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All this kinda reminds me of a development near me that got going in 2005 with 20 lots or so and many of them were quickly snapped up and the developer put up all these signs like "Ron and Linda from Baltimore, MD bought this lot" and "Joe and Sarah from Newark, NJ bought this lot". Here in almost 2012, only 2 houses have been built, both back in 2006 and 2007 and all those lots sit empty. All those what I suspect to be boomer retirees never made it here.
I think there are some people that weathered everything fine, but I think most people haven't and a lot of baby boomers will not be retiring cause they can't afford it and the country can't afford it either.
In mountain Colorado I saw the explosive growth of real estate for such boomers, but real estate has literally died. Everything just stopped in 2008 and I think reality has bit many people that thought they could live up in the mountains in a nice home in retirement. I have a few relatives in real estate(both sales and construction/development) on the western slope and it's been an "interesting" few years for them.
As my own family in Colorado goes back 100 years, everyone that I know of struggled in the mountains as they got older. The isolation, the weather, the lack of health care. When everyone passed away, it was down in Denver, because they had to leave the mountains as they got older.
So I will not dispute that some are going to be able to pull it off, as the next 2 decades go along, I really do not believe the money is going to be there for hordes of ponzi scheme pension and social security holders and "virtual" workers to live this easy mountain dream. I think people above 50 would like to trick themselves into thinking that, but us younger people already see the big picture.
Wow, generalization about any particular group of people is never accurate, but us older people (above 50) already knew that.
I won't be in the mountains, I'll be on the Florida Mesa, a 20 minute drive from the mountains. 7 miles from downtown Durango & 4 miles from the new hospital. The isolation, distance to health care, and the weather are the exact reasons we chose NOT to buy land in the mountains. We knew however that we could live close to them and enjoy them whenever we wanted. We plan to build a modest home. We neither want nor need a McMansion, never did.
Retirement money is not an issue for us. We saved & invested for many years with retirement in mind. Nobody my age I know tricks themselves into thinking anything too optimistic about retirement. It's easy to run the numbers and make an objective evaluation. If you didn't plan ahead & set your retirement as a long term goal to work toward, well then shame on you. But if you do as we did, and took difficult times into account when you did your planning, you're in a position to take advantage of the down real estate market in desirable places like Durango. It ain't rocket science you know.
What a wild ride this conversation took! Several months later, let me bring the subject back to the original title. After years of thinking about it, I am going to move to Durango this summer. I am finished with sorting out the "pro's" and "con's"; if I can make it in the DC/Baltimore mega-plex, I can make it there. I'm bringing my teenagers and my pension and just a little bit of home equity and going to settle there. I want to stay within the Durango School District, there are a number of interesting options there. I've been working with a realtor and going out next week for another house hunting trip. For those of you who already live there, what can you tell me about Route 240, Florida Road, once it gets 3, 4 miles out of town? There are a number of houses up there, some in my price range, but I am concerned about the drive in winter for myself and eventually for my kids. Does the school bus run up there? I don't much like the idea of living in one of the new tract houses out towards the hospital, most with windows maybe 4 feet or so from my neighbors' windows, but am concerned about isolation, lots of snow, and hazardous driving. Any thoughts on areas off Florida Road? Just how much more snow falls up there than in the valley?
I've also looked at houses south, in the areas SoButCounty talks about (by the way, I LOVE the picture of the view from your land, you posted that on the picture/diary thread of another poster). Anyway -- I'm headed out next week, would appreciate any thoughts on areas that may present more driving challenges than others. With two high schoolers, I wish I could be on or near the bus or trolley, but that may not be possible.
One other question: how big a problem is mold and moisture in crawl spaces and basements under houses? Thanks. Post or private message would be appreciated.
After years of thinking about it, I am going to move to Durango this summer. I am finished with sorting out the "pro's" and "con's"; if I can make it in the DC/Baltimore mega-plex, I can make it there.
With all due respect, I think that is a very faulty assumption. All I can say is that it better be a very healthy pension and more than "a little equity" if you expect to live in Durango comfortably, especially with the "overhead" costs of two teenagers. There are a lot of "empty-nesters" in Durango with similar financial assets as you and with no child-rearing expenses who have trouble making it financially there . Many of them don't make it financially over the long term because they make the faulty assumption that they will be able to supplement their income with some locally-derived income. Some manage that, but many do not. In fact, I know people who have lived in Durango for decades, but will not retire there because the area is just too high living cost/low income for them to be comfortable there in retirement. One friend of mine, who has lived in Durango over 40 years is at that point. He will retire in about 2 years and is chomping at the bit to get out of Durango's hostile local economy and resort vibe. Most likely, he will leave Colorado altogether. For the record, he is one of the most intelligent people that I've ever met, and, like me, studies economic and demographic trends extensively as part of his work--and he also holds one of the better local jobs available in Durango. We he's looking for an "exit strategy" I would certainly pay attention.
What a wild ride this conversation took! Several months later, let me bring the subject back to the original title. After years of thinking about it, I am going to move to Durango this summer. I am finished with sorting out the "pro's" and "con's"; if I can make it in the DC/Baltimore mega-plex, I can make it there. I'm bringing my teenagers and my pension and just a little bit of home equity and going to settle there. I want to stay within the Durango School District, there are a number of interesting options there. I've been working with a realtor and going out next week for another house hunting trip. For those of you who already live there, what can you tell me about Route 240, Florida Road, once it gets 3, 4 miles out of town? There are a number of houses up there, some in my price range, but I am concerned about the drive in winter for myself and eventually for my kids. Does the school bus run up there? I don't much like the idea of living in one of the new tract houses out towards the hospital, most with windows maybe 4 feet or so from my neighbors' windows, but am concerned about isolation, lots of snow, and hazardous driving. Any thoughts on areas off Florida Road? Just how much more snow falls up there than in the valley?
I've also looked at houses south, in the areas SoButCounty talks about (by the way, I LOVE the picture of the view from your land, you posted that on the picture/diary thread of another poster). Anyway -- I'm headed out next week, would appreciate any thoughts on areas that may present more driving challenges than others. With two high schoolers, I wish I could be on or near the bus or trolley, but that may not be possible.
One other question: how big a problem is mold and moisture in crawl spaces and basements under houses? Thanks. Post or private message would be appreciated.
Don't let Jazzlover scare you. He gives some good advice but you must take it with a grain of salt as he provides a more pessimistic view than most (to say the least). DC area housing alone is one of the nation's most expensive at 177% of the national average. Durango isn't even close to that. My only warning would be not to expect to move to Durango and work in any way unless you want to work for peanuts because the jobs just aren't there, especially for a new resident. If you plan to work to supplement your pension to get by, that's a dicey proposition. Although I certainly don't have the details of your situation, bringing equity with you is certainly a good thing. You can find decent houses from about $400K and up. They'll be more expensive right in town and you'll certainly get less for your money than you will find outside of town.
CR240 headed out of town is good road and winds it's way back to the Lemon reservoir & Vallecito areas. It's a pretty ride and although I'm sure the ride would not be fun when it's snow covered, it's a very good road and you can easily find nice homes in your price range out in that area. It's not really that isolated (unless you want to be- you can isolate yourself out there) and you'll find that you can easily be in downtown Durango within 10-20 minutes depending upon how far out you go. I am familiar with the real estate market in Durango having spent several years looking at houses for sale out in the areas between Durango & Vallecito. CR240 is the primary route that traverses that area.
In the end, we decided that we wanted to be closer to the hospital that is south of Durango since we're not getting any younger. Hence, our land purchase on the Florida Mesa 4 miles from the hospital. You will absolutely enjoy low, low property taxes in LaPlata county as in many areas of Colorado. You did not mention your age but if you have a half way decent pension & supplement with social security you should be just fine. My wife has an aunt/uncle who are retired schoolteachers living in Durango. Between their two meager pensions & social security they do just fine. Even built a new house 10 years back that is now appraised at $600K.
I'll be moving to Durango from Pittsburgh in another year and contrary to what Jazzlover insists, the cost of living is not at all higher than what I have here in the Pittsburgh area now. Housing is slightly more expensive but not more expensive like the DC-Bal'more area is compared to my current location. But then I accounted for it in my retirement planning.
I can't really speak to any concerns about mold & mildew in crawl spaces other than to repeat the fact that humidity is very, very low in Durango since so much of the area is high desert. Chances are that you should not experience mold/mildew issues but then again, I would defer to those who live in the area.
It just continually amazes me how outsiders get "suckered" by Durango. There are many places, even some in Colorado, that enjoy local scenery nearly as nice as Durango's, often have a better climate, much lower real estate costs, and a more healthy social demographic than does Durango. What they lack is being deemed a "cool place" in the national mass media, don't have all of the tourist trap crap to amuse the masses, and aren't full of "beautiful people" (almost all from somewhere else) who are busy trying to impress each other about what a "neat" place it is where they live. In other words, the other places are something akin to a normal community. I guess if one wants to live with a large percentage of phonies, hucksters, and tourists, with an ever shrinking percentage of "real" people, then Durango is great. If one wants a more normal and affordable town with some pretty scenery and a nice climate, there are way better choices out there (though relatively few in Colorado)--but, frankly, most of them are not well-known to outsiders and most of the local residents in those communities would just as soon keep it that way.
If I, as an lamented damned outsider, wanted to move to Colorado, I'd want a larger town than the towns Jazz hints at. I also wouldn't mind some of the "outside" amenities, like restaurants. In Durango, I'd like the proximity to the other side of 550 (western slope), the regional airport and wouldn't mind not being the only person whose family didn't go back there generations.
I wouldn't like Telluride even if I had money, but I think there's a place in the tourist/retiree world for a Durango. Without that change in economy, would Durango just disappear like other ranching/mining towns? Or is every town that is near a ski area likely to become more of a tourist town? (I don't ski, so wouldn't want to pay the premium to be near a ski area). Also, the Durango medical availability is better than most smaller towns.
Yes, I could live without T-shirt shops on every corner but people make their living on tourists, there's gonna be that.
What a wild ride this conversation took! Several months later, let me bring the subject back to the original title. After years of thinking about it, I am going to move to Durango this summer. I am finished with sorting out the "pro's" and "con's"; if I can make it in the DC/Baltimore mega-plex, I can make it there. I'm bringing my teenagers and my pension and just a little bit of home equity and going to settle there. I want to stay within the Durango School District, there are a number of interesting options there. I've been working with a realtor and going out next week for another house hunting trip. For those of you who already live there, what can you tell me about Route 240, Florida Road, once it gets 3, 4 miles out of town? There are a number of houses up there, some in my price range, but I am concerned about the drive in winter for myself and eventually for my kids. Does the school bus run up there? I don't much like the idea of living in one of the new tract houses out towards the hospital, most with windows maybe 4 feet or so from my neighbors' windows, but am concerned about isolation, lots of snow, and hazardous driving. Any thoughts on areas off Florida Road? Just how much more snow falls up there than in the valley?
I've also looked at houses south, in the areas SoButCounty talks about (by the way, I LOVE the picture of the view from your land, you posted that on the picture/diary thread of another poster). Anyway -- I'm headed out next week, would appreciate any thoughts on areas that may present more driving challenges than others. With two high schoolers, I wish I could be on or near the bus or trolley, but that may not be possible.
One other question: how big a problem is mold and moisture in crawl spaces and basements under houses? Thanks. Post or private message would be appreciated.
Can someone answer her specific questions? Whether she can afford to live there is her business and not what she's asking your "help" with.
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