Moving To Springs (Denver, Colorado Springs, Monument: sales, real estate, foreclosure)

[tejaycar]

Hey all. I'm going to apologize now for asking the same questions you've gotten a thousand times. I'm moving to Springs in late July to start a job with Lockheed. I'll be out a Schriever AFB. My wife and I are heading out in April to look for a single family home. We'd like a basement, 1000+ sq ft, 1/8 acre or more, in a nice area. We're looking to spend less than 200k and we don't want anything older than about 2000. We've seen several homes in constitution hills, woodmen ranch, and other parts of powers that seem to fit the bill. Are there other places we should be looking?

A few questions:
1) Do you know of any good lenders. We need an 80/20 loan with low closing costs.
2) Are there any good swimming pools in the sand creek area?
3) Has any one had a really good (or bad) experience with a particular real estate agent?
4) Do you have any other good advice for a young couple moving to the springs?

Thanks in advance,

Tejay

[Charles]

Answers to your questions:
1) Check the internet for rates.

2) Check out swimmersguide.com and look at an excellent tool called “Find a Pool”. There is a pool at Peterson AFB but it is closed for a year or two while they build a new roof. You should be able to get on to Pete with your Schriever IDs. You can also swim at the AFA, COS parks, community centers, and several YMCAs if you are a member.

3) Not really.

4) You are probably looking in the right places though there are others too. Did you look in the Stetson Hills, Barnes, Dublin & Powers neighborhoods? I moved to the Springs in June 06 and had some of the same inquiries that you have. One thing to consider is the possibility that you might not be working at Schriever or even the Springs at some time in your career. By living in the northern end of Colorado Springs or in Monument you would be able to get to the south Denver area in 40 minutes to an hour. Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and other big aerospace employers are located near south Denver. (Woodmen Ranch is sort of east, kind of far for a potential Denver commute.) Also, my hunch is your transition to COS from where you live now will be nothing compared to your transition to Schriever from either college or a previous employer.

On base, there are three gyms to use two of which are really nice. I play outdoor basketball and tennis almost year round at lunch. There are two indoor racquetball courts too. Cycling at lunch time around the base is really nice too.

Driving to Schriever from the east side of the Springs is very easy: Marksheffel south to Highway 94. If you live on the west side you will have many more stop lights and traffic as you drive east in the mornings. Try not to live too far west of Powers. The farther north near the Powers corridor the better too. There is talk of building a toll road from Northgate down Powers, east on Woodmen, south through Banning Lewis Ranch and into the south area of the COS airport. That would really speed things up from the northern Springs to Schriever.

Right now most of the doctors’ offices are located in the central COS area like near the Austin Bluffs, Circle, Union streets – sort of inconvenient for northern springs residents. There are two brand new hospitals opening up in the northern springs which I would expect in time will anchor several medical office buildings. Your family will dig on this as they won’t have to travel 30-45 minutes into town.

The best school districts (important if you have or plan on having kids or want your real estate to hold its value) are D12, D20, and D38. D20 and D38 are in the northern springs and Monument. D12 is west central springs.

[MattF_MD]

Charles,

Thanks for all the good information.

[DainaDLR]

Hey Tejay! Well I am a Realtor, but I'm not here to promote myself. I am first, and foremost, an army wife and mom and a resident of Colorado Springs for over 12 years. Well, Charles gave you some good advice on the school districts. I attended districts 11 and 8. Not bad school districts, but if I had to choose for my daughter, I would go with 12, 20 or 38. Here a couple of links to get you started.

District 12 Info: http://www.cmsd.k12.co.us/
District 20 Info: http://www.asd20.org/education/distr...hp?sectionid=1


Question 1:
Well, I have a couple of GOOD lenders that I keep in touch with, but I hae to tell you that those 80/20 loans have gotten pretty tough to get. It is not impossible, just more difficult to qualify for due to the high foreclosure rates.

Question 2:
Okay, Charles hit that on the money The only thing I think he missed was the "swim park" at memorial park. I guess that would be more for the kids than for doing any actual swimming.

Question 3:
Before I got my real estate license, I had some encounters with some pretty stuck-up agents. I was working in new home sales at the time and after these bad experiences with agents, I decided to get my license. I wanted to prove to people that Realtors are REAL PEOPLE. Now that I'm in the business I notice some unprofessional practices by few individuals, but there are TONS of GREAT Realtors in this town. [mod cut]
Question 4
I'm not sure how young you are. I am younger than thirty, so I hope I can relate to what your needs may be: It sounds like you are starting off with a pretty good job. Lockheed is a wonderful company. The Powers area may be closer to the area where you will be working, but the areas you listed are all pretty close. There are MANY homes in this area built in 1999 or newer. I'm not sure if you've seen the number of homes available in these area, but there a A LOT to choose from.

Right now is a great time to buy in Colorado Springs because it is what we call, a "buyer's market". This means lower prices, more house for the money and more incentives!!

I sure hope this info was helpful. Let me know if you need lenders to speak to and I will look them up for you. Take care, Tejay, and good luck you!

[mod cut]

[sskkc]

If you're military (which from your post, I think you are)...

You need to hook up with USAA. They're a military/military family bank. We use them for most of our stuff and they've been absolutely great. You have to either be active duty to become a member, or a minor child of a member to sign up. If you do sign up with them, remember to get your kids membership numbers right away (you don't have to open an account for them to do this) so they can use USAA later in life too.