Young couple moving to Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs: real estate market, 2015, apartments)

[Tigerlilia]

My fiancé and I are planning on moving to Colorado from Chicago, IL in about a year, and I'm looking for some advice on where to begin. We are both in our late 20s and are just growing tired of the big city life. Right now we are paying 1,295 for a 3 br apartment here in Chicago and are looking to spend not too much more than that (though less would be great) for a ranch style 2+ bedroom house in Colorado. Our basic requirements are a place that's somewhat rural and close to nature, but within an hour driving distance of things to do (restaurants, bars, shopping etc). Yard space is important as I'm a newbie at urban homesteading and would absolutely love to have space to grow vegetables and fruit and maybe get a couple of chickens. Also somewhere where there are other young couples and families around would be a plus as well. Wherever we end up moving, we will most likely be starting a family there in a few years, so an area that's safe and family friendly is a must.

My fiancé has a family friend who lives in Boulder and he recommended these areas to us:
Palmer
Elizabeth
Longmont
I was also looking into Bennett and Colorado Springs as well. Based on our budget and what we are looking for, what areas would you guys recommend? Also what's the best way to go about finding rental house there? Is it mostly word of mouth and looking around locally? We are planning to visit early next year to start looking around and getting a feel for different areas.
I'm so use to using housing apps to find places in the city (I lived in NYC for 3 years as well) but I've noticed that when I search areas in Colorado, I barely find any listings except for apartments in Denver. Are Rental houses just rarely listed online in smaller, less populated areas?

[beezle1]

Palmer? Did he maybe mean Palmer Lake? Palmer Lake is one of my favorite little towns, and hiking trails are within walking distance. About 5 minutes to Monument and 30 minutes to Colorado Springs.

Maybe also check out Black Forest, Peyton.

The real estate market (homes as well as rentals) has been really hot here over the past year so few rentals stay on the market for long. Try rentals.com, and you could even look at Craigslist, but do be wary of anything that sounds suspicious or too good to be true.

[Tigerlilia]

Thanks for recommendations, and yes I meant to type Palmer Lake! =)

[Sunderpig2]

Originally Posted by Tigerlilia

...Right now we are paying 1,295 ....and are looking to spend not too much more than that (though less would be great) for a ranch style 2+ bedroom house in Colorado. ...Yard space is important as I'm a newbie at urban homesteading and would absolutely love to have space to grow vegetables and fruit and maybe get a couple of chickens.

A lot of people have that vision (homesteading, growing their own food, etc.) and think of CO. I did too, in the past. CO is very dry though, and seems less conducive to growing food than in other areas that have more humidity/precipitation. The growing season is shorter than other areas too.

[davebarnes]

Search Rentals in Colorado Springs, Colorado at Rentals.com

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by Tigerlilia

planning on moving to Colorado in about a year

Sure you need to wait that long? Rents rose 6% (state average) in the past 12 months, with some areas having a double digit rise:

https://www.apartmentlist.com/renton...price-monitor/

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by Sunderpig2

A lot of people have that vision (homesteading, growing their own food, etc.) and think of CO. I did too, in the past. CO is very dry though, and seems less conducive to growing food than in other areas that have more humidity/precipitation. The growing season is shorter than other areas too.

Exactly, It is a common mis-conception of the Colorado front range that is is full of lots of small, rural towns with low cost of living around the major metro centers, but the above statement from sunderpig2 is more correct, IMO. I'd also add that most farmable land is held closely by generations of families and many are not interested in subdividing it to bring more people in, never mind compromising their water rights, which are held as first come, first serve via historical legacy. IE, the longer your family had it, the higher up the order you are to get it.

In all seriousness, you should probably consider western Idaho or eastern Oregon. New Plymouth, Fruitland, Payette in Idaho and Ontario in Orgeon are small towns smack dab in the middle of farm country. As the population has aged, many of their children have inherited farms thay have no interest in keeping and many 1000 acre farms are being sub-divided into 5-10 acre hobby farms. You are an hour to Boise which is about the size of Colordo Springs with an infrastructure like Denver. You are close to the mountains and the presence of the Snake and Payetter Rivers mean there is a lot more moisture there than nearly anywhere along the Colorado Front Range.

[NW Crow]

Elizabeth and Bennett might be a couple hundred per month on average above your budget to rent a 3 bedroom, somewhat surprisingly. Bennett appears much more affordable to buy into than Elizabeth. Elizabeth more considered, Bennett less so, yet? Palmer Lake appears in your budget, at the moment. It gets much more rain and snow than the other two. Even still the lake was very challenged. Check deeper on its prospects if it is a factor. Probably a bit shorter growing season. Colorado Springs remains a relatively good market to rent or buy in, with rentals averaging at your budget. Longmont, the most expensive of that group, with 3BRs reportedly averaging over $1800 per month.

Lots of tools to find rentals. Craigslist has its concerns but a lot of listings there. Property management firms and realtors are other options. I'd check them all.

[TCHP]

Unfortuantely, they will be hard pressed to find things in that price range in the Tri-Lakes (Palmer, Monument, WOodmoor) area that will allow limited farming and small livestock. Anything that does, will be way over budget. HOAs are multipling in that area and many are pushing out older estalblished small farms. Nothing like that is even possible in Colorado Springs proper. There may be some places like that in Fountain, but certainly not in any of the developments and again, they may be pricey.

With the high military presence in the COS area, there are plenty of search engines to find rentals and real estate, you just have to peel back the layers to find them.

I still stand by my earlier assesment of Idaho.

[NW Crow]

If you (or similar others) considered Idaho, I might suggest looking at Middleton and Emmett in addition to further out.