Need information on Eagle and/or Garfield counties.. (Columbine, Craig: real estate, foreclosures) - Colorado (CO) - City-Data Forum

cjsims · 02-18-2011, 03:43 PM

My husband and I will be moving to Colorado soon. He will be taking a job in Gypsum and we know nothing about the area. I think we are going to rent for the first year so that we can decide which area we would like to live in permanently.

Can someone give me advice on where we might find rentals? I have looked on craigslist and seen a few but I have no idea if they are in a good area. Where are most rentals listed? Is there a local website? Is Gypsum a nice place?

We like our outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking,etc.. but I also don't want to be stranded far away from shopping and other types of entertainment. We have 2 dogs.... and I'm hoping that's not going to be a problem.

I'm pretty sure we couldn't afford Vail. He will be making a little over $100,000 a year. Any help you might offer would be deeply appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

Mike from back east · 02-18-2011, 04:30 PM

There is some info in our threads on those areas. Try our search tool with keywords like Gypsum, Garfield, Vail Valley, etc.

Dogmama50 · 02-18-2011, 07:27 PM

There are lots of nice, dog friendly places in Gypsum and Eagle. Craigslist will have some places but most of the listing are in the paper. Vaildaily.com, go to the real estate tab and click on rentals. Gypsum is a nice place, and the big plus is they have Costco, you'll understand how happy that will make you after you've lived here for a while. Eagle has more restaurants and a cute downtown area, it a nice little town to live in. Personally I would live in Eagle, just more going on and a really nice community. Google's street view works for much of the area and is a very use full tool. The area is beyond dog friendly, the Vail Farmer's Market has more dogs than people on some days.

Eagle has City Market for groceries and Wags and Wiskers for dog goodies, Gypsum has a smaller market too, Columbine I think. Most larger chains are in Avon, Home Depot, Super Walmart, Pier 1, another City Market. Glenwood Springs has more shopping and is only about 25 minutes from Gypsum, through Glenwood Canyon, which is an amazing place to bike, raft and hike.

sunsprit · 02-19-2011, 12:45 PM

At $100K income, Vail is very possible for you, especially if you'll head a bit downvalley to the West ... where you may find a SFH at an affordable price point. Much will depend upon what you consider to be acceptable housing and how big your dogs are ... many landlords have learned through bad experiences (I'm included here) how damaging dogs can be to rental properties. I've found that even having triple the normal damage deposit (of one month, in addition to the first/last month's rent on move-in) ... isn't anywhere near enough money to cover the damage that even the best pet owning tenants have left me. You may find a landlord who is willing to take the risk at your representations of good pet behavior ... especially now that the rental market has softened somewhat in the area ... the ads in the Vail Daily are probably the best source of locating long-term rental housing in the area.

However, you might consider the commute to Gypsum as part of your housing requirements. There's some months of the year where the need to be downvalley can be a daunting trip on icy roads, and it can be avoided/minimized by living further West at lower elevations. IMO, the allure of living in Vail is more than offset by the inconvenience if your job is downvalley.

Property management for absentee owners is a big business in the Vail area, so I would suggest that you contact the realty companies that advertise those services. They're your first line of information about the nature of the properties and the price points and availability ... and can advise you about pets in the rentals they have. That will give you a "benchmark" to compare properties/locations to what you can find in The Daily.

CTC · 02-21-2011, 11:27 AM

Gypsum is a nice place, but Eagle is a bit nicer. Eagle has more of a community feel and City market is a good place to shop compared to the Columbine in Gypsum (overpriced/shoddy groceries). My only downside to Eagle is that it can get a bit trafficky at times-yep hard to believe but it can get busy.

We used to live in Gypsum and still own a house there which we rent out. Our home is in Chatfield Corners. CC's is a pretty new subdivision,quiet and has pretty large lots and nice views.

Not as upscale as some places in the Valley but pretty nice and more affordable than most. Prices have come down 20-30% from 2007. The 2 year period from 05-07 was a frantic building time-it was just crazy in Eagle/Gypsum. This equals lots of inventory with some foreclosures.

You are picking a good time to be moving to the area with a good job-real estate is a lot more affordable. Things were really overbuilt. When we bought in 2005 there was little to chose from, and Eagle was way beyond what we wanted to spend on an income of 130K or so. Eagle has really come down since '07.

Down Valley is cheaper than Vail,better weather and closer to Glenwood Springs-we liked it very much and haven't ruled out moving back at some point.

Also the rec center in Gypsum is super nice

wanneroo · 02-21-2011, 05:42 PM

If the job is in Gypsum, then living in that valley(Eagle/Gypsum) is pretty much the thing to do. Glenwood Springs is only 30 minutes away in good weather and Vail/BC, 30-40 minutes. My preference would probably be to live in Eagle. In the area, there is enough basic shopping and restaurants to get by. The "Back Bowl" bowling alley is quite nice in Eagle.

Definitely the area changed from when I first moved there in 1999. At the time it was a few cars here and there at stoplights, now it's frequently jammed up. The area became popular for those that cannot afford the entry costs to the Vail Valley. With $100K income and if you work and make extra, that should be enough for a decent lifestyle.

cjsims · 02-22-2011, 07:47 PM

Thank you so much for the great information. It seems the consensus is leaning towards Eagle.

One of our pets is a german shepherd and I fear that no one will want to rent to someone with a 100 pound dog. (It may be that we have to leave him here with a friend who adores him) We also have a 5 pound dog and I am thinking it won't be too terribly hard to find a rental with him.

I will definitely be getting a job too when we move to that area.... it looks like it will be a necessity considering the cost of living.

Dogmama50 · 02-23-2011, 08:10 AM

Big dogs are the norm up here. We rent a house up in Wildridge in Avon with 2 large dogs, my neighbor rents and has a huge GDS. There are a lot of GSDs up here, they're built for the snow, if yours is a good boy it won't be a problem to find a place to rent.

cjsims · 02-26-2011, 11:08 PM

Thank you so much Dogmama! You made me feel a lot better. The thought of leaving our GSD is heart breaking. I too, think he would enjoy the weather there much more than the hot and humid days we have here on the southern Georgia coast.
I plan on doing a lot of hiking when we move, and being a female, I will feel safer having my dog Rueger along with me.
I'm am definitely getting excited about this move. Thanks again!

Dogmama50 · 02-27-2011, 08:03 AM

Rueger and you will be happy to know that we pretty much have no ticks or bugs up here. We don't use advantix on our dogs here but still use heartworm pills. When you do hike with him, keep an eye out for moose, they can be aggressive towards dogs. Personally we've never run into any, but there was a momma and her baby walking around Vail last summer.