House in mountains (Denver, Evergreen, Eagle: low income, real estate, rent)

[Colorado Rambler]

I know! The San Luis VALLEY!

[jamesdenver]

I have a friend who has a family house/cabin about 15 minutes south of 285 in Jefferson. I've been there a few times and always thought it was an ideal location. 1.5-2 hours to Denver, 1 hour to Buena Vista/Arkansas Valley, and one hour to Breckenridge (weather dependent in winter.)

It's a beautiful location - down a dirt road after a few forks and nice mix of open space and scenic views and light woods.

Two bedrooms, one bath, large wood burning fireplace, wrap around porch, and a shed for toys. Uses propane and septic tank. No idea the price, but I've seen everything in that area from new modern builds to rustic older homes. - and guessing you could find something starting around the top of your range.

[livethedream3]

You may not have to look too far outside of Denver. This home sold for $225k which is a little over your budget, but there will likely be additional options in this area come spring:

11956 W Ranch Elsie Rd, Golden, CO 80403 | Zillow

>2 acres
~30 minutes to Boulder, Golden, Nederland, and Eldora
~8100 ft elevation

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by livethedream3

You may not have to look too far outside of Denver. This home sold for $225k which is a little over your budget, but there will likely be additional options in this area come spring:

11956 W Ranch Elsie Rd, Golden, CO 80403 | Zillow

>2 acres
~30 minutes to Boulder, Golden, Nederland, and Eldora
~8100 ft elevation

what jumps off the page here is how expensive "living in the mountains" can be ...

there's a lot more to consider than just a price ... and it's significantly over the OP's price range, too.

this is a tiny house, only 652 sq ft ... 1 bd/2 ba.

maybe for some folk this would work for a primary residence, but I'd bet that it wouldn't work for most people ... and at this small size, it may not qualify for conventional financing. (IIRC, it's too small for VA, too).

[livethedream3]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

what jumps off the page here is how expensive "living in the mountains" can be ...

there's a lot more to consider than just a price ... and it's significantly over the OP's price range, too.

this is a tiny house, only 652 sq ft ... 1 bd/2 ba.

maybe for some folk this would work for a primary residence, but I'd bet that it wouldn't work for most people ... and at this small size, it may not qualify for conventional financing. (IIRC, it's too small for VA, too).

Definitely agree. It is expensive in the mountains and there are trade offs in the house size/quality, especially in this price range. Hard to know what the OP is expecting size wise, but I do see folks using homes such as this as primary residences. Might not work for most, but it seems it is a possible option depending on the expectations.

Coming from the SF Bay area, I've seen people live in much smaller spaces/lower quality builds for much, much more money.

[Colorado Rambler]

It would seem that once again we have been visited by a mystery poster who starts a thread and never returns. Go to Wyoming, OP! Lots of mountains and prices in general are cheaper than those in Colorado. Best of luck, etc.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler

It would seem that once again we have been visited by a mystery poster who starts a thread and never returns. Go to Wyoming, OP! Lots of mountains and prices in general are cheaper than those in Colorado. Best of luck, etc.

Don't know where you get the idea that Wyoming real estate market for "mountain" properties is less costly than Colorado these days.

With approximately half of Wyoming's land owned by the Fed or State Gov'ts, much land area is not available for private residential development. Most of Wyoming's private residential properties are on the plains.

Where you do find "mountain" properties for sale here, you'd get sticker shock compared to a lot of Colorado. Jackson and the Jackson Hole area is right up there with Aspen. Places like Dubois WY are expensive, too.

Even with the current decline in the extractive industries in Wyoming right now, with bankruptcies, drilling rig counts way down, production way down, and layoffs ... WY Biz News reported today that Wyoming is down $24.4 mil in wages for this year ... property prices in the residential areas such as Gillette aren't coming down very fast right now in this phase of historical boom/bust cycles of the area. And note, too, that most of the extractive industry residential areas are NOT in the MOUNTAINS.

Towns based more upon seasonal tourism economies, such as Cody ... aren't: 1) inexpensive, or 2) in the mountains. Places like Buffalo and Sheridan, while very nice communities and among the best combination to offer amenities that most folk would want to have nearby ... are neither inexpensive or in the mountains.

Compared to Colorado's mountain communities, Wyoming's present the additional hidden costs of utilities, transportation, distances to services/medical/shopping, and oft-times limited seasonal inclement weather access. A low total population count, widely dispersed, creates a limited marketplace for goods and services in Wyoming ... particularly when you're looking at mountain towns ... which means higher costs for those needs compared to Colorado.

Noteworthy, too ... is that I can go shopping at City Market or Safeway or WalMart or Home Depot relatively close to my Vail residence, and the prices are pretty close to what I'd pay in Denver for most items. (wasn't that way several decades ago, but ...) The result of population count and density in the area over the years, it's a far cry from the shopping and retail marketplaces of Wyoming. At that, there's a lot of boutique and upscale shopping readily available in the Colorado mountain corridor there ... most of which isn't available anywhere in Wyoming. Or consider the Silverthorne/Dillon area shopping with the outlet stores ... nothing like that anywhere in Wyoming. If I want outlet mall shopping from my Cheyenne area residence, I head to Loveland. Generally, Wyoming shoppers head to the Front Range or Salt Lake City or Billings or Rapid City for many shopping expeditions and major purchases. Some car lines, for example, don't even have a dealer in the entire state of Wyoming. Furniture shopping in Wyoming is extremely limited, too.

[SkyDog77]

OP disappeared.

[Hippofuzz]

You could always check out the area of Cotopaxi or even westcliffe. The houses there are super nice and most have several acres of land with prices that range from $100-$300,000 affording you a very nice setup with outbuildings and room to breathe. Westcliffe properties can be as high as 9500+feet in elevation and get to -18 degrees f at night but have cool summer temps not more than 90 usually.

[Shuffler]

Melby Ranch! It's a real bargain!!