Moving to Colorado Springs area from Tyler, TX (Denver, Fountain: real estate, how much)

[burgamym]

I am considering moving to the Springs area and am in need of some advice.

1. Is it unreasonable to think that I can get a 1,600 sq. ft. house in the mountains for around $150,000.

2. Do you think I will have a hard time finding a teaching job (PE coach) since I am coming from out of state? Any suggestions on schools that you would recommend or not recommend? Is the Springs job fair worth coming up there for?

3. My wife's biggest concern is the being cold all of the time. Does anyone have any encouragement for her? She thinks that it will be cold and unbearable from September through April.

4. Any suggestions on great mountain towns around the Springs that you can still afford to live and commute if need be?

[froggin4colorado]

Yes, you can get a home with that much square footage for that price. Search Colorado Springs Real Estate - Official MLS Listings - PPAR.com for every home listed in the area.

Very competitive right now for teaching jobs. (200+ applicants her position) Please research other threads for district websites. Good luck- I am sped and just resigned. Moving to VA! but will miss CO

She might be "cold" in January, but will often go out in winter without a heavy coat. Does she consider the 50s and 40s as cold? A lot of winter days are in the 40s and 50s. There are even days in the 60s during the winter months.

Your mountain community will be Manitou, Crystola, Green Mtn Falls, Woodland Park, and Divide. Otherwise, Woodland Park area.

Good luck!

[janetjanetbobanet]

I think that you will have trouble finding a house that large for that price in the mountains, based on my recent house hunting experiences.
It will be pretty cold in January and February, don't know that unbearable would be my description, though.

[froggin4colorado]

There were 7 pages of listings for homes 150K or less up to 1750 sq feet in Woodland Park/Florissant/DIvide. I don't know how new and much you like modulars or fixer uppers, but it is possible. For 150K in Fountain, you can buy a home that isn't a fixer upper and newly built. Probably the same in Falcon and some areas in COS too.

[janetinaustin]

We are considering moving to Colorado Springs/Denver are from Austin, Texas. The heat is just too much to handle. We have a 15 year old son who is on a travel hockey team (with poor coaching) and he is also on the golf team. Not sure where would be the best place to begin looking for a good high school and good hockey association. Any suggestions???

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by janetinaustin

We are considering moving to Colorado Springs/Denver are from Austin, Texas. The heat is just too much to handle. We have a 15 year old son who is on a travel hockey team (with poor coaching) and he is also on the golf team. Not sure where would be the best place to begin looking for a good high school and good hockey association. Any suggestions???

Janet, I know teens play hockey around here; the gal I see monthly for a massage has a teen son who plays a lot. Both Colorado College and the USAF Academy have hockey teams and tickets to see these teams play are easy to get and affordable. COLO SPGS is only 75-90 minutes south of the Pepsi Center in Denver where the COLO Avalanche plays pro hockey. If you google 'colorado springs hockey' you'll get a ton of hits.

We have good schools all over town. The districts that are favorites here are D20, D12, D38, D49, and D11.

Lots of school info listed in the index of threads, as well as lots of other info.

s/Mike

[PokerMunkee]

The MLS web site for the greater Colorado Springs area (including Divide and Woodland Park) is
Colorado Springs Real Estate - Official MLS Listings - PPAR.com

Go there and search for houses in your price range. This will give you an idea how much houses go for in this area.

[MountainPharmD]

Originally Posted by burgamym

I am considering moving to the Springs area and am in need of some advice.?

Have you lived in Tyler your whole life? If so you are in for quite a surprise if you move to Colorado!

1. Is it unreasonable to think that I can get a 1,600 sq. ft. house in the mountains for around $150,000.

I am not going to search for you but there should be a few. You may have to go past Divide in the Lake George and Florissant area. Funny thing about alot of the housing areas up there is a $400,000 house is right next to a $100,000 shack. There are no covenants or restrictions in most housing areas especially when you get past Divide. Several of them including my old neighborhood have been there for 50 years. There were there before there were even roads to get to them. Lots of people built little hunting cabins on the land, which are still there today. Gives it kind of a unique charm. The house I lived in sold for $269,000. The house on the lot next door had been there since the 60’s and was 1000 sq ft. It sold right before I left for $110,000.


2. Do you think I will have a hard time finding a teaching job (PE coach) since I am coming from out of state? Any suggestions on schools that you would recommend or not recommend? Is the Springs job fair worth coming up there for?

No help here. My kids are not school age yet.

3. My wife's biggest concern is the being cold all of the time. Does anyone have any encouragement for her? She thinks that it will be cold and unbearable from September through April.

A legitimate concern. Woodland Park is about 8500 feet. It never really gets hot. Sure you have a few weeks in August that gets close to or above 80 but that’s it. Even in the summer the nights are cool, especially riding a motorcycle home from work in the Springs! If you live in Woodland Park proper with the city snow removal it is not to bad. There is a chance of snow from mid September to the first week or so of June. The farther you go west the higher the elevation and the worse then weather will be in the winter. You wouldn’t think 500 or 1000 feet could make a big difference but it does. According to my GPS the elevation of my house was 9020 feet. It could be snowing at my house and raining in Woodland Park!


4. Any suggestions on great mountain towns around the Springs that you can still afford to live and commute if need be?

In your price range? No.

[Fullback32]

Originally Posted by burgamym

2. Do you think I will have a hard time finding a teaching job (PE coach) since I am coming from out of state? Any suggestions on schools that you would recommend or not recommend? Is the Springs job fair worth coming up there for?

Hmmm...maybe. When we moved her in 2000, my-ex-wife who was a PE teacher for DODS schools, and public & private schools in Texas couldn't get hired on. She had 12 years of experience at that time and certification in two states which she transfered to Colorado when we moved here. They insisted that she have her Masters and also coach. They wouldn't hire her without those two things. She didn't have her Masters and wasn't really interested in coaching. She tried again after we divorced a few years later. The same thing happened. This was D20 and D11. What this means as to your getting on, I don't know. This was just her experience. On the other hand, D49 was ready to hire me to be a high school IT instructor without being certified. I could get it later they said, though IT has a different certification track than regular teachers, plus I am an experienced college IT instructor. I politely turned them down as I have never been interested in being a K-12 teacher. So who knows? All you can do is give it a shot.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Janet, I know teens play hockey around here; the gal I see monthly for a massage has a teen son who plays a lot. Both Colorado College and the USAF Academy have hockey teams and tickets to see these teams play are easy to get and affordable. COLO SPGS is only 75-90 minutes south of the Pepsi Center in Denver where the COLO Avalanche plays pro hockey. If you google 'colorado springs hockey' you'll get a ton of hits.... snip...

Janet: Today I visited the person with the magic hands, got the names of the two youth hockey groups here in town:
- Colorado Springs Amateur Hockey Association
- Colorado Hockey Club

A lot of the hockey action takes place at the World Arena, on the south end of town.