Need Advice... (Denver, Parker: ski resorts, brokers, houses)

[ZLC]

I am new to "forums" so bare with me. My husband just accepted a job in Denver, CO. He is a federal employee, and we will be moving there from Pahrump, NV which is approx. 60 miles from Las Vegas. I have been reading posts here, and spending hours on-line to figure out where to live. I am still confused.

I am simply looking to find out where a good neighborhood is in or near Denver, with a good school. My daughter is 7, and right now I desire to purchase a home between 180-200 thousand, in a good family oriented neighborhood. We do not mind driving a little to have an affordable, yet wonderful place to live. My limit would be 30 miles from home to work. My husband will be working in downtown Denver.

Please help me. We have never been to Denver, and I just don't know where to begin. This site has been the most helpful, yet I am still getting conflicting information. In Las Vegas there are all different kinds of "areas", currently (as I said before) we live 60 miles from Vegas, and when we moved there, we found a 2100 sq. ft. home, (brand new) for well under what Vegas was charging for homes, and it is a wonderful place to raise a family - yet, we are only 1 hour from Vegas. Perfect! Does Denver have any of these hidden towns, which are great for familes, and very affordable? Thank you for taking the time.

[ZLC]

Hi...I was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV and my husband has just accepted a job offer in Denver. Since I am used to living in a desert, I thought Denver had trees everywhere!! Is Denver mostly desert also? I am shocked to hear this. I guess I watch too much TV!

[Kibbiekat]

I wouldn't call it desert. I'd say high plains.

[Mike from back east]

I think the official nomenclature is "Alpine Desert" or something like that. High and dry.

Eastern 1/3 of CO is flat grassland prairie, sunny and dry.
Central 1/3 of CO is mountainous, the high country, all the famous ski resorts. Heavily forested and gorgeous.
Western 1/3 of CO is somewhat desert like.

Vast majority of CO population is in the I-25 corridor, aka the Front Range, where the prairie meets the mountains. Lovely to see.

The info in these threads is pretty good. I'm not a realtor, but I do suggest you work with one for BEST results. We have a number of realtors who post in these forums, you'll certainly be hearing from them via Direct (private) Message.

[flyingbuffalos]

It seems the general rule of thumb is the neighborhoods/towns nearer the mountains are more established, and housing costs a bit more. You can get more square footage for your money the further east you go. It will depend on where your husband's job is, and how long a commute he is willing to face. With gas over $3 now, that becomes an important budgetary consideration. I'm willing to live a little farther out, because I work longer shifts, so fewer days/week. It will depend on where my husband gets a job where we decide on. If we both end up at the same hospital, and he works 12-hr shifts, then we can be a little more flexible. I think Parker is a nice place. It is farther east, with more open land and few trees, but that is what one would expect on the Great Plains. With the mountains as a backdrop, I think it is just beautiful.
There are several good school districts, which if you will do a search on this forum, you will find several postings steering to helpful websites.
If your kids are small, and you like to be very involved with the neighborhood, it sounds like the Highland Ranch area is a good place. A little to "Desperate Housewives" sounding to me, but I could be wrong. (Wait, who said that?)
I agree, find a good Realtor and work with them. And thank god for the internet. You can get tons of information (sometimes information overload) to help you make decisions.
Make a list of the sort of things you and your family like about your ideal neighborhood, your price range, etc. Rate everything--must have, desirable, willing to sacrifice. Then, start looking at the different areas.
Good luck!

[DenverAztec]

Originally Posted by ZLC

Hi...I was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV and my husband has just accepted a job offer in Denver. Since I am used to living in a desert, I thought Denver had trees everywhere!! Is Denver mostly desert also? I am shocked to hear this. I guess I watch too much TV!

Almost every street in Denver has trees on it, it is the burbs that have not reached that point yet. Denver has more public parks then any other city with enough acreage to stuff all of Manhattan in it. We have all four season, some shorter then others if Winter decides to arrive early and stay late, but the snow coverage makes way for pink and white blossoms, summer provides canopy green coverage and shade, while fall can find periodically gold, red, lime green and maroon leaves. The winter freeze often happens quickly, so the foilage color in the fall does not always occur. Here are some of my pics of trees to help:







My Junior High School

[ZLC]

Thank you so very much for your replies and PHOTOS!! Wow!! How beautiful! I feel a lot better after reading and seeing your replies. I agree a realtor is the way to go....my only drawback with a realtor (please do not be offended if you are a realtor and reading this) is I used to work for one, and they tend to want to lead the buyer toward their own listings, even if it means bad neighborhood, etc. I guess I can just simply be careful, and take advice from those who live there, like you all! Thank you again so very much. Please feel free to keep replying if you think of something.

[DenverAztec]

You are welcome and I am not a realtor, I just love Denver!

[2bindenver]

Originally Posted by ZLC

....my only drawback with a Realtor (please do not be offended if you are a Realtor and reading this) is I used to work for one, and they tend to want to lead the buyer toward their own listings, even if it means bad neighborhood, etc.

Sorry, not true at all.

I don't have a preference which listing you may buy, as long as you are satisfied with the price, location, condition and service.

All licenses are Brokers in Colorado. We look at MLS to find the closest possible matches to your wants and needs, and go from there. Today most internet savvy buyers pick the houses for us to visit, from recolorado.com, or my own website. My website shows 97% of all active listings, updated each weekday.

[ditto]

And this is what Colorado looks like for many months out of the year: