small house in popular city -OR- big house in cheap city?? (Denver: apartment, renting)

[picklepotts120]

My husband (35+ years old) wants to go back to school – and wants the university experience he missed out on when he was young. He had been thinking of Kentucky – but on a whim, I mentioned CU Boulder, and he’s really warming to the idea. I grew up in Kittredge/Evergreen – then moved a lot for an old job, (Texas, NY, Arizona, etc.). I now work for myself out of the house – so job market isn’t an issue, and we could live anywhere. (No kids either, so education and raising kids aren’t issues for us either).

There’s no question we’d get more for our dollar in Lexington, but thoughts of the front range bring back warm childhood memories – and I have a feeling I’d feel right at home.

Questions:

1.) If you made the same amount of money no matter where you lived, would you rather own a large house/acreage in a smaller cheaper city (like Lexington) – or afford smaller house in a really great popular city (like Golden or Boulder)?

2.) Working from home, it’s difficult to make friends no matter where you live. Is there much of a 30+ crowd in Boulder?

3.) I love love love the outdoors, and can’t wait to take advantage of hiking and biking. But does anyone find they can’t re-adapt to the altitude, despite having grown up above 7000 ft.?

I've been browsing the forums for some months now, really enjoying the input. Thank you so much for your thoughts!

[Mike from back east]

I've spent a few days in Lexington, KY and it's nice there, but my druthers are for a small home in a big city, to enjoy the rich diversity and nearly limitless opportunity to avail oneself of the so many choices.

Boulder is very pricey. Nearby towns that may work for you are Longmont, Louisville and Superior. If you wish, use our Search Tool with those keywords to find info.

Golden is less pricey, has a fair amount to offer. If DH attends CU at Boulder, the towns listed above may be better.

Others will have to address the 30+ crowd in Boulder.

[picklepotts120]

You know Mike - I've been looking at realtor.com, and was so surprised to see how LITTLE you could get for your money in Boulder. I remember it being exclusive, but didn't expect $400 / sq foot! With the bike paths and many opportunities within walking distance, including shops and trails - i wonder if it's worth the sacrifice in square footage??

It's been 15 years since i lived in Kittredge - I'm certain my memories of Longmont and Loiusville are nothing like it is today. I'll expand my realtor.com and trullia searches to those areas. Thanks!

If we didn't need to be close to CU, that would open up soooo many wonderful options. Morrison, Idledale, Indian Hills, Conifer,.. I think despite living in big cities, i still love the small town feel of those small mountain towns that dot the front-range.

Thanks Mike!

[golfgod]

Nothing to add on your choice of where to live, or which school to attend. I'll just throw in here that I would NOT be inclined to buy a home knowing that I'm probably going to be in an area less than 5 years. On average that's about how long it takes to "break even" on your purchase versus renting.

Personally I think we're in for a long stretch of it taking longer to break even as I foresee a 6-10 year housing slump.

Just my $.02

golfgod

[tao]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Boulder is very pricey. Nearby towns that may work for you are Longmont, Louisville and Superior.

Golden is less pricey, has a fair amount to offer. If DH attends CU at Boulder, the towns listed above may be better.

Also check out Broomfield. You can get a much bigger, nicer house (and usually a slightly larger lot and yard) for the money in Broomfield than you can in Louisville or Superior. It's kind of halfway between Boulder and Denver, about a 15-20 minute drive to either (and the drive to Boulder is a beautiful scenic drive). My husband and I considered Boulder, Superior, Louisville, and Broomfield - we finally decided on Broomfield, in the Willow Park subdivision. We're closing on our new house Wednesday and moving in on Thursday. We can't wait!!

[brightdoglover]

No brainer for me- smaller lodging in better/richer life city. The original posters are two adults- how much space can you need? I can understand if there are more people in the household, especially kids- the family needs might be different. But for one or two adults, heavens, what is the purpose of a big house? Seems to me most people spend their time in the kitchen, living room (wherever the TV/electronics are) and bedroom. It's my observation that one-two adults basically live as if they were in a nice one-bedroom. I've always wanted a studio apartment that was a free-standing house in the woods near a good city.
Also, it seems that there is a generic national "new house" type that is called a "colonial" for want of a more accurate phrase. Four beds, 2.5 bath, useless walk-through front dining and formal living rooms that no one uses, and people live in the back of the house like servants. Arched window over the doorway, called "Palladium" or "Paladian" of which the former is incorrect and the latter is inaccurate.
These houses are easily built because they are all boxy (and to be fair, boxes are a good use of space). In newer areas out West, they seem to be very close and are sometimes called "snout houses", because the garage(s) stick out near the street (to save money on driveway). It's all very cookie-cutter, un-homey, and unecessary.
How I wish to see a new cape or ranch or saltbox. Doesn't happen, except where people are building over an old cottage or small house, like in my neighborhood.
For the record, I tore down a 700 sq.ft. crumbling cottage (it truly couldn't be fixed, I discovered after 8 years there) and built a contemporary sort-of saltbox, about 1250 sq.ft. More space than I need, but for future resale, it seemed wise to put an upstairs loft and full bath. I wouldn't want more space, and could do with less, although two adults could easily live in this space.
I guess this long rant is a vote for the smaller housing in a more suitable place.

[formercalifornian]

I vote for small house, cheap city.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

No brainer for me- smaller lodging in better/richer life city. The original posters are two adults- how much space can you need? ...
I guess this long rant is a vote for the smaller housing in a more suitable place.

definitely go this route, especially if you EVER want (need) to sell...
a quick glance at the housing in NO CO will show many (many) cookie cutter tract homes varying in size and price range. (clear to $1,000,000+) You want to be as far from that market as possible when you need to sell, ESPECIALLY in the current and trending market. ALWAYS buy something with intrinsic value, (view, location, cute, rezone...) as the competition when selling is tough. During the last significant downturn, ('80's) We ended up making payments for 2 yrs (trying to sell, while we were 1200 miles away) on a very nice home in NO CO that bordered a park. Stuff was going dirt cheap, BUT the scenario becomes... (after these current 'bargain auction' cycles) NO ONE is buying. That happens !! Even the bargain hunters disappear

be cautious, but have fun too.

[picklepotts120]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

No brainer for me- smaller lodging in better/richer life city. The original posters are two adults- how much space can you need? I can understand if there are more people in the household, especially kids- the family needs might be different. But for one or two adults, heavens, what is the purpose of a big house? Seems to me most people spend their time in the kitchen, living room (wherever the TV/electronics are) and bedroom.

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

I guess this long rant is a vote for the smaller housing in a more suitable place.

I've gotta say - smaller house, richer city is starting to sound pretty great. I mean, a LOT of people love Manhatten, San Fran, etc.

Weird, though. Up until now – I’ve always ALWAYS opted for bigger house, less popular area. "Gotta get more for my money!" i'd have thought. And until now, never gave it much more thought than that.

I’m probably like a lot of people – where I’ve felt the allure of getting more for your money. More house, more acreage, more privacy, etc. So i would spend my time cleaning the house, maintaining the yard and commuting to and from work. We owned all that space, all that house – and it kept us busy and at arms length from other people. So – it’s interesting to look at it with this new perspective. What EXACTLY was I buying? I sure was getting MORE of something.

hmmmm...

[amymcf]

we are in a similar situation. after months of looking at housing in boulder (and surrounding communities) my advice is to go with which location is going to make you happy, especially if you are outdoors type people.

my husband and i are going to be moving to boulder in the summer. we currently live in small town suburban ohio and hate it. we have the huge house, nice size yard, 2 car attached garage, yada yada yada. we don't care much for ohio, in particular because of where we are located. rather than relocate to a neighborhood more fit for us in dayton, we decided we'd just move to a city and area as a whole which is a better fit. we are in our early 30's, no kids, 2 dogs, and spend every possible minute we can doing anything outdoors or traveling. another way i like to look at this is that, currently, we are in the nicer house but "less nice" neighborhood (for our liking, of course). if we do the same thing in the boulder area, what would be our motivation to be there over anywhere else?

this is also something we have struggled with....move to a much "nicer" house (for what you get for your money, anyway) in a nearby area/suburb or live in the heart of boulder for alot more money, but, in our opinion, is a richer lifestyle, being able to walk places and being around a vivrant community.

you have to look at your reasons for considering where you want to move and compare it to places you have also lived in the past....in which place were you happiest and why? for us, it is being in the heart of activities and not having to drive far to different places. we also love the idea of being able to live near the foothills (we are strongly looking at some places on the south side of boulder close to the mountains).

also very much agree with the above poster who mentioned that you are a couple, no kids...how much space do you really need to live? (unless, of course you're like us and have all kinds of bikes and outdoor gear to stash!)

good luck with your decision!