The Dirt on Denver?

[PartyOf5]

I guess it would be a good time to buy in the Denver area. I've seen lots nice homes searching through realtor.com. Neighborhoods appear to be nice too.

Something I'd like clarified though is how the city/town zip codes work. I'll search for homes say in the 80015 zip code and some homes are in Centennial and some in Aurora. Same with Highlands Ranch as well. Some homes will come up as Highlands Ranch while others in Littleton...and I used the common 80126..80129..etc. It seems towns overlap on the same zip code?

[TinajaCo]

Zip codes overlap different cities and towns-- the houses will all be in the same region, but they will have different cities. Some of them will be in the actual cities, some will be unincorporated. USPS assigns towns that are the "proper" city, but they also have "acceptable" cities. So for 80015, the "proper" city is Aurora, but some may have Centennial addresses. For example, my zip code is where several towns and cities meet, yet all are in the same zip code and same general geographic area. So there are five different towns and cities that have my zip code, and you could address mail to any of those five addresses and I'd still get it!

[gpraceman]

Originally Posted by PartyOf5

Same with Highlands Ranch as well. Some homes will come up as Highlands Ranch while others in Littleton...and I used the common 80126..80129..etc. It seems towns overlap on the same zip code?

It can be confusing. Some listings in HR will be listed as Littleton instead of HR. HR is not a city, it is an unincorporated part of Douglas County, so some use Littleton as the city on their mailing address. For HR, the zip codes are 80126, 80129 and 80130. I believe Lone Tree is 80124.

I'd search listings by zip code instead of city, at least in this area.

[2bindenver]

GP is correct, HR is a subdivision with 3 zip codes. 80126 was the first and is now located in the central part, also includes Provincetown Landing. 80130 is the eastern side & 80129 is the western side. 80124 is Lone Tree, Acres Green and Wildcate Reserve. 80125 is Roxborough, 80123 is Littleton & South Central Jefferson County & 80127 and 80128 is South Jefferson County.

The postmater here in HR lets us use Littleton as a mailing address, as it used to be the closest city to HR, but Littleton is in Arapahoe County.

[PartyOf5]

Thanks for that info. I'll have to look at town or subdivision names versus zip codes.

[TinajaCo]

I think it might be your best bet to search by zip code, instead of town/city (unless you want to live in one town or city). Some of the towns/cities you are searching are very big, so searching just the city will return you results from all over (Aurora, for example, stretches from almost Parker to I-70). Whereas, zip codes limit your searches to a geographic area-- the houses may have different city addresses, but they will all be in the same general area.

[gpraceman]

Originally Posted by TinajaCo

I think it might be your best bet to search by zip code, instead of town/city (unless you want to live in one town or city).

I'd second that. Say if you are looking for homes in HR but ignore the "Littleton" listings within the 80126, 80129, 80130 zip codes, then you will miss many HR homes and limit your options.

[PartyOf5]

Originally Posted by gpraceman

I'd second that. Say if you are looking for homes in HR but ignore the "Littleton" listings within the 80126, 80129, 80130 zip codes, then you will miss many HR homes and limit your options.

Good point. What confuses me most is on different sites I'll see the same house only one will list it as HR, the other Littleton. Which one is it? Same thing with Centennial & Aurora and probably others.

I realize some homes can actually use either town name and still get their mail, but I wondering if some homes are on the borderline and its trying to ride the better reputation of the other town.

Not that I would know if one is clearly better than the other. Just a theory.

[TinajaCo]

I really think it comes down to USPS definitions more than anything.... if you really want to know the correct city, you can go to USPS.com, click "Find a Zip Code" in the upper left corner, click "Find All Cities in a Zip Code," and type in the zip code. The one under "actual city name" is, well,the actual city name assigned to a zip code. Under that is all the acceptable names.

It could be too that the homeowners file documents, papers, etc with two different city names. For example, I interchange two city names with my address (because I am in a zip code that has 5 different acceptable cities/towns)-- I use both the Actual, as well as the city I am actually in (which is different than the actual), and really there's no rhyme or reason to why I do that. Or, it could be that realtors are trying to enhance the image of the home by changing the city location, but I think that would occur more when two cities have very different reputations. In your case, for example, Littleton and HR both have good reputations.

[gpraceman]

Originally Posted by PartyOf5

Good point. What confuses me most is on different sites I'll see the same house only one will list it as HR, the other Littleton. Which one is it? Same thing with Centennial & Aurora and probably others.

I realize some homes can actually use either town name and still get their mail, but I wondering if some homes are on the borderline and its trying to ride the better reputation of the other town.

Not that I would know if one is clearly better than the other. Just a theory.

I think if you stick with those 3 zip codes for HR, you are a safe bet to find homes in HR. There may be a few exceptions to that rule, but for the most part it should be true.