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Hello All! My girlfriend and I and our 3 year old husky Griffin are planning on moving to Colorado in June once our lease is up in Duluth, MN. We both recently graduated from UMD with degrees in environmental and outdoor education. We both love Colorado, have been planning on moving out there before we met and have visited the state pretty much every 6 months for the last three years. We've mostly stayed around Fort Collins, Loveland, Estes Park, Boulder, Winter Park (and various other ski towns), Nederland, and various other areas on the front range with little to no experience with the Denver area, or southern Colorado. This being said, we ideally would like to find a place on the outskirts of Fort Collins, or Boulder, but we are also open to finding a place in a more secluded mountain town.
In Duluth, it is common for leases to start June 1st and last one year in length. Places usually start popping up on Craigslist pretty steadily around February and March and if you wait until April you usually get slim pickings. This being said, does anyone know if the same kind of pattern holds true with areas in Colorado? I've been looking on craigslist pretty much everyday for some pre-leasing opportunities, but with little luck. Everything is for immediate move-in.
Also, we'd like to find something other than an apartment in an apartment complex (due to strict breed restrictions on huskies). We do live in a duplex apartment currently, so this is always an option. We'd like to find something for around $900 a month if possible, so I understand that Boulder may be a difficult city to achieve this in. I would love to get people's input on property management companies that they have first-hand experience with. Any other constructive input on this topic would be greatly appreciated!
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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RE: Property leasing... I would look somewhere besides Craigslist. As someone who rents out properties in several states... I never post my offerings on Craigslist... too much FLUFF (non-qualified) tenants. Padmapper or Zillow are better choices.
RE moving to CO Recent grads...
Need employment?
Trust fund babes? (a very popular 'career' in CO)
Need online access for WFH?
Starting your own business?
What is your career field?
Experience?
What is your 'bridge' plan? (Either living UNDER a bridge while looking for employment, or... bridging the employment gap... Student to worker bee. )
You may find that answering the above questions will help us advise you to a more expedient and accurate conclusion.
If you can get one or two positions in Estes Park, maybe try that for 3-6-12 months. For a job in June they may have more entry-level openings somewhat related to your fields than elsewhere. The second and hopefully better job in Colorado should be easier to get than the first.
Loveland (or just outside it) might be a good location to start if you come without a position as both north, south and west commutes are possible and it should have more offerings in your price range.
Better though to try to get at least one position first and start in that town. Then adjust later if appropriate.
You might want to stop and look at Berthoud sometime for soon or later.
Lyons might interest you later but I wouldn't particularly recommend it as a first stop, especially after the flood.
I know 900/month in Boulder will be difficult, like i previously mentioned. We are by no means trust fund babies...in fact we are very hard working college graduates who are moving out to Colorado because the outdoor education industry is bigger out west then it is in Minnesota-I know this as a fact. The job situation isn't my concern, I am posting on here to get insight into reputable and respectable rental agencies and/or areas people have rented before and also to see if there is a specific time period of when there is a larger influx of rentals popping up.
NW Crow, thank you for your advice. Estes Park is what I would say our ideal area would be, or something in that Hwy 72 corridor between Estes and Nederland.
If the job situation isn't a concern for you, then you have one hell of a lot to learn about Colorado, especially in your chosen field. The competition for the few jobs available is fierce. Everybody and his brother dreams about what you are trying to do. CSU alone probably graduates more people in the various outdoor disciplines than there are jobs available in Colorado to be filled in any given year.
If the job situation isn't a concern for you, then you have one hell of a lot to learn about Colorado, especially in your chosen field. The competition for the few jobs available is fierce. Everybody and his brother dreams about what you are trying to do. CSU alone probably graduates more people in the various outdoor disciplines than there are jobs available in Colorado to be filled in any given year.
I know Jazzlover can come across as harsh to many posters, but what he says above is absolutely 100% spot on. I graduated from CSU with a Forestry degree back in 1999 and was fortunate enough to land a job with the Forest Service straight of of college (seasonal work). I eventually gained full time employment in Western Colorado, but left due to personal reasons. I have been trying to enter back into the workforce for a few years, and even with my career status, the ability to re-instate me without competition,years of federal service, and excellent references including people in the regional and national offices, I can't compete these days. Jobs are very hard to come by.
My advice for the both of you is to apply now for seasonal jobs not only in Colorado, but all states with jobs that fit your education. When I was hiring my seasonals, I was looking at resumes in January for start dates in April.
I have many, many friends with outdoor education and natural resources degrees that never managed to land a job in their field. Your best bet to get your foot in the door is to take seasonal work anywhere you can get it. Build your skills and hopefully you will find a permanent job in your ideal location. But moving to N. Colorado, home of three universities, and many outdoor oriented degrees, without a job is hand is most likely going to land you working as a server or minimum wage retail work. It's the unfortunate reality.
If the job situation isn't a concern for you, then you have one hell of a lot to learn about Colorado, especially in your chosen field. The competition for the few jobs available is fierce. Everybody and his brother dreams about what you are trying to do. CSU alone probably graduates more people in the various outdoor disciplines than there are jobs available in Colorado to be filled in any given year.
You don't think i know how competitive the outdoor field is? I chose to pursue this degree because i'm passionate about it, not because I know it would be easy to get a job. If i was looking for immediate hire, I would have gotten an accounting degree.
I love how this thread has turned into advice on how difficult the job market is in Colorado. News flash-the job market in Duluth is terrible for any kind of job. We are looking for seasonal work, full-time work, part-time work, whatever we can get our hands on. It doesn't even have to be in our field from the start. Also, I have 4+ years experience working at summer camps and also working for the MN conservation CORP clearing trail in the boundary waters and along the north shore. We aren't ripe college grads with little to no experience and a big head full of useless knowledge. Additionally, I have 7+ years automotive experience as well working as a mechanic in a VW/Audi shop, so I can utilize this as well.
I merely came on this forum to seek HOUSING advice. We want to move to Colorado because we love it there. The second we start driving back to MN after each visit we already start planning our next visit. Everything you guys say to try and deter us is useless. We're just going to have to learn the hard way if it comes to that. We still young, dumb, and adventurous so now's the best time to take risks. We have a decent sum of money saved up ($6,000+) for the move and we are also very flexible to the area that we move. Ideally, we'd love to be out of the suburbs and into the mountains. I grew up in a small town of 5,000 people, so that small town feel isn't new to me.
I respect those of you who have given useful advice.. I thought I'd give this forum a try to see what info I could receive, but given the responses I feel like we'll instead just be those overzealous, young college grads and do the move regardless of the pleas we have received on here. So, see ya soon Colorado, we'll try our very best to not fail miserably and head back with our tails between our legs.
^Well, I can tell you about one Minnesotan who moved to Colorado with just your starry-eyed optimism. She had a degree in natural resources and was a smart lady. She never was able to find stable employment in Colorado and pretty much had to live a pauper's existence, despite her education and willingness to work. She struggled to stay in Colorado for nearly 20 years. She wanted to spend her whole life here--well, she did. She died in Colorado, in her mid-forties. Part of the reason that she died so young was that she never could afford health insurance and never could find steady employment with an employer who provided it. She fell in the "Medicaid hole." She made just enough income to disqualify her for Medicaid and too little to pay for health insurance. As a result, she didn't get regular physicals or much of any other medical treatment, so the cancer that ultimately killed her was not diagnosed until it was really too late to do anything to treat it. For her, being young, overzealous, and adventurous in her ardor to live in "paradise" turned out to be a death sentence. Too bad, she actually was a nice person.
You don't think i know how competitive the outdoor field is? I chose to pursue this degree because i'm passionate about it, not because I know it would be easy to get a job. If i was looking for immediate hire, I would have gotten an accounting degree.
I love how this thread has turned into advice on how difficult the job market is in Colorado. News flash-the job market in Duluth is terrible for any kind of job. We are looking for seasonal work, full-time work, part-time work, whatever we can get our hands on. It doesn't even have to be in our field from the start. Also, I have 4+ years experience working at summer camps and also working for the MN conservation CORP clearing trail in the boundary waters and along the north shore. We aren't ripe college grads with little to no experience and a big head full of useless knowledge. Additionally, I have 7+ years automotive experience as well working as a mechanic in a VW/Audi shop, so I can utilize this as well.
I merely came on this forum to seek HOUSING advice. We want to move to Colorado because we love it there. The second we start driving back to MN after each visit we already start planning our next visit. Everything you guys say to try and deter us is useless. We're just going to have to learn the hard way if it comes to that. We still young, dumb, and adventurous so now's the best time to take risks. We have a decent sum of money saved up ($6,000+) for the move and we are also very flexible to the area that we move. Ideally, we'd love to be out of the suburbs and into the mountains. I grew up in a small town of 5,000 people, so that small town feel isn't new to me.
I respect those of you who have given useful advice.. I thought I'd give this forum a try to see what info I could receive, but given the responses I feel like we'll instead just be those overzealous, young college grads and do the move regardless of the pleas we have received on here. So, see ya soon Colorado, we'll try our very best to not fail miserably and head back with our tails between our legs.
The advice you have been given thus far is all useful, whether you choose to see it that way or not. Yes, you asked for housing advice, but to be fair, your post sounds like one of the many we see on here with dreams of Colorado. If you have done your research, that's awesome! But instead of responding with a know-it-all attitude, it would be wise to be humble and simply thank everyone for taking time to give you their opinions. It's easy to snap when you feel like your dream is being questioned, but try to take from it what you can.
In terms of housing advice, my advice is to search far and wide again. You may struggle finding a landlord whose willing to rent to you with a large breed dog and without jobs secured, so that is another reason why I suggested finding jobs first and let that dictate where you move.
I really wish you the best of luck with this dream. If you do it right, you may make it work. I'd actually think about moving where there isn't such a large population of recent grads-perhaps the smaller corners of Colorado. But then again, if you need to fall back on your other skill, you probably won't find a high end import auto shop either.
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