Relocating to Denver - Seeking Housing Advice (Aurora, Lakewood: condos, townhomes)

[cavemanosu]

First, thank you to all of the users that have written on this forum. I have found your posts informative and useful.

I will be transferring to work in Denver (downtown) within 6 months. I would sincerely appreciate any advice from residents with knowledge of the housing market in the Denver Metro area. Below are some details on my situation:

• Seeking single-family home in or around Denver Metro area
• Prefer to limit commute to 30-45 mintues each way
• Looking for 3+ BR, 2+ Bath, 1,600 sq. ft. home
• $200,000 to $250,000 price range
• Prefer purchasing newer construction or building new, but definitely not required
• Mid-twenties, no children, but do have two collies and we love outdoor activities!
• Based on info from other posts, I have ruled out Aurora, but other than that, I am open to any suggestions.
• Any advice on where to live, where not to live, good builders, bad builders, crime, demographics of certain areas, etc. is greatly appreciated.
• Also, if I am off base on what I can get in my price range, please let me know.

If there is anything else I could tell you that would better enable you to help me, please let me know.

Thank you in advance to anyone that can offer advice.

[2bindenver]

How long do you plan on living in this property? Overall, there is not much in your price range. How do you feel about either attached housing or a 45-60 minute commute?

[cavemanosu]

I imagine we would be in the property 3-5 years. I am not completely oppposed to attached housing and would be willing to drive a little further if it was for a great community. Of the two, I would prefer to live closer and maybe snag a place for a year or two until I could afford a nicer place.

[2bindenver]

I would suggest something in the immediate suburban ring or even Denver - sorry it's older...maybe SE Denver/CCSD for resale value.

[cavemanosu]

Thanks 2bindenver. Some of your posts have been the most informative on this board.
I will concentrate a little more on the SE Denver area. Pardon my ignorance, what is CCSD?

If anyone else has any recommendations (i.e. specific communities), it would be greatly appreciated.

[2bindenver]

Thank you.

CCSD=Cherry Creek School District. The best school district that serves Denver (and Centennial & southern "Aurora")

Another thought is to find a place near a light rail station and take that to work - no driving involved

[Mile High Denver]

You can probably find something around $250,000 in Lakewood with your criteria (west suburb) and that's part of the Jeffco school district - which is a pretty decent school district. That's about a 20 minute commute to downtown -- depending on where in Lakewood. Lakewood is a large suburb, so some areas are pricier than the older neighborhoods. You might look at the area around 6th ave and Union. That does have a higher concentration of townhomes, but you can find some 60's style brick homes around there as well.

If you are willing to go condo or townhome -- some areas in Denver are do-able. As 2binDenver said, SE Denver is a good bet - since many of it falls within the Cherry Creek School district (non-Denver proper areas). Not all of it does though, so make sure to ask.

You can also find something in Aurora (east suburb) in that price range. I would stay south of Iliff Ave. though. Aurora is a huge suburb (300,000 people), and it has its good areas and bad areas. If you stay south of Iliff - you should be okay. This area of Aurora falls within the Cherry Creek School district and there are a lot of single family homes. This area was mostly built in the 70's and early 80's. The commute would be about 25-30 minutes -- depending on traffic.

In my opinion -- to get a good newer house in a good neighborhood that is closer to downtown, you would be looking at around at least $300,000. The new urban-style neighborhood of Stapleton has some new urban townhomes (think Cosby Show) for around $300,000. You won't find much choice around $250,000 in Stapleton though (maybe a condo?), but it is a great neighborhood with walkable distance to shops and parks - with great city schools. The average single family home in Stapleton is close to $500,000 now. It is about 10-15 minutes to get to downtown from Stapleton.

The best school districts in the metro area are Douglas County, Boulder Valley, and Cherry Creek. Jeffco is a huge school district that has great performing schools, and not-so-great ones -- so it's hard to average it. The Cherry Creek school district and parts of Jeffco would be the closest to downtown. There are also some great/good performing schools within Denver public schools (i.e. East High School, cherry creek neighborhood schools, Stapleton neighborhood schools).

[cavemanosu]

2bindenver and Mile High Denver, thanks a lot, you have been great.

This has been a great process for me to go through. I supposed my wants and needs are allowed to evolve during the process. Through your great posts and my hours of research, I believe my preference at this point would be the newer townhomes. I know my choices will be limited based on my budget of $250,000, but you have given me great areas to pursue.

Does anyone have any insight to the new construction in Westminster?

Outside of that, based on your recommendations, I will concentrate my search to SE Denver/CCSD and perhaps Westminster or Lakewood.

Again, thanks for everything.

[2bindenver]

If the money is the same, but you are choosing between an older sfr and a new townhome...and you will only be there for 5 years...I would say take the older home.

Usually single family residence appreciate at a higher rate than attached housing.

Northern Denver has no light rail & parking is a pain in the downtown area...

[cavemanosu]

Very good point. I don't know the townhome market in Denver, but that makes perfect sense that they wouldn't appreciate as quickly. I have been weary of townhomes/condos in my area but that was mainly because of where they were built and the urban sprawl in the area. If you were to sell in 3-5 years, you would be competing with the guy down the street building a brand new one!

This is going to take some serious MLS searching!

Ideally, I would like to narrow it down to 2 or 3 areas before heading out there to start my hunt.

I like what you and others have said about SE Denver.