Erie, CO (Center: relocating, housing, rental)

[nelly 555]

I have visited CO to do a preliminary house search because my company is relocating. I plan on living in the city for about a year until I find a home in the suburbs. I looked around Erie and found a lot of new housing at reasonable prices but it appears to be on/right nest to a large landfill. Does anyone know the pitfalls of living in this area. Does the dump hurt housing prices? Are there times of the year where it would not be good to live so close to a landfill (hot summers, bad smells)?

[thedfly]

Great question! I was searching online and looking at Erie, and didn't know about the landfill. I am interested to hear local opinions too.

[Katiana]

There is a lot of info on Erie on this and the Colorado forum. I'd recommend a search. It doesn't seem like the landfill has impacted housing prices.

[nelly 555]

Thedfly, Although I was just doing a preliminary search (during December and January) of the area this is what I noticed regarding the landfill. The first property that I looked at was a beautiful home (around $350k). When I got out of the car I did notice a faint smell but could not pinpoint it untill I saw the birds and then noticed the earth movers (dumptrucks). The landfill looks like a large hill in the back of the newer housing areas. I knew at that point the location was not for me but did continue to look in Erie further fromthe original house. I found another neighborhood where I again loved the house, could see the dump in the background but did not see any signs of smells, birds etc. The builder told me that it was not an issue but what else would they say. They did tell me that some home buiders in the area actually are builiding on our landfill land. There are homes in the same vicinity that are in the 800k-million dollar range and I assume those people who purchased would not take the decision lightly. Just thought I would give you my small amount of insight. Hopefully some locals can give some first hand feedback.

[NickMan7]

I would definitely do a more thorough search on this subject, but my partner knows several people who live in the Vista Ridge vicinity who have had major settling issues with their homes. I have heard, but won't necessarily state it as fact (you can't always believe what you hear), that some of the homes towards the top of the "hill" are actually built over the landfill - i.e. the landfill was covered over with earth and developed. We did look at several spec homes in Vista Ridge before purchasing north along County Line (near the new Community Center) and saw that many had very severe settling issues. Some of these homes were "completed" just 48 hours before we looked at them.

Unfortunately, some builders will take soil samples of a general area before deciding to build. In turn, some homes are built on solid soil while others have shifting soils. Our builder tested each lot for the individual soil conditions before building our home and provided us with the report. We have been in our home since July 2005 and have not seen any signs of major settling (there are minor signs, as always).

[thedfly]

We noticed that too with some of the model homes...garages and basements with severe settling problems, cracks, garage doors not sitting properly with gap issues. Some were really bad to the point that I was shocked that the builder would keep the home open to the public while the isses weren't addressed. When we asked the sales associate in the model, she just shrugged her shoulders and kept her mouth shut. It was obvious that she had heard the questions before and didn't have a good answer to provide.

[NickMan7]

Originally Posted by thedfly

We noticed that too with some of the model homes...garages and basements with severe settling problems, cracks, garage doors not sitting properly with gap issues. Some were really bad to the point that I was shocked that the builder would keep the home open to the public while the isses weren't addressed. When we asked the sales associate in the model, she just shrugged her shoulders and kept her mouth shut. It was obvious that she had heard the questions before and didn't have a good answer to provide.

Yeah, when we visited we noticed issues in a few of the model basements and garages, but not too much throughout the rest of the house (it's amazing what paint and artwork can hide. At that time, there were about 3 blocks of spec homes, so we had many to choose from. Several of them had front doors that wouldn't open (and yes, the door was unlocked) and we had to enter through a garage access door or back door. Many of the others had horizontal cracks in the walls that were very noticeable from the minute you walked in (a sign of poor structural integrity). We had asked the guy at the sales office what exactly the problem was and he said "all issues will be addressed and fixed once a contract is signed", or something along those lines. We left immediately.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by NickMan7

.... the guy at the sales office ...said "all issues will be addressed and fixed once a contract is signed", or something along those lines. We left immediately.

The only thing that sales dude would see is my backside as I ran as fast as I could out of there.

[kicksavedave]

I live in Erie, within a few hundred yards of the landfill. It's not an issue as far as smell is concerned. And there are only a handful of houses which actually back top or face the landfill, and as already mentioned, it's just a big hill from those houses. Even in the summer it's not a smell issue. The purchase price of new houses around there should already factor that in.

But the soils around this area are bad. Our rental here has already had a major basement/foundation repair and its only 3 years old. Make sure if you are looking in this area to get a very good soils report from the geo engineers. Its required to build and get a permit, so one exists for every house, you just have to get a hold of it. If the house is built on expansive soils, and IS NOT built using structural re-inforced pilings or some other method of dealing with the soils, you could be in for a big problem with your foundation in a few years. Expansive soils can be built on without problems, but if the builder took shortcuts (like KB Home in Grandview, where I rent right now did) then you're taking a big risk.

Don't worry about the landfill, but make sure you get a well built house that isn't about to heave and sway as the soils move.

[kicksavedave]

Originally Posted by NickMan7

Yeah, when we visited we noticed issues in a few of the model basements and garages, but not too much throughout the rest of the house (it's amazing what paint and artwork can hide. At that time, there were about 3 blocks of spec homes, so we had many to choose from. Several of them had front doors that wouldn't open (and yes, the door was unlocked) and we had to enter through a garage access door or back door. Many of the others had horizontal cracks in the walls that were very noticeable from the minute you walked in (a sign of poor structural integrity). We had asked the guy at the sales office what exactly the problem was and he said "all issues will be addressed and fixed once a contract is signed", or something along those lines. We left immediately.

To this point, a builder should take a general sample of the area before starting a development to determine if the soils could be an issue, and to determine their cost per home if it is an issue, but then they should also take a sample of each lot before a permit is issued. If the specific lot has expansive soils, they SHOULD use structural reinforcement like pylons or something. But they are not required to. If they don't, then the house will be a disaster in a few years. Builders often sub out their warranty, so some builders actually don't care much about that sort of issue, as amazing as that sounds. Run like hell away from that builder and that development.

Use JD Power's home builder rankings to see which builders have poor reputations in the state you're looking in. Some consistently take shortcuts, others consistently build quality. Just in Vista Ridge, which is along that landfill, there are builders who suck, and great builders. People often overlook that aspect of a new home and go for price and location instead. Avoid KB Home and DR Horton for those reasons. Centex, Pulte and John Laing have great reputations however. That said, I cannot speak directly to their developments in Vista Ridge.