Between Boulder and Denver - suggestions on where to buy (Longmont: for sale, renting)

[boston2denver]

Hello everybody. Still loving Colorado and still learning all about it. We're looking to purchase a home somewhere between Boulder and Denver, and at this point we don't have a preference if it's on the east side or along the Front Range. That being said we have spent more time along the Front Range. We explore the mountains almost every weekend. I'm always surprised how few people I see out there..but that's another story.

One of us will be driving into Boulder five days a week, the other into Denver about three times a week (this will not be changing), but this does not mean it has to be closer to Boulder.

To keep this simple, we're looking for the following: a minimum of 2500 square feet of living space (no maximum really), a big yard - anywhere from close to 1 acre to 5 acres, and a price take that does not exceed 500k.

I'm looking for suggestions to names of towns I should look into. We're currently renting in Highlands Ranch, and we like it here. For us it's been a great place to live while we get to know the area. If someone were to ask me what I like best about living here, I'd say the people - they are friendly and generally mind their own business. All the other things Highlands Ranch has to offer are a big plus, but not required.

Thanks in advance. B2D.

[hammertime33]

I don't think you're gonna find that anywhere near Denver or Boulder. In Boulder, 500K will get you an 1800 sq ft home on a 1/8-1/4 acre lot. You can find plenty of 2500 sq ft+ homes in the north/northwest/northeast Denver-Boulder area for 500K or less, but not on anywhere near an acre (let alone 5).

The only places I'm familiar where you can get that kind of land in the city are Bow Mar, Cherry Hills, and Castle Pines. All are somewhat South of your homebase and would be a hell of a commute to Boulder (especially Castle Pines), and a 1 acre lot would start at 1.5 Million and go up from there.

Perhaps there some large acre lots in areas like Eire, Longmont, Dacono, Lafayette, etc - but my experience up there has been of subdivisions with homes on 1/4 acre and smaller lots. Even if you could find a 1+ acre lot up there, I can't imagine it being 500K or less.

[boston2denver]

Thanks for the reply and the information. That's why I'm here. I guess I wasn't clear. I don't want to live in Boulder nor Denver, I'd like to live somewhere between both. I don't care if I'm 20 miles out, no more than 30. Perhaps I might be wanting too much for too little. I thought I was being realistic :-(

[sunsprit]

I'd suggest you look into the unincorporated areas in Weld County near the I-25 corridor.

We used to live off just off I-25 at Hwy 52 on 5 acres in a 2,400 sq ft custom built brick ranch ... it was very nice, surrounded by similar properties, all one-off (as opposed to a single builder subdivision of cookie cutter look alike house). Sold the place for $380,000 ... and I glanced at Zillow to see that the current appraisal on it is still around $400,000. We left because the open grazing lands around us were being subdivided into smaller parcels and it got way too busy for us. But is was fairly good access to Denver and Boulder from this location where we both worked at the time. 20-25 minutes to the North side of Boulder, and just at 1/2 hour to Denver.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by hammertime33

Perhaps there some large acre lots in areas like Eire, Longmont, Dacono, Lafayette, etc - but my experience up there has been of subdivisions with homes on 1/4 acre and smaller lots. Even if you could find a 1+ acre lot up there, I can't imagine it being 500K or less.

Not within the city limits of Eire or Lafayette will you find this. I don't even know about outside of Erie. It's remotely possible that there might be something north of Lafayette. There are some larger lot areas off 144th Ave. in Broomfield, but I seriously doubt they are 5 acres.

[choosing78]

I think you might have more luck if you were to buy a plot of land and build something yourself. There are definitely more 1+ acre plots of land for sale than houses with 1+acres. Broomfield/Lafayette/Erie. You can get an acre and a half in Erie for around $150k and in Broomfield about $185k

[boston2denver]

Look at me replying to my own thread. Today we spent the day looking at a few places in Golden and an area I think is referred to as Golden Gate Canyon and there are places to be found under 500k with at least an acre.

The title of my original thread was between Boulder and Denver, and perhaps I should have chosen a better title. The truth is we want to be in a location that does not put us any more than 30 miles away from either Boulder or Denver. Obviously 20 miles would be better, but we're ok being up to 30 miles away for the right place. Anyway, this is just an update after a day of driving around.

[boston2denver]

Originally Posted by choosing78

I think you might have more luck if you were to buy a plot of land and build something yourself. There are definitely more 1+ acre plots of land for sale than houses with 1+acres. Broomfield/Lafayette/Erie. You can get an acre and a half in Erie for around $150k and in Broomfield about $185k

The thought has crossed my mind but right now the goal is to find something already built.

[2bindenver]

I'd start looking along the i-36 corridor.