Cost of living comparisons - Let's discuss (Colorado Springs, Black Forest: transplants, sales)

[Hollynla]

We are planning on a move to Teller County in late Spring from south Louisiana. Besides some of the obvious changes, one of the most common things people say is the cost of living will be higher in Colorado (mostly people in Colorado say this). I have to disagree knowing what I know so far. Cost of living going up or down obviously depends on where you are coming from. I think there is a stigma associated with the south too that people assume is less expensive to live. For any transplants on here, what do you think? Where did you come from and what sort of cost of living changes did you experience, or for those planning on moving to CO, what are you expecting?

One thing that probably is a little higher in Colorado is the real estate itself. We currently live in a somewhat rural area of south Louisiana and are looking at more rural areas of Teller County. The difference per square footage is very little, if any. Here in Louisiana, homeowners insurance is extremely high. I'm currently paying $3K/year and that's no flood insurance. Property taxes are also higher than Teller County, and that even with our 75K homestead exemption (comparing the same values). Here in Louisiana, we have to run a central air condition pretty much non-stop for 8 months of the year. This is expensive to run and maintain. My electric bill alone runs over $375/month for the hottest months. Our electric companies are still charges monthly fees for Katrina and Gustav. Keep in mind Katrina was 9 years ago, Gustav 5. Maintaining the /ac units costs me about $1K/year. In the winter, houses here are about as efficient as an outdoor campfire. Heat is often electric and blows from the ceiling. In colder months (colder for us), my natural gas bill can get to $300/month. I understand that in Teller County, air conditioning often isn't needed in a house, so I"m guessing the utility bills for those months will be low, much lower than I"m used to paying here in Louisiana. Also, here in Louisiana, in my town limits, sales tax is 10%. We pay sales tax on everything, including food. I'm not sure about what is taxes in Teller county but I've looked up the rates and it's far less than what we are paying here. Another huge savings I have to mention is auto insurance. Louisiana is often rated in the most expensive states in the country for auto insurance. I've already had my same state farm policy quoted for Teller county, and for what I'm paying $637/month here, it will cost me $275 there. (the commerical vehicle we have being the biggest difference).

So with all that said, I do find it funny how people automatically assume that the cost of living will be higher in Colorado. Can anyone shed some light on what these people may be referring to? I want to be prepared any way I can. I'd also love to hear others cost of living comparisons for the area.

[Mike from back east]

Holly, good article, will get back to it later today after some meetings....you are on the right track...

[Marcy1210]

Power (electric or propane, sometimes natural gas) in Teller county is expensive. The county didn't have natural gas until about ten years ago, so propane and electric were the only choices for power. Now there is natural gas and some formerly electric or propane homes have changed over to natural gas for heat, and there may be more recent construction of homes using gas for heat and dryer. However, all electric homes still exist. The electric company is a cooperative, not municipal, and last I knew, rates were around 12 cents kwh and propane is about $2.25/gal with most tanks being about 200 gallons.

You will never need AC in Teller County, but you may need heat for 9-10 months of the year, even in summer, as the temperatures can cool off very quickly right after the afternoon rain showers to the low 50's sometimes (and they don't warm back up), and nights can get down into the 40's. You can probably expect an electric bill of about $200- $300/mo unless you're really frugal with electricity. If you have electric heat, expect it to be much higher. If you're on propane or natural gas, depending on your usage, and the size of your home, you could use a propane tank every month or two, plus you'll still have an electric bill and possibly a natural gas bill.

You also may find homeowner's insurance is very high in Teller County (and sometimes not available) because of the recent forest fires in our state (Waldo Canyon and Black Forest). People have been cancelled or their rates are exorbitant to the point of being unaffordable. You may want to check and see if homeowner's insurance is available for any home you buy. If you rent, check and see if you can get contents coverage. That may also be affected by our recent (past two years) devastating fires (over 500 homes lost from both fires).

As with other mountain towns in Colorado, prices of most goods (including groceries) are higher than in the major cities, and other than Wal-Mart in WP, there is no place to buy clothing (there is The Cowhand for western wear and jeans), electronics, housewares or other goods, so a trip down to Colorado Springs for the malls, restaurants, movies and other entertainment will probably be part of life, and the gas up and down the pass can get expensive. In bad weather, the drive can even be a little treacherous. So, depending on where in Teller County you are, plan on going into Woodland Park every day, and to the Springs a couple of times a week at least. Currently gas prices in Teller County are about $3.00/gal.

Depending on where you live in Teller County, you might check about water rates. Many subdivisions have private water or homes are on wells. There is no municipal water other than within the city limits. Several subdivisions also have minimum water rates even if you use no water at all, so you'll need to factor in water rates. Where I lived, the monthly minimum was $38.00 and an average water bill was about $60.00 which is extremely high.

I'm sure others will be able to be more specific since I don't live there full time anymore and things may be different in other parts of the county than where I am which is north of Divide.

[Hollynla]

Thanks for the info. I'm surprised to hear that your electric bill can run up to $300/month even in August? Does anyone else find this to be the case?

You mention that you need to go to Woodland Park for Wal-mart and COS for bigger things, but you mention going daily? Why would you need to go Wal Mart daily? LOL. I actually live in a rural area here in Louisiana and live about 40 minutes (without traffic) to get to a larger city, so I am familiar with the fact that groceries and other things will cost a little higher at the smaller stores. I think that's pretty much the same anywhere in the country that you live in a rural area.

Thanks for the info on water, I know that is something we need to check into on any property we are looking at. Here in Louisiana, water has definitely never been a problem except for that fact that we have too much.

Wanted to add, we are going to be considered semi-retired. I can definitely see some of these issues being much bigger for someone raising a growing family.

[Mike from back east]

Holly, see post #2 for utility information. We've a larger home; higher summer bills are mostly due to watering the lawn as water rates are going up here every year but some of the summer costs are also for A/C which is probably not even needed up in Teller County. I've only spent $175.00 on our A/C unit in the 9 years we've had it, your costs for A/C up in Teller could be zero per year as many homes up there don't even need it, that's how cool it is up there and the lack of humidity makes it feel very comfortable. If you don't have a lawn to water up there your summer utility bills will probably be about $100 give/take if you cook a lot with electricity or propane. If the house has propane heat it can get real pricey to stay warm. For those living in the city of COLO SPGS, as we do, we get cheaper utility costs than quite a few other cities as our utility is city owned rather than a corporate for-profit firm with higher rates.

Homeowners insurance can be a lot cheaper here compared to areas prone to hurricanes, some people in FL are paying $5k a year or more...depending on location and if their homes predate more stringent building standards adopted to reduce hurricane damage.

We pay $1.3K year for auto insurance on two cars for two adult drivers with good records who don't drive that much.

Here in COLO SPGS, homeowners insurance rates have gone up for some people in fire prone areas and the companies are even canceling some policies if a homeowner doesn't maintain a defensible space around their homes. If you're considering a home in a wooded area up in Teller County you'd be best to consult your insurance carrier for a quote as part of your due diligence process.

Taxes are fairly low here in COLO. State income tax is 4.63% and cannot be raised except by a majority vote of the voting public. Sales taxes vary but can be up to 7.XX% here in COLO SPGS. Property taxes here are fairly low, a good rule of thumb is 0.6% to 0.7% of sales/market price of a home, thus for a $300k home here one can expect to pay a yearly property tax of $1.8k to $2.1K.

Marcy gave you GREAT info.

[Hollynla]

Thanks for much for the info. Question though, what is the most efficient form of heat there? Natural Gas, then propane, then electric?

Almost all of the properties I've looked at have wood burning stoves, so I definitely will be using that as much as possible. WE will be downsizing a lot so I'm not looking at a very large house, maybe it can be kept warm with the wood burning stove when we are home?

[Mike from back east]

Natural gas is by far the most cost efficient.

Here's a ballpark comparison sheet.

Here's a thread on the comparisons.

My father in law in WV and my sister in MD both get most of their heat from wood burning stoves. See post #2 and #9 in this thread to see how they use the woodburner to heat the home.

[Marcy1210]

No, you don't go to Wal-Mart every day, but it's the only place in town for most household and clothing goods. We weren't raising a family, either, our kids had empty-nested, but my husband had his own office in Woodland Park, so the daily commute from Divide wasn't too bad, about 1/2 hour. In snowy weather it can be a bear driving Hwy 24 up Bluebird hill from WP westward. In the summer, it's a breeze! Teller County is, for the most part, very rural. Unless you live in WP, you're going to have a fairly decent drive into WP for all your needs.

Natural gas isn't very common in Teller County. The majority of homes use either propane and/or electric heat. Wood and pellet stoves work well, but they'll only heat the areas around the stove. You'll need to make sure your stove has a blower (fan). We had a wood stove put in our fireplace as an insert, but it didn't heat the upstairs at all. In our house it was in addition to the natural gas heaters on the main floor. Upstairs, we needed to use the baseboard electric heat which was expensive. Also, having firewood cut and delivered will also cost you money, and if you rely on the wood stove for all your heating, you will be hauling wood inside frequently. You can't store firewood near your home for a couple of reasons; critters make their homes in the woodpiles year round (chipmunks, mice, black widows, etc.), and in summer, it's a fire danger.

The best thing to do is to rent for a year at least and see if you can handle the cold (summer and especially winter), very short summers, and long, snowy winters as well as the altitude and the fairly long drives to get to WP from other places in the county. The turnover here is very high, so if you make it a year, you can then think about buying....

[Hollynla]

I've definitely learned something new about heating the homes. I will definitely factor in the cost of propane in the winter. I'd have to say, sounds like utilities overall will still be lower than here which is a good thing, although still not "low" to other areas. Here, when combined with my water/gas bill, utilitlies run me about $450 during the heat of summer and then again for the colder months. I think our kilowatt charge is less with electricity, but that's a complete ficad. The "fuel surcharge" added to our bills are more than the kilowatt charge. It can list the kilowatt charge as $180 and fuel surcharge will easily be over $200. No one here has understood it for years, and our utility companies are monopolies also.

My husband is much more used to the winter than I am. He often works in colder climates, like he is in Montana right now. We are going to be going through Teller County next week sometimes to look around some more. We've both been there many times, but I've never made a winter there. It will be something I'll have to learn to live with, I do realize that. I have no doubt I'll complain about the cold, but with that said, unless you've ever experienced the heat and humidity that south Louisiana has 6 months of the year, you'll never understand what truly hot and humid weather feels like and how miserable it is. You can't walk to your mailbox without getting sticky and sweaty. It can literally take your breath away. Weather extremes on opposite sides no doubt, lol.