Kickin' Evergreen's tires (Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins: where to stay, houses, homebuyer)

[mperfct]

The wife and I are looking at potential 2nd home --> retirement homes, and Evergreen has caught our eye. We currently live in Overland Park, KS, and it seems that Evergreen has the best of OP, with more character and beautiful mountains.

I was thinking about coming up next Spring to check out EG, and was wondering where to stay/visit/get a good feeling for the area. We were thinking of home price ranges start at 500k, but don't necessarily want to be limited to that either. Probably no more than 1M.

Are there some other areas we should check out, like Kittredge or ???

What about long-term growth/expansion forecasts for EG? If you need any clarification about what we are looking for, please ask!

Thanks in advance!

[Gr8DenverHomes]

Hello from Littleton CO!

In addition to Evergreen, you might want to take a look at Conifer, Indian Hills, Deer Creek, maybe Genesse or the hills above Golden. Evergreen is a large mountain/bedroom community for Denver, and the town is expanding, though once you get outside of the town of Evergreen, it's not difficult to find secluded homes and cabins.

Several of my recent buyer clients have been looking at homes in those areas, and with the slower economy and less buyer competition, a homebuyer's dollar goes pretty far with the motivated sellers in those price ranges. Beautiful mountaintop views, 5-10 treed acres, $500-$750k isn't unusual. If you're flexible in price, I'd say you have plenty of options.

Hope this helps!

Bryan

[tigerhunt]

Is there anything to be found in those areas for under $350K? I would like just an acre or two, 1800 sq ft or more, and any view would be nice... I'd like to not be more than an hour from downtown. Am I asking for too much?
thank you!

[2bindenver]

maybe, maybe not. A mountain view, a tree view, a city view, usable acre....all factors in affordability.

[Gr8DenverHomes]

Tigerhunt,

A quick MLS search shows 127 homes with the basic parameters you mentioned, but as 2bindenver said, what is considered a view and land use are highly variable. Pine, Conifer and Evergreen could all be options for you.

Hope this helps!

Bryan

[Davros]

mperfect,

Have you been watching the news lately ?

Keywords: Fourmile Canyon fire and Reservoir Road Fire. Also keep in mind the Hayman fire back in 2002 which was absolutely monstrous in size.

I personally would never recommend anybody to invest in an expensive home in the foothills west of Denver. This is an extremely fire prone area.

170 homes were lost in the Fourmile Canyon fire, and this wasn't all that big a fire in terms of area burned. The more people living up there, the more people are going to be losing homes in these fires.

For cities with a view of and easy access to the mountains, but without the threat of losing your $500,000 investment in a firestorm, I would recommend looking more along the lines of plains cities :

Loveland, Fort Collins, any of the suburbs of Denver, Colorado Springs.

Evergreen is a small community, and is much more isolated from Denver than Overland Park is from the big city. I'm not sure why you think the two locations are similar.

[Davros]

Originally Posted by Gr8DenverHomes

5-10 treed acres

5-10 treed acres can go up in flames just like that, as 170 now homeless families have just learned recently.

No, this is serious stuff, people shouldn't be living up there. These forests are meant to burn, and fire supression over the past decades has created a very dangerous situation.

[whoisjongalt]

Newsflash....people move to Colorado to live in the mountains not to live somewhere that looks like suburban Kansas. I'm planning to move to Evergreen as soon as I sell my place in downtown. There are some great deals right now. And, yes, you can find a nice 2000 sq ft house with an acre or more and views with easy highway access for under $300K. I've been looking at them. Although I'm sure they must have been some, I've never heard of a fire in Evergreen. There are a lot of houses up there that are almost 100 years old. Living in the mountains is a calculated risk.

[Davros]

Originally Posted by whoisjongalt

Newsflash....people move to Colorado to live in the mountains not to live somewhere that looks like suburban Kansas. I'm planning to move to Evergreen as soon as I sell my place in downtown. There are some great deals right now. And, yes, you can find a nice 2000 sq ft house with an acre or more and views with easy highway access for under $300K. I've been looking at them. Although I'm sure they must have been some, I've never heard of a fire in Evergreen. There are a lot of houses up there that are almost 100 years old. Living in the mountains is a calculated risk.

The view to the west from Denver looks nothing like suburban Kansas. Besides, the OP said that Evergreen reminded him of Overland Park Kansas except with mountains and Evergreen has more character. So it doesn't sound like he hates Kansas. Personally, I'm not sure what Evergreen has in common with Overland Park, KS. I think the OP could find what he's looking for in the front range cities.

If you live in the suburbs of Denver or on another front range city, you can be in a place like Evergreen in about 30 minutes.

Just want the OP to be aware of the risk. Yes, you are right. Living in the mountains is a calculated risk. I always advise against taking that risk whenever I am given that opportunity. I give that same advice to you.

If you're dead set on living in the foothills, my opinion is that an established town would be safer than acreage or new developments nestled in the forest.

[mperfct]

Davros,

I appreciate your concerns and they have been on my mind as well. You could argue that tornadoes destroy a lot of homes too. It seems there is always something, I guess. Earthquakes, getting snowed in for 5 months, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, etc.

And you said that I don't hate Kansas. Totally true. It is just utterly boring to me. It's a terrific place to raise a family, which I'm doing now. Once the kids are out of the house, I'm leaving my flatlander roots for something else. I've always felt more "at home" in the mountains, like more in touch with nature or whatever. Maybe that's kitschy, and it probably is. I lived in KC my whole life and think life is too short to be born, live, and die in a 50-mile radius like such a great majority of people (probably not people on this forum, it seems).

Anyway, I'm a long ways from moving, but thinking of coming out in the late spring to enjoy the area and make some mental notes.