Moving to CO Springs...where to live?? (Fountain, Colorado City: for sale, real estate)

[Roseroo]

My fiance and I are moving to CO Springs in about 2 weeks and I am wondering what the best area is to look for a rental home. I am 26 and he is 32. We would love to buy but probably need to get our finances in better order. We would like to keep rent below $1k a month unless renting out a room. I am also wondering if rent to own would be a good option. I have been looking at the Briargate and Papeton areas. We would like to be somewhat close to shops and restaurants, a nice park or rec area and probably a community college or somewhere with continuing ed. Walking distance would be preferable. I am also interested in the arts scene.

Is there a community like this? Any ideas?? Thanks!!

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Roseroo

My fiance and I are moving to CO Springs in about 2 weeks and I am wondering what the best area is to look for a rental home. I am 26 and he is 32. We would love to buy but probably need to get our finances in better order. We would like to keep rent below $1k a month unless renting out a room. I am also wondering if rent to own would be a good option. I have been looking at the Briargate and Papeton areas. We would like to be somewhat close to shops and restaurants, a nice park or rec area and probably a community college or somewhere with continuing ed. Walking distance would be preferable. I am also interested in the arts scene.

Is there a community like this? Any ideas?? Thanks!!

Briargate is a fine area, my favorite.

Rent below 1k is doable is most parts of town. Suggest Real Estate Listings, Homes for Sale and Rental Property Listings – REALTOR.com® and click rentals. There are many other rental sites to choose from. Some realtors will work with renters, hoping to get you back later as a buyer.

I do not favor rent to own, seems a gimmick to me. I'm not sure how much it obligates you to buy THAT house, but the point is most people on this board think its best to rent a year before buying, so you can see all the areas and get your life in order here before picking a place to buy.

Pikes Peak Community College has locations on the north, south, east and downtown part of the city.

UCCS is sort of north of downtown, a bit to the east side.

Most of the art and culture are downtown, which BTW, is an affordable, walkabout place with eateries, coffee shops, the campus of private Colorado College which has TONS of free things to do. I wish you could see the tree lined streets, like Wahsatch and Weber and many more downtown. Lots of very small, old, charming bungalows down there, some of which remind me of the painted lady victorians of SF, CA.

There are parks all over town. One of the biggest is Memorial Park, east of downtown.

On the west side of downtown, out Colorado Avenue, you should see Old Colorado City (OCC); with a cool vibe and more older homes with charm. Lots of eateries and shops here.

The whole downtown is basically flat, walkable and fit for bicycling. Out on the west side is Garden of the Gods, a VERY large park that one can walk and cycle around until blue in the face.

All these things are covered in many threads that already exist. Use the search tool with any keyword and you'll get much info.

I'm not a realtor, but urge you to work with one. If you need the names of two or three good ones that my wife and I know, just send me a DM.

[otowi]

I would recommend Security/Widefield/Fountain. Great park and rec, lots of shops and things that could be in walking distance depending on where you settle, you get more for your money than any other area in the county, and the community college main campus is less than ten minutes away. You might even be able to buy a smaller home in this area. Nice parks, too, and good schools.