Colorado Divide: Why some Coloradans are cashing out of the Front Range and seeking their rural happily-ever-after (Denver: fit in, 2014)

[Vision67]

Colorado Divide: Why some Coloradans are cashing out of the Front Range and seeking their rural happily-ever-after

https://www.denverpost.com/2017/12/3...n-urban-rural/

Here is an interesting article from the Denver Post wrt moving to rural areas to reduce expenses. I think it's a mixed bag. You'll get cheaper housing and lower expenses but you might not fit in.

Personally, we chose to not retire to a rural area because we are concerned about the relative scarcity of medical resources in those areas.

But if you are young and healthy perhaps it may be an attractive choice.

[Mike from back east]

Thanks for starting an interesting topic, one we haven't really had here in the life of this site....

The caption below the first photo kind of says it all: "They recently moved from Arvada to Flagler after rent got too high in the city. The couple now has rent of $500 per month in Flagler."

That's the crux on which much of this article turns, Cost Of Living (COL) which is a beast if you're a renter these days. If a homeowner who has a paid mortgage or largely static monthly payment then the COL is much less a driver of where you live.

Excerpt: "Her buyers? Mostly people from Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs — retired or work-from-home types who have a lot of equity, buy something smaller and bank the rest ...."

A number of people in the story had earlier connections to small towns and returned; like when "the swallows come back to Capistrano" or salmon return to home waters to spawn....

What's especially nice is that people have all the many choices that we do have in this country....

[Vision67]

My observation is that many renters are trapped. With Denver rents approaching $1500 per month for an apartment, how can young people save for a down payment?

I'll bet many Millenials must wait for their parents to croak in order to inherit a house.

[Mike from back east]

Exactly. Hard for younger ones to save up for the down payment.

Our tax laws don't help. Tax laws make it attractive to buy SFHs and THs to use in the rental market. This takes homes off the market for potential owner/occupants which creates a sort of artificial scarcity. The scarcity of homes raises home prices as investors bid up prices and this pushes many people into rental markets. With increased demand for rentals it ratchets up the price of rental homes. It's like a fire that feeds on itself.

I have moral heartburn with buying up SFHs and THs to build a tax shelter that gouges my fellow man "all that the market will bear." Our nation's ideological posture of bare knuckle, winner take all, anything goes capitalism creates a rather merciless darwinism where survival of the fittest makes life hell for many people. Changing our tax laws to decrease the amount of money chasing the supply of housing would benefit just about everyone who wants to live in a home they own.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by Vision67

My observation is that many renters are trapped. With Denver rents approaching $1500 per month for an apartment, how can young people save for a down payment?

I'll bet many Millenials must wait for their parents to croak in order to inherit a house.

There are still plenty of apartments for less than $1500 in Denver metro. $1500 could still get you into the better areas.

With the way the job market is here, salaries should be pushing upward.

Furthermore, Denver may no longer be a place for young people to expect to purchase a home at some point. Los Angeles has been like that for at least 15 years, as have other desirable American cities.

So what happens? They rent forever, double or triple up, do extremely well career-wise, or they move to another city. Denver was the "other city" for me way back when. And thankfully, I got in on home ownership here when it was last feasible to do so (early 2014).

We will probably be seeing more of this over the next several years. Denver will come to a point where it is simply no longer affordable, and people will seek refuge in cheaper cities, including small towns, though I think choices like Flagler and Walsenburg are odd/may be incorrect for many reasons. Unless there is a really good reason to stay in Colorado (proximity to family/etc), there are a plethora of cities with a higher level of amenities/services between here and the Appalachians at more or less the same price as rural Colorado. Heck, even Cheyenne!

I do wonder why this couple who moved to Flagler were still renting, if they had been together awhile, why didn't they buy long ago? Or even 5 years ago?

[emm74]

At 6 p.m. one day, Aubrey Lykins rounded up trash in a large plastic bag, flipped the cardboard window sign to “Closed” and turned the lock on the front door. It was the end of her shift at the Serendipity coffee house on Walsenburg’s Main Street — one of three jobs she works to make ends meet.

That's what stuck out to me. The people who seemed to be doing ok financially were retirees from Denver and other more expensive areas and entrepreneurs who started their own business. But they didn't do a lot of analysis on how long these businesses had been operating, how much they had to invest in start up, whether they are making a profit. The statistics are that 50% of start ups fail within 5 years and 70% fail with in 10 years. I can't help wondering what these towns will be like in 10 years.

[BornintheSprings]

I've thought about selling everything off and just retiring to some small colorado town like Rocky Ford or Cortez and never working again. Of course reliable high speed internet and healthcare could be a potential concern in the future.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by Vision67

Colorado Divide: Why some Coloradans are cashing out of the Front Range and seeking their rural happily-ever-after

https://www.denverpost.com/2017/12/3...n-urban-rural/

Here is an interesting article from the Denver Post wrt moving to rural areas to reduce expenses. I think it's a mixed bag. You'll get cheaper housing and lower expenses but you might not fit in.

Personally, we chose to not retire to a rural area because we are concerned about the relative scarcity of medical resources in those areas.

But if you are young and healthy perhaps it may be an attractive choice.

Housing is not necessarily cheaper. It might even be more expensive.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Vision67

Colorado Divide: Why some Coloradans are cashing out of the Front Range and ....

Personally, we chose to not retire to a rural area because we are concerned about the relative scarcity of medical resources in those areas.

But if you are young and healthy perhaps it may be an attractive choice.

Medical resources is of no concern for those of us w/o AFORDABLE USA healthcare (Rural Colorado has some of the highest A(?)CA policy rates in the USA/

Originally Posted by Vision67

My observation is that many renters are trapped. With Denver rents approaching $1500 per month for an apartment, how can young people save for a down payment?

I'll bet many Millenials must wait for their parents to croak in order to inherit a house.

Actually... they do it the same way you and I did, EXCEPT a millennial 'couple' will generally have double income. Likely 150k - $200k / yr!!!

I sold my 'nice' $2000 car and bought a sub $100 "beater-car" when I bought my first home at age 19. I was making $1.65 / hour and the house payment was well over 60% of my GROSS income. ($1.65 = ~$3300 / yr income)

Never had a 'double income' (except when I was working 3 jobs (frequently))
Still drive a $35 car (~40 yrs after I bought that first house)

Will likely never have USA healthcare (Even after age 65, the 'subsidy' is too expensive)

I will stay rural, use my backhoe to dig my grave and the dozer to backfill.

BTW: I spent a LOT of time in Walden. Flagler, and Walsenburg. (and many others... Most of my rural Colorado prairie time was spent in Haxtun. Estes Park (home) was actually quite inexpensive to live during the 1960's (most homes were 'summer only').

A Better option for selling CO props and moving rural = SD !!! IMHO
(income tax free), CHEAP rural towns, good access to HIGH $$ energy jobs, available VA care, next door to MT (Sales Tax free). No gonna become a 'trendy / price-you-out' location. (as will be CO (wherever you live). More concerning is the Political 'battleground' status of CO. There will always be much contention and disharmony.

[pikabike]

Agree that millenials will just have to do what previous generations did. The numbers for both cost and income went up but the general requirement remains the same for most people.