or email me at:

rochester_veteran@yahoo.com

Time flies when you're having fun and I can't believe how quickly this creeped up on me! I'll also be visiting my son, daughter in law and grandsons, including my grandson who I haven't seen yet that was born on March 19, 2019! This is the main reason for the trip, but also doing recon for an apartment!