Moving to Colorado Springs....what area would you recommend? (Aspen: rent, new house)

[sodak2018]

My wife and I (20-somethings) are moving to Colorado Springs from South Dakota next month. I'll be working about a mile west of UCCS, and she'll be working at UCHealth Memorial Hospital North. We've been looking at Briargate because it seems to be in the middle of our two jobs, but with a budget of less than $375,000, houses are hit or miss in that area. Also, I feel like those houses are very big for just the 2 of us, and people are paying for the D20 school district by living in that area. We do not have kids (yet, and even then it would be 5-10 years until we matriculate into the local school districts), so I was wondering if anybody else had other recommendations other than Briargate. (Either of us are fine with a bit longer commute, we're just not entirely sure if it would make more sense to start looking west side or east side, or central CO Springs).

As for houses, we would prefer a neighborhood with newer houses built in the last 10 years (and Briargate seems a bit more established than that with 20-40 year houses, or the brand new houses that are out of our price range). We don't have a problem with cookie cutters, and like the idea of having an unfinished basement.

Would anybody have any neighborhood recommendations? Thank you in advance!

[BLMAngus]

I live in the Briargate area. Our house was built in 2003. Current value is about $345K. For that you get 4 beds, 3.5 baths, 2600 sf, including a partially finished basement, on a 6000 sf lot. It is a "California style" subdivision. We live about half a mile away from UC Health Memorial, and UCCS is a quick drive down Austin Bluffs (my kids went there). It is about a 5 minute walk to the middle school and another 5 minutes to the high school. All the modern shopping conveniences are close by. When you say people are paying for being in the D20 school district, the mill rate is 60, but if you look at the other school districts, they are all about the same. I think you should stick with the Briargate area. Work with a realtor. You can find some thing within your budget for sure, but it will go quick. Good luck.

[Mike from back east]

^^^^ Ditto.

My favorite area, lived in it for 11 years and brag about it still.

[Vision67]

OP: I've recently worked with a 20s family like yours who bought a house in Briargate and rent out an extra room through Air BnB to a University student or intern on a monthly basis.

That brings in an extra $900 per month to help with the mortgage.

You could look for a house with a finished basement walk out bedroom/bath. That way the tenant would have a separate, lockable entrance.

If you look at homes in the Windjammer area you can find something in your price range.

[otowi]

Honestly I would encourage you to let go of the criterion for a home no older than 10 years.

[abcdefg567]

Banning Lewis Ranch, Indigo Ranch or the other nearby new developments (Classic, Challenger, Covington, Aspen View Homes, Century ALL have stuff going in right now) or anywhere East of Powers, north of Constitution, will probably be the best fit for you. There's a ton of stuff that meets your criteria.

We live Marksheffel/Carefree and GPS says 15 minutes to UCCS and 14 minutes to the hospital with no traffic. Maybe double that during rush hour.....the closer to Woodmen the better it might be.

We really like the area. Our home is 6 years old, no basement....abt. $320-330k, models with a basement are listed for $350-370k all finished. Our neighbors are all very nice and it's close to lots of shopping & restaurants....very quiet.

I wasn't super enamored with Briargate either, the parts in our budget at least, lol. I was however enamored with Rockrimmon & nearby areas, but a foundation expert warned us away. NW might be worth a look. The areas by UCCS aren't bad either, and far north Academy has a lot going on. We have friends over by the college and their only complaint are houses with.... college students. Seems safe enough though.

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by otowi

Honestly I would encourage you to let go of the criterion for a home no older than 10 years.

Agree with this. Even some of the newer developments in Stetson Hills have homes that are 20 years old. Builders make much greater margins on home that are $500k+ so they have tended to be more prolific in construction in the last decade.

[Sonic_Spork]

If you're flexible on the "newer home" thing, I'd check into some of the neighborhoods that are back off in the residential areas surrounding North Academy, like not quite as far up as Briargate, but for instance the areas off of Montebello, or Flintridge? Lots of single family homes in those regions that are nice but not super fancy, and might cost a bit less?

If you go to ppar.com and search area code 80918 and look between about Woodmen on the north and Austin Bluffs on the south, there's a bunch of stuff there, many under $300K. Though it does look like most of them were built in the 1980's...but I don't know that this is a terrible thing, if they've been kept up well. And I see that some have, and some have not.

I'm also seeing that a lot of them seem to be under contract, and that makes sense from what I've heard from friends who were trying to buy a house, the market is pretty tight. Houses selling fast, for asking price or higher even.

[Colin777]

I have friends who are couples living in small houses in Briargate. Briargate is right by Memorial North; I live about 7 minutes closer to UCCS (I drive 10min to Memorial North and about 15-20 min to UCCS), in a neighborhood priced around $375-$420-ish. This neighborhood was built in the 1990's by a very good builder. It's old enough to have established trees. It's a great walking neighborhood, has character, safe, and a neighborhood pool, tennis, etc. The adjacent neighborhoods are nice, too. Ask your realtor about Norwood. There are also some new construction homes within your budget. I don't think you'll have any difficulty finding a place- it took me all of one day!

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

You are a 20-something couple with no kids, but you are looking to move into soccer mom central. Why? What do you have against excitement, non-chain restaurants, close access to outdoor activities and interesting architecture? And why on earth do you require a house that is less than ten years old?

Different strokes, I suppose.

Edit: Maybe I should actually try to be helpful. If I were you, I would buy this house and use some of the savings on some DIY renovations. This is one of the best areas for your price range in the entire city if you actually want to be close to something other than an Eddie Bauer or TGI Fridays. It's also likely a great investment. Of course, you'd have to expand your 10-year requirement by 91 years...

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...436211#photo25