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Main one is water; still checking out towns and houses for sale and some say city water and others don't say what/where the water comes from.
How do I find out if it is well water? And how would I know that if it is well water it could be running dry and we will be without water?
Next question, I am reading north side, south side, and such. Which side has the colder weather, which is more flat and where are the smallish "mountain" towns?
Still looking at towns that have pop from 1,000 to 15,000. Don't mind a commute of an hour drive to get supplies if we have a small grocery store to get the basic, such as milk, bread and such. Major stocking up we can do the long drive to get the supplies. And of course, a gas station and hopefully a fast food place when we want to be lazy and not cook a meal.
Wanting, hoping to get a view of hills/mountains, not real close, but enough to see that they are there. Closer would be better, but reality is for the price range we are looking it won't be the beautiful picture post card of mountains(that for the really rich folks). Want cooler summers, don't mind snow, as long as we don't get dumped with three or four feet at one time and get snowed in for a month or more. Retirees, so don't need to worry about jobs.
Appreciate the info on water and on knowing which side is plains, desert type and which has the mountain aspect.
If buying, the listing should state the source of water. If renting, contact the person listing the property and ask. Also, the division of water resources has a site (State of Colorado Water Resources - Well Permit Search) that can be used to search for well permits. That should also give you flow rates and help determine if the property has a well. If the property has a well, there has to be a permit.
What towns and areas of the state are you looking at? What's your budget?
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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ALWAYS have a south facing house and driveway. (unless you like to shovel & slide onto your buttocks).
Check prevailing winds of the specific neighborhood for 'drifting potential'.
Our CO home had prevailing winds from WY (north, so it all worked out well... we have mtns in front and backyard).
Many country homes can be on a rural water system, but you need to check each area.
I have several homes on shared well (2-5 homes each system). +/- share the costs, but can be a hassle if there is not a complete well agreement and appropriate safeguards (access to service well + payment of electricity to assure meter is not cut off).
ALWAYS have a south facing house and driveway. (unless you like to shovel & slide onto your buttocks).
Check prevailing winds of the specific neighborhood for 'drifting potential'.
Our CO home had prevailing winds from WY (north, so it all worked out well... we have mtns in front and backyard).
Many country homes can be on a rural water system, but you need to check each area.
I have several homes on shared well (2-5 homes each system). +/- share the costs, but can be a hassle if there is not a complete well agreement and appropriate safeguards (access to service well + payment of electricity to assure meter is not cut off).
Doesn't have to be just south facing, as long as it's not north facing.
My driveway and front are facing east, so I get plenty of sun to melt the snow in the winter. The only place that stays snowy is the north facing side, but we don't use it.
Looking to buy, right now I am looking at the towns of Hayden, Craig, Cedaredge and Akron. We are used to small towns (here we call them villages, under pop of 5,000 is a village, so I will have to adjust to that) so long as we can drive around an hour to get to big box stores to stock up, that is okay.
From earlier looking Montrose is on the list but our son wants colder weather. It is going to be fun finding a place that will satisfy all three of us. Our son thinks 40 degrees in the daytime in the summer is perfect weather and minus in the winter. I don't want cold that will go to 10 below zero and wind chill factors in minus 30 or more and be snowed in for days and days and days and days and . . . Hubby doesn't want to have to shovel a foot of snow off the sidewalks or patio. Winters here can have heavy wet snow then sleet that freezes. And hail storms, last fall we had our roof replaced due to hailstorms, thankfully, insurance covered it.
The main weather thing for us is low humidity in the summer. We are having a cool summer, low 90s with humidity in the mid 70s. Normal is high 90s to low 100s with humidity at 90s or higher. Rain, rain, rain, cloudy skies and smog from the chemical plants and steel mill.
We aren't sure yet how much we will have to spend on a new home. Right now I know we will be able to afford a house around $150,000. Depending on the settlement we may be able to afford a more expensive home (larger down payment).
It will be close to a year before we can move (eight months of rehab, then evaluation of level of permanent partial disability) I want to learn about the state before we go, "hey, let's move to CO, it's beautiful there and cheaper".
May be cheaper in some ways but I want to know all the negatives along with the positives of moving there.
Will be retirees, so won't need to worry about jobs, will be hubby and me and our son, who is handicapped. Neurological problems, walks with a cane and has Type I diabetes.
Hope that helps.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Janna55
Looking to buy, right now I am looking at the towns of Hayden, Craig, Cedaredge and Akron. ...
From earlier looking Montrose is on the list but our son wants colder weather. ...
May be cheaper in some ways but I want to know all the negatives along with the positives of moving there.
Will be retirees, so won't need to worry about jobs, will be hubby and me and our son, who is handicapped. Neurological problems, walks with a cane and has Type I diabetes.
Hope that helps.
your choices are very diverse (not similar)
Tough to find colder weather than Montrose! (Gunnison is nearby and slightly colder, and very nice due to being a 'college town'). With your son's health needs, consider being in a town with a clinic or regional rural hospital. How do you get Healthcare insurance? Rural Colorado (or anywhere rural) is very expensive on ACA.
I would stick with college towns, just in case you ever need to sell / find employment / want cultural events) You might be stuck for 20 yrs trying to sell a home in a small remote rural town.
For well water... you do a well drawdown test. ~ 4 hrs at full flow and checking static level / recovery time.
Oct is a good time to do it (aquifer is lowest level about 3 months after peak use... depending on source).
And that is the fun of trying to find a place that will be a compromise for the family. I will do the looking to find a place that will give us some of what we want then tell my pain in the butt son that he will have to accept what I find.
We pay the bills, not him, we will take into consideration what he wants, but when it comes down to it, we like to sit outside and see (hopefully) a view and can deal with only to a point the cold temps. No Way will I live in an area that is 40 degrees daytime in the summer. Twenty to thirty (daytime) in the winter, okay, we can handle that, below zero (so long as it doesn't last for weeks) at night will be okay, we can live with that. Prefer not to, but as long as we aren't dumped with two, three or four feet of snow that lasts all winter we can deal with that. At least we will be able to breathe clean air, see blue skies and see stars instead of dirty looking smog clouds.
Our son is intelligent (too smart, highly gifted) and is 31 years old so he does understand what compromising is.
As for medical for our son, he has a medical card so we will have to find a place that will accept it. That will be a part of checking out towns after I make a list of the ones that fit what we want. Sounds like putting the cart before the horse, but we are flexible, if we can't find the type of town we want, that doesn't have what our son needs, we will just look from that perspective and try to bend.
I have eight to ten months (maybe more) to look so if I can't find something then CO isn't for us.
If we are able to move there, it will be for life. We are too old to move again. Both of our families are gone. Parents dead, siblings have moved away or we don't want to associate with them (we have our reasons and if you knew his family, you would understand).
Hubby and I would enjoy maybe going to see some art shows, he like to work with wood and draw and I hope he will dabble in painting for a hobby (not to make money, just fill in time). I have taken up sewing for a hobby, plan on doing some writing (for personal enjoyment, not to publish, I don't think I could write good enough to sell my stories). We are homebodies, we don't go out much here and won't there. Partly because of expense, but mainly we are content to be home and enjoy time with each other (34 years of marriage and I love him more now than when we married). We are content to live our lives and let others live their lives, we may not approve of some lifestyles, but don't have the right to condemn anyone for their choices, that is theirs.
Surprisingly, he will make more money retired than what he does working. With his retirement and social security we will do fine. He will have a nice vacation check as he has 50 days built up. A built up of sick days (286) where we won't have to pay for medical health insurance for seven years and has reasonable dental and optical insurance. He will have Aetna and that is another thing I will have to check out to see if there are medical facilities that will accept it, but I don't think we will have too much of a problem.
We don't have heart problems, cancer, strokes, or major health issues, don't smoke, do drugs or drink. Just some arthritis that is affected by the damp weather here. With cooler temps and lack of high humidity we will be able to get out and do some walking, we figure. Maybe even go fishing!
I'm finding on realtor.com and Zillow.com where homes list the heating, but don't list utilities. Some say city water and sewer, irrigation for home usage, but some don't have anything which makes me wonder if they use well water. I used City-Data, Sperling (spelling?) and the search here to learn about the towns. Ask or revive when the threads are old ones.
Sorry that post is so long.
Where ever you choose I strongly suggest renting first. Colorado weather is much different than Ohio weather and with your son's health there may be some aspects that cause some problems for him.
Some things that may affect your family:
Altitude - I've lived here over 20 years and it can still bother me. I have to be really careful about hydrating and can't stay at high altitudes for more than a day or two. Denver is about my limit. If I get dehydrated here I still get altitude sickness. Some people are fine with it and some people move back to coastal areas because they can't handle it at all.
Constant really annoying high winds. These can feel like they are putting a very weird pressure on your head.
Intense sun - it is a much different sun at altitude than you are used to in Ohio. Colors appear more washed out here. The sun is so bright you have to be covered up all the time with hat, sunglasses etc.
Dust particulates in the air - this is a byproduct of the wind. The effect is that the air doesn't seem very clean.
Dry air that causes nose bleeds (I still get a few a year), dry skin, cracked lips etc.
Summers often have wildfire smoke particles in the air. Can be from around here or Canada, Arizona, Washington etc.
Things can be really remote here. It isn't like Ohio where there are major population centers throughout and then nearby in adjoining states. Denver is the only place where alot of medical can be had. Think about the drive time to Denver if there is a health problem. More than a few have moved out of the smaller towns because they don't want to do an 8 hr round trip drive for Drs appts. or regular treatments.
Think about the stores you regularly go to and make sure to map them out from the towns your considering. Things like Costco, Home Depot, Lowes, Target, Walmart etc.
Maybe call the listing agents of the homes you are interested in and ask about the water source. Maybe you will find an agent that knows the areas well that can assist with your search, even if the particular house you call them about won't work.
Looking to buy, right now I am looking at the towns of Hayden, Craig, Cedaredge and Akron. We are used to small towns (here we call them villages, under pop of 5,000 is a village, so I will have to adjust to that) so long as we can drive around an hour to get to big box stores to stock up, that is okay.
From earlier looking Montrose is on the list but our son wants colder weather. It is going to be fun finding a place that will satisfy all three of us. Our son thinks 40 degrees in the daytime in the summer is perfect weather and minus in the winter. I don't want cold that will go to 10 below zero and wind chill factors in minus 30 or more and be snowed in for days and days and days and days and . . . Hubby doesn't want to have to shovel a foot of snow off the sidewalks or patio. Winters here can have heavy wet snow then sleet that freezes. And hail storms, last fall we had our roof replaced due to hailstorms, thankfully, insurance covered it.
The main weather thing for us is low humidity in the summer. We are having a cool summer, low 90s with humidity in the mid 70s. Normal is high 90s to low 100s with humidity at 90s or higher. Rain, rain, rain, cloudy skies and smog from the chemical plants and steel mill.
We aren't sure yet how much we will have to spend on a new home. Right now I know we will be able to afford a house around $150,000. Depending on the settlement we may be able to afford a more expensive home (larger down payment).
Akron, CO is a farm town (if it is even a town, I have not been there) on the plains, so I don't understand its inclusion. The other three are mountain town, relatively expensive because of their proximity to high dollar ski resorts.
You would get a lot more for your dollar looking further south away from the major ski resorts. I am thinking Fairplay, Florissant, Jefferson, Ouray
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