Month To Month Rentals In Denver / Boulder -- Do They Exist (Fort Collins: real estate, apartment complexes)

[CCCVDUR]

I am new to eastern Colorado and have been trying to find something for month to month in Boulder for quite some time without success.

Unfortunately, the realtors in Boulder are very provincial in formulating their rental contracts, operating under many false pretenses about their own rental market.

For example, they believe that everyone moving to Boulder is a college student, who will require housing during the academic year. Therefore, they start leases in mid-summer, and charge students for 15 months through August of the following year.

However, Boulder is not technically a college town. The primary employer listed on city-data.com is not "educational services." Instead, it's "professional, scientific, and technical services." Consequentially, the property managers should consider beginning rentals at any time of the year

Although I want to live and work in Boulder due to its outdoors amenities, why should I sign a 15 month lease when I might end up working in Denver. I moved here w/o a job from an area of Arizona with over 10% unemployment. I don't want to commute 60 miles round trip everyday. I want to rent month to month until I determine where in the region I will be working and living. One would think that property managers would understand that Denver is a very popular place to relocate in this economy, and be sympathetic to newcomers who have short term needs. And, ultimately within the next 12 months I want to enter a rent to own contract.

Does anyone know of a place with month to month rentals in Denver or Boulder?

By the way, there are related discussions of this on the Boulder forum.

And, I've rented in Flagstaff, AZ which is truly a genuine college town. Plenty of places offer month to month leases. Therefore, the claims of Boulder property managers are unsubstantiated.

Thanks.

[tfox]

They definitely exist; and everything is negotiable. Trouble is, most landlords in summer are wanting to fill their places in with a 12 month lease. The reason why is that, as you have already picked up, landlords like to have their leases come due in summer. Why summer? Well, in Boulder you do have a lot of students, for whom leases tend to come due in summer, but also, for the families with kids, they tend to change places based on school schedules as well, meaning summer is prime time. The last thing a landlord needs is for you to stay half a year and then leave after a couple of months.

If you were to arrive, say, in February, you're very likely to find opportunities for month-to-month, since the landlord would like to time things so the place would again become available in summer.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Tom Lane

... snip ... Boulder is not technically a college town. The primary employer listed on city-data.com is not "educational services." Instead, it's "professional, scientific, and technical services." .... snip....

Tom: There might be a logical disconnect in your remarks, above. I doubt that the student population would be included in the "employment" stats, thus the majority of the rental market could still be geared to the students, it just wouldn't show up in the job stats as most students don't work. With IBM and other high tech places in/around Boulder, it does not surprise me those folks are the majority of employment in the area, not the purely educational ones. Job categories used in these stats seem susceptible to counting people in other categories, i.e., IBM, et al, can provide "tech service" bodies to the college on a contract basis, so even though they may actually work on campus in support of the educational processes, they may show up in the numbers for IT or other tech services. I'd take all these stats with a grain of salt and be leery of basing a point of view on them.

[cowboyxjon]

I think many of the larger apartment complexes offer month-to-month leases. You generally have to pay a lot more for it, but I rented an apartment on a 3-month lease when I first moved to Denver because I had a job, but didn't have time to get a good feel for the various neighborhoods, and that bought me some time.

I don't know of any apartment complexes offhand that are in Boulder, mostly because I'm not that familiar with it to begin with, but I'm sure some of those places along 36 between Denver and Boulder would have something if you're in pinch.

[chilaili]

The Habitat apartments in Gunbarrel used to offer 6-month leases - that I know for a fact because I lived there. Whether they still do, I don't know for sure. As they are a long way from CU the majority of their tenants are professionals who work in Boulder or across the street at Covidien or Longmont. The Victoria Inn in Longmont offers 1-, 2-, 3-, etc. month leases and I believe the Circle at Sunset in Longmont offers a 9-month lease. Most apartment complexes in Longmont rent to people who work in town, at IBM, Loveland/Fort Collins or other locations along the I-25 corridor. You might have better luck searching after the school year has started in Boulder as that's when landlords with empty apartments may be more amenable to non-students.

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by Tom Lane

I am new to eastern Colorado and have been trying to find something for month to month in Boulder for quite some time without success.

Unfortunately, the realtors in Boulder are very provincial in formulating their rental contracts, operating under many false pretenses about their own rental market.

Many property management companies are not REALTORS. Also, you must keep in mind that the leases are not dictated by real estate brokers - they are dictated by the owners of the property.

[CCCVDUR]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Tom: There might be a logical disconnect in your remarks, above. I doubt that the student population would be included in the "employment" stays, thus the majority of the rental market could still be geared to the students, it just wouldn't show up in the job stats as most students don't work. With IBM and other high tech places in/around Boulder, it does not surprise me those folks are the majority of employment in the area, not the purely educational ones. Job categories used in these stats seem susceptible to counting people in other categories, i.e., IBM, et al, can provide "tech service" bodies to the college on a contract basis, so even though they may actually work on campus in support of the educational processes, they may show up in the numbers for IT or other tech services. I'd take all these stats with a grain of salt and be leery of basing a point of view on them.

Mike: Underlined / Bolded above = VERY good point that I didn't think of. Yes indeed, most students do not work, and would not be tabulated in the employment statistics. However, much if not most of the rental market COULD be going to students.

Thanks very much to other posters for suggesting various apartment complexes outside of Boulder with shorter lease terms - I will rep you.

A local very professional Boulder rental referral service did a search for me, for all of their contracted properties, renting for 3 month contracts for under $1200. They only found only one complex in Boulder, but several outside of Boulder City limits.

p.s. John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" streaming over the net as I type this :-)

[bizzton3k]

Originally Posted by CCCVDUR

[u][b]
A local very professional Boulder rental referral service did a search for me, for all of their contracted properties, renting for 3 month contracts for under $1200. They only found only one complex in Boulder, but [u]several outside of Boulder City limits.

I was wondering if you could provide the names of the "several outside of Boulder city limits" (Longmont).

Thanks!