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Old 10-28-2008, 04:27 PM
 
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My husband and I are moving to Colorado within the next yr and half. We've done lots of research on the job markets, and Colorado is towards the top. I would love all input on these cities or other cities that have affordable housing, safe, things to do, etc.

Thanks ahead of time for all the opinions.
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Old 10-28-2008, 05:23 PM
 
Location: Just south of Denver since 1989
11,825 posts, read 34,423,134 times
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define "affordable."
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Old 10-28-2008, 05:40 PM
 
10 posts, read 40,299 times
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decent housing under 175k, or 200k max
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Old 10-29-2008, 10:20 AM
 
169 posts, read 672,387 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jlmedlin View Post
decent housing under 175k, or 200k max
I would further define how large a house you need/want, age of house you prefer, do you want to be close to town/convenience or out on the fringe, etc. In Fort Collins/Loveland 175K-200K is doable. It will get you something in the 1000-1500 sqft range - possibly larger if you consider a basement with each level having less than 1000 sq feet. Since the recent downturn in the market there are a few older homes that fit. These would be homes built in the 50s-70s - many pretty much in town. These are homes around 1000-1500 sq feet with 1 car garages for the most part, but there are some decent deals due to the current economy. Go here: Colorado Real Estate Property Listings, Realtors and Real Estate Offices (http://www.coloproperty.com/index.cfm?&Action=ShowFrameSet&GotoApp=Listings&Go toAction=ListingStep1 - broken link), choose Fort Collins (for example) and search in that price range.

I don't know much about Denver or Longmont (really you would have to define 'Denver' - do you mean Broomfield, Northglenn, etc). Longmont was always more expensive than FC/Loveland area in the past and I cannot imagine any difference now. I would say your best bet may still be FC/Loveland area.
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Old 10-29-2008, 10:52 AM
 
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Its just my husband and I (& 3dogs). We live in a 1300sq ft house now 2 bdrooms, bath and half, we dont need anything big! We dont need anything new, just a decent looking house. 2 bdrooms, at least a bath and half. I am figuring that we need to be within an 1hr or so to Denver. I see a ton of jobs in Denver, but want to live on the outskirts. I dont know the towns around Denver. We are planning to come out for a visit next yr to scope out towns.

Thanks for the info! Helps a lot!!
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Old 10-29-2008, 11:09 AM
 
169 posts, read 672,387 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jlmedlin View Post
Its just my husband and I (& 3dogs). We live in a 1300sq ft house now 2 bdrooms, bath and half, we dont need anything big! We dont need anything new, just a decent looking house. 2 bdrooms, at least a bath and half. I am figuring that we need to be within an 1hr or so to Denver. I see a ton of jobs in Denver, but want to live on the outskirts. I dont know the towns around Denver. We are planning to come out for a visit next yr to scope out towns.

Thanks for the info! Helps a lot!!
You have a lot to choose from in FC/Loveland if those are your requirements. My only concern would be that if you have to commute to Denver for your job you are better off living no farther north than Longmont. FC/Loveland --> Denver commute would be a real pain and not worth it in the long run. However, if you can find employment in Longmont, Loveland, Greeley, Fort Collins then welcome to Northern CO
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Old 10-29-2008, 12:27 PM
 
Location: Colorado
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I second that! A friend of mine commuted to Denver from Fort Collins for several months and she hated it. During the Winter months, if the weather was bad, she usually ended up having to stay with family in town as the drive home would've take a couple of hours.

I live in Longmont close to Hwy 66 which goes to one of the I-25 exits. Driving from there to Denver takes about 35 minutes on a good day. Longmont is pretty cool. It's about 75,000 people, quite a few parks and the St Vrain Creek for walking, biking or running. We have a Farmer's Market during the Summer. A lot of the bigger chain shops like Target, Lowe's, JC Penney, etc. Also a pretty good library and transport system. There are some really nice areas of town like the two Historic Districts, some not so nice areas and some brand new areas with very trendy housing. There is a mall that's in serious need of renovation (nothing a flamethrower couldn't fix ) and a handful of decent restaurants and bars.

I don't think you'll have any problem finding something in Longmont in your price range.
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Old 10-29-2008, 02:19 PM
 
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Thanks so much for all the input! I really appreciate it!! Everyone's input really does help a lot!!
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Old 10-29-2008, 04:31 PM
 
Location: Old Town Longmont
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I also live in Longmont and second everything that Chilaili said. I live in one of the historic districts and you might be able to get a 2 bedroom 1 bath for 200K. Maybe. That is definitely pushing it. But there are neighborhoods with 60s, 70s, and 80s houses that are probably right in your price range. Just depends on what you want.

I love Longmont. I live in a very cool neighborhood with awesome neighbors, and we can walk to everything in town. We have tons of coffeeshops, and we're slowly getting more restaurants (not sure how that is going to go with this economy...) It is a great town. The population is actually over 80,000 now.
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Old 10-29-2008, 04:37 PM
 
2,756 posts, read 12,972,842 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jlmedlin View Post
decent housing under 175k, or 200k max
A few months ago, I would have said that's going to be very difficult, even in relatively inexpensive Northern Colorado (Fort Collins/Loveland).

However, now is a different ballgame across the board. Word is that the banks are really eager clear their books of foreclosures, and that they're actually eager to work with buyers to rid themselves of them. Believe it or not, banks have a reputation for being stubborn, intransigent, incommunicative, and generally impossible to work with from a buyers' perspective. That isn't really as true at the moment. I think now would be an excellent time to get a screaming deal on a foreclosure fixer -- possibly well under 175k.
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