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Old 09-21-2012, 10:15 AM
 
Location: Hudson County, NJ
1,489 posts, read 3,077,933 times
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This is a great thread and will keep my eye on it, as I'm considering doing the same. With nothing but good things being said about CO, close cousins moving out there, I am also considering following suite as snowboarding, climbing are huge passions, and city life is beginning to take its wear.

I have a bit of money saved up and would like to consider buying, but not sure how expensive or cheap the real estate is out there. What are towns in between Denver and the resorts that would be ideal? I think Fairplay is out of the question as from what I've seen in pictures, I would want something in a bit of a better town. Around $200k to spend and older homes as fixer uppers are no problem for me.
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Old 09-21-2012, 10:57 AM
 
9,846 posts, read 22,582,976 times
Reputation: 7738
Quote:
Originally Posted by nowitsshowtime View Post
This is a great thread and will keep my eye on it, as I'm considering doing the same. With nothing but good things being said about CO, close cousins moving out there, I am also considering following suite as snowboarding, climbing are huge passions, and city life is beginning to take its wear.

I have a bit of money saved up and would like to consider buying, but not sure how expensive or cheap the real estate is out there. What are towns in between Denver and the resorts that would be ideal? I think Fairplay is out of the question as from what I've seen in pictures, I would want something in a bit of a better town. Around $200k to spend and older homes as fixer uppers are no problem for me.
Expensive is the answer. $200K isn't going to get you a home in Summit County. Or in any "better" town in the mountains. The only places with homes that are $200K in the mountains are in isolated places or towns with no opportunities. Some of the old mining towns might present that opportunity for an older home near $200K, but then what are you going to do there?

You have to remember there are mountains between Denver and Summit County. I-70 passes over 11,000 ft. There are few towns in between and not really much that you can commute from.

I think people look at a map and don't realize the roads are more difficult than they appear and the terrain and weather is not welcoming to ease of getting around or development of cities.

If you want the resort lifestyle, keep in mind these towns are expensive and most real estate only dates back 30-40 years at the most. To buy a decent condo that isn't about to fall to the ground or has issues, you are looking at $300-$350K at the bottom level.
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Old 09-21-2012, 11:02 AM
 
Location: Bend, OR
3,296 posts, read 9,652,928 times
Reputation: 3343
Quote:
Originally Posted by nowitsshowtime View Post
This is a great thread and will keep my eye on it, as I'm considering doing the same. With nothing but good things being said about CO, close cousins moving out there, I am also considering following suite as snowboarding, climbing are huge passions, and city life is beginning to take its wear.

I have a bit of money saved up and would like to consider buying, but not sure how expensive or cheap the real estate is out there. What are towns in between Denver and the resorts that would be ideal? I think Fairplay is out of the question as from what I've seen in pictures, I would want something in a bit of a better town. Around $200k to spend and older homes as fixer uppers are no problem for me.
It's pretty hard to find mountain property between Denver and the resorts that is in your price range. Most homes in Summit County are going to start at $400K, and even that will probably be a fixer and/or a condo. And then, the closer you get to Denver (Evergreen, Genessee, Morisson), the more expensive mountain homes are as well. A quick search of realtor.com brought up a few houses in Idaho Springs, which is bigger than Fairplay for sure, but not sure what you mean by a bit better of a town. What are you looking for in a town?
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Old 09-21-2012, 12:30 PM
 
Location: Hudson County, NJ
1,489 posts, read 3,077,933 times
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Thanks for the reply. From what I saw in a brief search was condos in $250k range (2 bedroom 2 bath) that seemed to have potential. I'm not in a rush so can take my time to find a really good deal, but again, maybe the location wasn't right. I saw homes in Fairplay for low $100k, but they just looked like nicer mobile homes.

I would need to work, and while if I could get something full time at a resort with management there, that would be great, I'd assume I need to look more towards Denver area. I have a degree in marketing and management and willing to start low and do not need high paying super corporate job.
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Old 09-21-2012, 01:35 PM
 
Location: Wherabouts Unknown!
7,841 posts, read 18,931,353 times
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nowitsshowtime: willing to start low and do not need high paying super corporate job

That is likely to be to your advantage, but keep it secret. Don't go blabbing that to your potential employers. If you do, you can EXPECT with 100% certainty to start on the bottom of the ladder, with worse than a poor wage.
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Old 09-21-2012, 03:20 PM
 
3,105 posts, read 3,807,527 times
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Alma is a lot more alternative/hip than Fairplay - I wouldn't want to live in Fairplay proper. I would check out Placer Valley and Valley of the sun. You might get something in your price range, I'm not sure. But unless you're working in Breck, there might be better placers to live.

I-70 is a nightmare both summer and winter on Friday nights, Saturday morning and Sunday afternoons. That can't be stressed enough - I-70 was BAD 10 years ago and they have done nothing to improve the situation. In fact a lot of Denver has major traffic issues.

I have given up on the resorts for winter sports - way to crowded and insane traffic.

Most of the foothills that are commutable to Denver are expensive and busy and have a city feel.


Have you considered Salt Lake City?
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Old 09-21-2012, 03:58 PM
 
9,846 posts, read 22,582,976 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nowitsshowtime View Post
Thanks for the reply. From what I saw in a brief search was condos in $250k range (2 bedroom 2 bath) that seemed to have potential. I'm not in a rush so can take my time to find a really good deal, but again, maybe the location wasn't right. I saw homes in Fairplay for low $100k, but they just looked like nicer mobile homes.

I would need to work, and while if I could get something full time at a resort with management there, that would be great, I'd assume I need to look more towards Denver area. I have a degree in marketing and management and willing to start low and do not need high paying super corporate job.
Good full time jobs are harder to find and most locals have a lock on those in these resort towns. What is misleading is that these resort towns look bigger than they are. A lot of the work is seasonal, many businesses even close up in the off seasons for a while. It's one of those places where all the locals know one another.

I have heard of people landing a full time management position off the cuff who have never been there before. It happens, especially if you have an impressive resume. But be prepared to end up doing grunt work for a while or having to hold down a second job.

I would also prepare for income disruption, which I find is one of the biggest issues people have in trying to make it in these towns(most people last no longer than just over a year from what I saw). Winter is full throttle and then it just dies in Spring, Summer has moderate business with busy weekends for 2 months and then dies again in Fall. To give an idea of what it's like, at the end of March we would have 6000-8000 customers a day and by the end of April we would have 50-100 customers a day. That means seasonal employees are out of work and "full time" people might get hours cut or be out of a paycheck for a few weeks, just depends.

So somehow you have to figure out how to keep your finances intact to deal with all of the ups and downs.

Denver is down on the prairie and for all practical purposes consider Breckenridge a world away.
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Old 09-21-2012, 04:16 PM
 
9,846 posts, read 22,582,976 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Colorado^ View Post
Alma is a lot more alternative/hip than Fairplay - I wouldn't want to live in Fairplay proper. I would check out Placer Valley and Valley of the sun. You might get something in your price range, I'm not sure. But unless you're working in Breck, there might be better placers to live.

I-70 is a nightmare both summer and winter on Friday nights, Saturday morning and Sunday afternoons. That can't be stressed enough - I-70 was BAD 10 years ago and they have done nothing to improve the situation. In fact a lot of Denver has major traffic issues.

I have given up on the resorts for winter sports - way to crowded and insane traffic.

Most of the foothills that are commutable to Denver are expensive and busy and have a city feel.


Have you considered Salt Lake City?
For starters they just need to blow that mountain away at the Twin Tunnels in Idaho Springs. CDOT has come up with some ideas, which will hopefully get implemented at some point.

I think people that move to Denver and think they are going to ski all the time or especially after work(LOL!), don't really understand what is involved. You have to be a very dedicated person to be willing to deal with hours of traffic and bad weather every weekend.

As someone who's burned 600,000 miles on I-70 between Aspen and Denver and all points in between, I can say even on weekdays plenty of issues can arise. It's a road with thousands of feet in elevation changes and twists and turns, add in wicked weather, rocks, trucks, idiot drivers and it's an adventure.

I don't think a lot of people understand that places like Breck are at 9600ft(one of the highest towns in the USA) and they don't understand what is involved in traveling around. They look at a map and think Idaho Springs or Fairplay, yeah no problem, I can just pop over to Breck every day for work or skiing. Really? You sure?

Salt Lake City and Park City I have been to every year for the past 5 years. It has a different feel than Colorado, but I can see why people like Utah and Park City is so easy to get to.
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Old 09-21-2012, 06:28 PM
 
Location: Wherabouts Unknown!
7,841 posts, read 18,931,353 times
Reputation: 9584
Colorado^ wrote: I-70 is a nightmare both summer and winter on Friday nights, Saturday morning and Sunday afternoons. That can't be stressed enough - I-70 was BAD 10 years ago and they have done nothing to improve the situation.

I thought I-70 from Denver westward was pretty darn bad as far back as '71, when I lived in Boulder and travelled frequently into the mountains. My memory of that is one of the main reason that I chose to live on the western slope when I returned to Colorado 6 years ago. Going to the mountains from Grand Junction is a piece of cake compard to Denver. Thankfully I travel on I-70 infrequently, and the stretch I travel on is lightly travelled.
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Old 09-23-2012, 10:26 AM
 
404 posts, read 900,437 times
Reputation: 452
Quote:
Originally Posted by wanneroo View Post
Expensive is the answer. $200K isn't going to get you a home in Summit County. Or in any "better" town in the mountains. The only places with homes that are $200K in the mountains are in isolated places or towns with no opportunities. Some of the old mining towns might present that opportunity for an older home near $200K, but then what are you going to do there?

You have to remember there are mountains between Denver and Summit County. I-70 passes over 11,000 ft. There are few towns in between and not really much that you can commute from.

I think people look at a map and don't realize the roads are more difficult than they appear and the terrain and weather is not welcoming to ease of getting around or development of cities.

If you want the resort lifestyle, keep in mind these towns are expensive and most real estate only dates back 30-40 years at the most. To buy a decent condo that isn't about to fall to the ground or has issues, you are looking at $300-$350K at the bottom level.
not true at all, I believe there is 3 bed single family home in French creek which they are asking just over 200k

Sent from my AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note
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