Thinking of moving to Steamboat Springs.......Any Advice helps. (Denver: ski resort, foreclosures)

[brandonlangdon]

My wife and I currently live in Arvada, CO. I am from MN and we moved out here 4 years ago. We run a painting company doing interior and exterior painting. Our business does very well in the city. It's tough competition with all of the illegals, but we do ok. The problem is we are both country people. We miss the quiet of the woods. I used to hunt and fish all the time. Now all I do is drive and drive and work. We go camping a lot, but it is still hard. You have to drive a LONG ways to not find a ton of people. We have been to Steamboat and we think it is beautiful.
I guess my question is will we be able to do well with our profession up there. What is the work situation? Is rent high? Is it easy to find a nice house to rent? Do they have pitbull restrictions?
My wife has to be in a higher elevation place to live because of her health. So if you have any other suggestions other than Steamboat feel free to let me know. Thanks.

[BlueSimple]

You'll get all sorts of opinions, but Steambot Springs is my favorite town in Colorado. I am moving to Manitou Springs in the next few days as kind of a stepping stone to Steamboat.

Yeah it's pricey, but not nearly as bad as the other well known ski towns. It's a small town and I can't conjecture on the success of your business, but if it is feasible, I would personally say that if you can get there you should do it.

[jpenta]

Steamboat is a beautiful town, but it is definitely very pricey. Personally, I live in Winter Park and recommend someplace in Grand County. Though I love living in the mountains and all that they offer, it's nice to be just an 90 minute drive from Denver when you just need to be around some people, see a show, etc.

In the summers, I especially enjoy having the three lakes to play, fish, and boat on. Usually I head out after work and go for a quick mountain bike ride down one of the hundreds of trails here.

Steamboat seems just too far for me, especially since it's a 3.5 hour drive from Denver. I enjoy having the best of both worlds here. No doubt you've driven through on your way to Steamboat, but I would encourage you to stop and really check it out sometime.

[PokerMunkee]

Check out Divide, CO. Not as beautiful as Steamboat but much more practical. Lots of cheap housing (w/ acres). 10 minutes from Woodland Park (population 7000) and 45 minutes from Colorado Springs. It's at about 9000' elevation and 80 miles from Breckenridge/Keystone.

Also some nice houses around Eleven Mile Reservoir, more East of Divide.

I don't think there are very many, if any, illegals in this part of Colorado.

[sunsprit]

I've never lived in Steamboat, but my friends who have ... and have left, although they still own places there which are now leased out tell me that Steamboat is:

1) Pricey for housing

2) Pricey for supplies due to it's very remote location; it's a long drive to anywhere from here

3) a place where winters are colder than the central mountains of Colorado and lasts longer; they say that the winters in SE Wyoming are milder and less daunting than Steamboat!

4) a place with a long "mud season" in the spring

5) a place where you need to know somebody to get business/work; it's not hurting for labor and there's a local "good ol' boy" network going. Don't think you'll get away from the illegals when it comes to bidding work here, their connections for trade work go a lot longer than yours.

6) you won't be doing much exterior work in the winter months

7) a spectacularly beautiful mountain area with superb fishing, hunting, equine activity, hiking, and local skiing ... all of this made up for a lot of the deficiencies and problems of the area until they finally got tired of the extreme winters for their horses and themselves.

I think I'd be making calls to the GC's up there regarding work availability before trying to move up there. It's a pretty closed market ... and I think you'll still be driving and driving and working to make ends meet until the work season shuts you down and you've got lots of time on your hands but no income for months on end.

The folks I know who are still living up there made a lot of money and have independent incomes before moving up there so that a local income is not a factor to live on ... even with that and living on acreage outside of town, they're still in what I'd call a "mountain subdivision" of houses. It's not like they have a great deal of privacy, their subdivision could be anywhere .... they either raise llamas and alpacas for fiber and breeding stock, or they raise/train horses. Either one of those businesses cannot be described as a "money maker" given the cost of land, housing, infrastructure (I've been in barns that put my house to shame), and feed costs. But they're beautiful places to live ... if you can afford it.

[BillRadio]

It is a beautiful place to live and the town prides itself on its "ranching" roots. I see a lot of (older) local ranchers work at the ski area during the winter. The farther you live to the west, the cheaper it is. Living in Craig is just as pleasantly remote as Steamboat and both towns are quite removed from the "city".

Sunspirit is right, you need to build a "network". Fortunately, there is high turnover, so it won't take long if you get to be known as reliable, Once you get familiar with the realtors and managers, and get to be known as someone who can show up tomorrow to help them get a unit ready right away, the faster you'll be known.

Sadly, like much of the US, the Steamboat building market just flat out dried up. There will be nothing new built for quite a while. Keep your dream, but watch for the building boom when it returns. There are a lot of remodeling jobs waiting for the older buildings. ideally, now would be the time to BUY a place to live in later, and rent it out now. Then you'll get your home at a "reasonable" price.

[atlantis7]

How likely is it that since the RE market has bottomed out in Steamboat that one can pick up a home for half the value? I see quite a few foreclosures and am starting to hear the stories about people selling for essentially what they owe the bank (and other sacrifice deals).

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by atlantis7

How likely is it that since the RE market has bottomed out in Steamboat that one can pick up a home for half the value? I see quite a few foreclosures and am starting to hear the stories about people selling for essentially what they owe the bank (and other sacrifice deals).

Seriously doubt for half the value at least at the moment. I'd say a few other ski areas more populated and easier to reach might be of risk of that due to extensive construction the past few years. While Steamboat caught some of that building boom not to the extent of other places. In addition most of that building boom ski resort related statewide was more high end stuff, not so much that benefited locals.

Also watch what you buy on the low end in ski towns like Steamboat. Many places date from the 60's and 70's and have been used as ski bum flophouses with much wear and tear and as such require extensive renovation.