Big Family Looking to Make a Big Move (Colorado Springs, Pueblo: sales, real estate)

[TravelingSilvers]

Hello All,

As it says in Title. We are a Big Family looking to make a Big Move.

There's 7 of us Total. Husband & Wife with 3 Kids that also take care of Elderly Parents. We're from Iowa and are looking to move somewhere else.
We are renters that need to move out of current house.

Not to speak ill of the LL, but he does not do any upkeep to the house, we are always losing power, because of old wiring (which passes inspection, but every electrician that comes by tells us it's in dire need of updating), We lose heat every Winter for some reason or another. The ceiling and walls (drywall) is falling down because it's only Rock and mortar basement that is constantly settling and has holes in some places.

So that is the reason we are moving out of this house. We want to move out of State because we are just tired of the nothingness in IA. We are an outdoorsy type family and there's really not much around here.

I'm an EE with my Bachelors, but because of economy I have been kinda jobless for the last year (I do Lawn work/Snow Removal, Housing Insulation, PC repair, and any odd job to help get by). I do however work from the computer now, but I never know when I will work, it's a come and go situation, but it pays EXCELLENT! So there's nothing really keeping us tied to this area.

We NEED to move out of this House and WANT/NEED to move out of this State.
This is just a recent idea for us. We've only been talking about it for a few days. I just happen to mention the idea of moving out of state to parents (I honestly couldn't find much around the area we live now) and they were/are overly excited about that idea.

I'm prepared to travel in a couple weeks to view any areas or homes we find on the Web. I know and understand House ads in the Web can be deceiving and they are only going to tell (and take pictures) of the good and not the bad.
We're looking in CO first, because I've love to actually see Mountains and it's closer to IA than the other States we are looking at.
We're currently interested in CO, CA (only Upper, Under Oregon), OR, WA, ID (Western area).
We're not looking to move anywhere that's colder than IA.

My real problem (right now atleast) is finding places to rent. I've basically been looking through Craigslist, Hotpads, and Zillow. But having a hard time finding a house with enough BR (at least 4) that's in our (Current) Price range ($1000, maybe a little more depending), that's not in a Ghetto; We also would love to be out of the/a city if possible.
But I know there's probably ALOT of LL's that don't use any of these.
The thing is, is we can move pretty much where ever and I know there are great houses out there for a good price, it's just finding them.
Anyone know of any?

Well I had more I was going to type, but have to go to sons B-day party.
I'll add/ask more later.

[gmm_24]

All the states you listed have a higher cost of living especially in real estate then Iowa.

A view of the mountains depends on where you live, if houses are in the way, if you are far to the East and etc.

You say you can pretty much live anywhere, does this mean you and your husband are self employed or work from home? Employment like most places is not that easy to come by these days.

Cold well, I am not sure about Iowa since we have passed through in the Summer months, but we have more Winter than Spring or Fall. Last week for example we had 4 days that were in the negatives, dropped to negative 25 some nights. They are predicting snow for the next few days is what I think of that. We have snow but less so then the mountains, we have a fairly hot Summer due to our altitude, but less humidty.

If you need a large house to rent or buy and have limited funds I would suggest you widen your search to include states with a lower cost of living. I have not looked at home prices in Utah, but that may be a consideration, but there are also states with mountains, I call them hills in Pa, W. VA and other places where the cost of living and housing would be cheaper then here, OR and for sure CA. North Carolina has mountains, ocean, cheaper housing and much milder Winters.

[Dogmama50]

Do you need access to good health care for the elderly parents? The Grand Junction area may work, I really don't know what the rents are like there. Utah is a beautiful place and could fit what you're looking for also.

Employment really is the key factor. It's hard to rent a place without a job and hard to get a job when you don't live there.

[sunsprit]

Your budget price range ... of $1,000/mo for at least a 4 bedroom house that's "not in a Ghetto" ... pretty much precludes anywhere in Colorado where there is a remote possibility of a job market. Even the menial jobs that you've been working are filled up, and with folks who are willing and able to work for a lot less money per hour than you'd be able to survive on ...

As mentioned above, none of the states you've mentioned are inexpensive to live in. For various reasons, all have an appeal which has greatly outstripped the local income levels for most working families.

[Mike from back east]

I currently find 12 homes in the area of COLO SPGS that have at least 4BRs and do not exceed $1k/month. Utilities will average an extra $200/month.

Go to the local realtor site, ppar, and take these steps:
- Click on the FOR RENT icon
- In the Property Category menu, click on Single Family
- In the Rent Price box, set the max at 1000
- In the Bedrooms box, select 4+ (I saw four 5BR homes listed)
- Click on search, 12 homes will pop up

IMO, among the 12 homes, look for a home in School District 11.

You will be within a few miles of Pikes Peak and in a city with many parks and trails for outdoor sports. There are four major hospitals in the area and a wide variety of doctors.

[CAVA1990]

Mike, you have a gift for making the proverbial silk purse from the sow's ear. Nice counterpoint to all the doom and gloomers on here.

[TravelingSilvers]

Hello all again,
Ok back from the Party. The Wife and Myself (it's not the Wife posting) do work from the internet. It's a come and go situation though. One month we may make $5000-$6000 another month we may not work at all.
The Parents receive $3000 through Retirement and such.

I have also found kind of alot of houses in our price range, but are not sure of utilities for a new(er) house. The house we're in now is OLD with astronomical utility bills, not to mention it's also in the Ghetto, lol, There was a Raid just a few houses down the other week. Cool to watch, but scary when you realize it's going on in your neighborhood.

I know there are cheap states to live in, but those are not ones I want to live in. I'm not looking to move to the East coast at all. I'm sure it may be beautiful there, but I'm just not interested.

THANK YOU Much Mike. See that's what I'm kinda looking for. Other places to look for rental property that's not Craigslist, Hotpads, or Zillow.
I'm just having a hard time searching for such places on the net. I'm apparently not using the correct words/terms or something which searching.
Looks like District 11 is by the Airport. Not sure about that one. Although we live a block from our Hospital and have learned to block out the sirens going off constantly. Have to wait and see.

Well as for Cold. We're using this map
http://www.aston-simms.com/DSN/wwwas.../USZoneMap.jpg
To figure out which places have warmer/colder temps than IA. It doesn't tell the exact temps, but does give the Minimum Temps for that area.

We're also using "Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed" to help research areas and US Weather - Average Temperatures and Rainfall to Help figure out what type of weather to expect.

Maybe I should start searching Real Estate companies. I noticed the one Mike posted was. I though Real Estate companies only really dealt with Buying and Selling houses. Didn't know I could find ones to rent from them.

It's funny I had some questions I thought of asking while at the Bday party, but now I forgot, lol. That's usually how it goes I guess.
Well when I think of them I'll be asking more questions.

Thank you all for your help

[Mike from back east]

Some realtors do dabble in rentals, as many realtors are also investors and landlords.

Problem you're having is that the rental home market isn't anywhere as well supported with centralized websites like the home sales market.

There are *some* rentals in realtor.com but not a huge number of them, though you do have some good search tools on that site. It found the same 12 SFH rentals, since the ppar site feeds into realtor.com BUT realtor.com is a national site and you could put in ANY zip code or town name and see what pops up. I got no hits on Calhan, Yoder, Elbert, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Castle Rock or Pueblo.

You can also google "property management firms" and call some of them, since this type of business manages housing of all types for landlords.

[TravelingSilvers]

Cool thanks for the Help.
I just was checking out Realtor.com and they did have some houses (like you mentioned), but didn't find much elsewhere. Even at times when I put no Max. rent.
I've read a few (recent) neg. reviews about Colorado Springs, so more research on that town is definitely needed.

I'm honestly looking for some place no colder than IA, hopefully warmer, that doesn't have tons of venomous snakes and scorpions. As dumb as this sounds I'd rather deal with a bear or moose in the NW than snakes and scorps in the south (also thought I read there were alot of venomous snakes along the east coast).

[Sarahsez]

Some of the three bedrooms might work for you if you use the formal dining room as a bedroom. I don't know how old your kids are, but you could have them all three share a room unless there are some laws about occupancy. My understanding is that most houses in Colorado have basements. If you had a finished basement, you could put someone downstairs even if it was just another living area instead of a recognized bedroom.