Living in Colorado for 6 months during the winter

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

To save 50% or more on housing costs. To say you don't save anything is really incorrect. Pick a house or condo in Vail then find a comparable one in Edwards/Eagle/Wolcott/Gypsum and see the price difference.

There is also a very good bus system connecting many of these so called "boring, 'desert' (desert??) towns" to the ski resorts so it's $2 to go from, say, Gypsum to Vail in 30 minutes. That negates the driving aspect of it too.

Compare the rents versus your time and expense commuting. I don't think you really save much and if someone is moving to have the whole ski town experience it seems pointless to me to live in a town in the high desert completely separated from all the action.

It's another thing if you have a family and have a professional job and you want a house, but for a young person looking to have the ski town life, even Eagle is dead and boring.

My relatives are a great example. They've got a family and needed a house and considered Eagle but they were like it's expensive as it is and we go to that expense for the ski town experience, so why in the world would we want to live down totally away from the Vail Valley?

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

Housing is pretty outrageous. We lived in Eagle Ranch, which has some higher end houses but the utilities alone for gas/electric/water were probably $600 to $700 per month alone. There is a Costco in Gypsum which helps a ton, but for just about anything sold outside of Costco you have to drive a ways to find it or hope to find it online.

I know Boston is expensive but to really get a much lower cost of living I wouldn't look to Eagle, or at least I wouldn't focus on Eagle Ranch, look to the older parts of town where a 3/2 might only run you $350K or so.

Housing in any ski town and the related area will be expensive, but for someone from a city, they probably will not be too shocked. One bedroom apartments in Vail Valley can easily be had for $900-$1500.

In the Vail Valley, there is a Wal Mart Supercenter and plenty of other stores. I and hundreds of friends survived for years just fine. If need be there is much more shopping in Summit County and Glenwood to choose from and Denver is only 2 hours away. Believe me we got by just fine without Costco, when Costco was nothing but a bare field with absolutely nothing there.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by Dogmama50

$600-$700 a month in utilities? I'm in Avon, during the most bitter cold of the winter the gas bill was $160, set at 69 degrees, electric $85 and water $68 on a 3,000 sq/ft log house that is not well insulated.

OP, craigslist and the Vail Daily are the best places to see rental prices, food is more expensive, gas is currently $3.89 in Avon.

I think this guy is just looking for seasonal job and a ski season, not half a million dollar houses, so a lot of this stuff with utilities and all that he probably doesn't have to worry about. I pretty much lived in employee housing for years and never worried about such bills. When I lived in a furnished condo in Vail, I paid a straight up flat fee of $1200 a month and not a single other bill.

[Florida2014]

You are probably right. I can only speak from the experience of living in Eagle but it does sound like he's only looking for something temporary (rental). If that is the case, I would similarly prefer to live in the ski town itself vs. down Valley. If it's something permanent and you're looking to buy, I would definitely recommend down Valley somewhere. Most people don't ski every day and have to go to work for a living so being a "ski bum" wouldn't really work for most folks.

For the record, I hated living in Eagle. Boring town with nothing to do and 5-6 months of what I would consider heavy winter (snow on the ground and high temps never reaching 50). Very thankful to be out of there.

[Dogmama50]

Originally Posted by wanneroo

I think this guy is just looking for seasonal job and a ski season, not half a million dollar houses, so a lot of this stuff with utilities and all that he probably doesn't have to worry about. I pretty much lived in employee housing for years and never worried about such bills. When I lived in a furnished condo in Vail, I paid a straight up flat fee of $1200 a month and not a single other bill.

I think he's looking for a ski season rental also, but since he said his girlfriend is coming too employee housing isn't an option. Just wanted to shed so light that the utilities don't have to be $600-700 a month. If the OP takes a look at craigslist and the Daily for rentals he'll be able to easily see what prices are.

[Kman25]

I am looking for a ski season rental!!! Yes thats right! I would look to move october/novemeber until april or may and if the option is there MAYBE push a bit into the summer months....but thats not a make it or break it. Mainly for ski season is what I want. In a perfect world, I would end up with a reliable 30-40 hours a week (more acceptable) of work, a furnished 6 month apartment lease, and near a mountain I wont get bored of (this is why vail area excels, because theres multiple mountains on the same season pass)

[Florida2014]

Originally Posted by Dogmama50

$600-$700 a month in utilities? I'm in Avon, during the most bitter cold of the winter the gas bill was $160, set at 69 degrees, electric $85 and water $68 on a 3,000 sq/ft log house that is not well insulated.

Yes. Most of the Eagle Ranch homes have in-floor radiant heat that is heated by gas, so your gas bill can easily reach $500/month if you're not careful about setting the temps lower. Plus, we lived in a 5,000+ square foot house with backs to open space and tons of windows so we had to keep the temps turned up during the winter. Add in electricity and water and it's jaw-dropping. Obviously this is a bit extreme as most folks wouldn't have houses that big but that first $388 gas bill about gave me a heart attack!