Places to live within an hour of the airport (Denver: renting, buying a home)

[msugal225]

My husband is a pilot and we originally thought that we wanted move to Colorado Springs, but decided that it is a little too conservative for us, so he has a bid to be based in Denver for August. We do not want to live "in the city", and unfortunately we need to be within an hour of the airport which leaves out some of the mountain towns that we love. We choose CO because of the wide variety of outdoor activities, and wonderful mountain views, so we defiantly don't want to be too far east of Denver (yes I know that is where the airport is). We would like to buy a house immediately because we are extremely sick of renting places to live (it is just like throwing money out the window). We have ruled out Aurora, we originally were thinking of Boulder but that is a little out of our price range at the moment. We plan on raising a family, and so even though we do not have children yet, we also would like a good school system. We do not want to spend more that $175,000, as this is our first house, and we are planning on building in the future. Any help on places to live would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

[DenverAztec]

You might want to check out the Brighton area. Many new homes and subdivisions there in your price range and within an hour of the airport. Counting out Denver and Aurora really limits possibilities, maybe look into mid/south Aurora or north Denver/Westminster/Thornton areas for that price range and proximity to the highways.

[vegaspilgrim]

How often does your husband have to drive to the airport? Is it just a once every few weeks thing, or several times a week? That makes a huge difference right there. I would not rule out Aurora altogether-- that would be a mistake. The southeast part of Aurora in the Cherry Creek school district, especially the newer areas along Smoky Hill Rd is a very nice, up and coming part of town with home prices ranging from the upper 100s to the 1 millions! I would live there any day over Brighton or Commerce City, personally, especially if schools are important.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by msugal225

We would like to buy a house immediately because we are extremely sick of renting places to live (it is just like throwing money out the window)..... We do not want to spend more that $175,000, as this is our first house, and we are planning on building in the future.

The first sentence in the quote above made me nervous. Buying a home "immediately" after not having performed a lot of research....

Also, a lot of people feel housing prices haven't bottomed out yet. Financially, renting might not be a bad idea; Plus it gives you time to do the necessary research.

Castle Rock is within one hour of DEN. It is a nice place with nice schools, same with Parker.

[msugal225]

My husband will have to drive to the airport a couple times a week, and although this is not very often, he would prefer not to have more than an hour commute. We are planning on buying a house in August which is why I am researching now, and we also have some trips planned to come out and look more closely. Thanks for the tips!

[tfox]

At 175k you can't afford to be very picky as that's far below the average single family house price in metro area at 250k. As for one hour's drive of the airport, anywhere in the metro area proper would be within an hour -- farflung locations like Evergreen, Nederland, Larkspur, Elizabeth, Loveland? Probably not.

You can get what you want if you are happy with a 1950s-1960s rancher in the older suburbs. I'd avoid the southern part of Adams County altogether, though, even though that's the closest to the airport. Stick to Jefferson County if possible (generally west of Sheridan Blvd) which includes parts of Westminster, Arvada, Wheat Ridge Lakewood, etc. Northern Adams County (north of 120th or so) is okay as well. Aurora is a reasonable choice in its southern locations, but i know you don't like it.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by msugal225

My husband will have to drive to the airport a couple times a week, and although this is not very often, he would prefer not to have more than an hour commute. We are planning on buying a house in August which is why I am researching now, and we also have some trips planned to come out and look more closely. Thanks for the tips!

I would suggest that you can widen your areas of considerations if you would consider taking public transportation to the airport. There are numerous buses that run from the whole metro area. This could save you money and perhaps, your employer would pay for the bus pass. In addition, a commuter rail line is has been approved by voters, is being planned and will be going directly to the airport.

The buses going to the airport are special express buses with very few or no stops. You can find out about this at RTD website http://www.rtd-denver.com/. It is called Sky Ride. I have used it extensively when I traveled on my job.

Livecontent

[sumisu]

Hi - You may consider touring "Reunion" - which is north of the airport. It's a popular area with nice views and appreciating property values. Good luck.

[oberon]

Originally Posted by sumisu

Hi - You may consider touring "Reunion" - which is north of the airport. It's a popular area with nice views and appreciating property values. Good luck.

I think you'd be lucky to find any homes in Reunion for under $200K, let alone $175K.