Moving to Colorado in 6-10 Months (sale, home, price)

[StealthRabbit]

OP, bring your Seattle home cash, and WAIT for the right deal in the area you determine is best for you. I have 4 friends and relatives who live in HR and seem to get by ok, but I could never survive there. You too will need to map and accept your own spot. (I went from rural front range CO to PNW near your age and pre kids (by 3 weeks).

Be sure to scope out your future work / commute / client region. I would choose CoS over Denver if I had a statewide territory and choice of location. Whatever you do.... Get a home with a good view, even if smaller than desired. 2000 sf is really plenty for a family, and to roof, maintain, paint, clean, insure, pay taxes for.... (We have had ~30 properties of all types, but never in a city. Ymmv.)

Our favorite was a 1939 model, 800 sf/ floor, on a u-pick fruit farm which our kids really treasured. Ironically, my childhood Colorado neighbor's home and u-pick fruit farm was very similar. As were 3 of our Colorado homes. Working from home.... A view is really great, especially when you can watch frequent weather changes throughout the day. In Colorado, you can watch the lightning strikes every summer afternoon and count the fires they start. We saw over 20 strikes and 6 fires start in one afternoon last summer.

[daprara]

consider where most of your business will be in. 4example; a drive from HighLandsRanch -> Boulder could be more than expected.

[Vision67]

OP: I think you can find what you want in Colorado Springs. for example:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...13559516_zpid/

[DenverBrian]

Castle Pines North? https://www.redfin.com/CO/Castle-Roc.../home/83455584



Living close to I-25 in a less urban area may be a good balance of home life and travel needs for you.

[daprara]

Originally Posted by FutureDenverRes

Hey All
Top Priorities: Price Range - Up to $750k
Space - Moderate sized home + Yard (1/4 acre, 3000 sqft.), 4-5 bed
Schools - High rated schools
Accessibility - to Denver and other cities in the state
Community - Friendliness of neighbors/community events

priceRange
$750 for a 5 bedroom house on a quater size lot may be difficult anywhere in any metro area here.
-not a lot of water here so you will be limited what you can do with the quater acre. No rewards for having to cut just weeds on a quater acre lot.
-beyond the eastern slope into the valley it is just a highland desert and nothing much grows.
-well & septic is a significant risk. Community water systems can be expen$ive.
-mountain poroptery tends to catch on fire these days.

schools
-Colorado as a state dosnt spend much on education. You might not be impressed no matter which school you land in.


Accessibility
Denver is really well centered geographically. Get a home in denver and you will at least have equal travel prospects no matter which way business takes you. Lite rail and bus, Uber etc, travel are options inside Denver proper. Things are closer together more urban. You might not have to be driving the children just everywhere they need to be. Quality of Internet and cell service can varry lots.

Community
Denver is a small island. Citizens are mostly in coexist mode and just dont care. Even a few blocks from the dreaded Colfax Av there are perrectly functional neighborhoods. No big definded areas. Expect frendly people but best to interview a few new neighbors and ck out the crime map at denverGov before you buy that house. Politics is more conservative out side of the urban areas Denver Boulder FtCoins.

[wilberry]

they moved !

[notatexan]

what the heck, this nice guy who was looking for friendly just got nothing but dont get your hopes up.
Is this what denver suburbs are like? realism is one thing, believe me but plenty of areas are more expensive than Denver. Future denver resident I hope you found a great home with nice supportive people around you

[katharsis]

For anyone considering Highlands Ranch, I would suggest checking out the suburbs west of there. We just moved from the southwest Littleton area one year ago, and there were still plenty of properties under $500k, although these were mainly older homes, built about 1990. We sold our 1988 4 br/3.5 bath for $430k last June*, but the yard needed a LOT of work, plus it was small (about 6,000 s.f.) and very oddly shaped, and the carpet needed replacing. (We had four offers in two days and sold it for over list price.) The neighborhood we moved from had very good schools, plus it was very convenient to C-470 -- about 20 minutes to the DTC and less than 30 minutes to downtown Denver IF there was very little traffic. (About 50-60% longer commutes n peak driving times.)

However, the problem with the OP's requirements is that very few lots are more than 8,000 s.f. About 7,000 sq. feet is about average in the area I described, and many lots in Highlands Ranch are even smaller with very small yards, and many of the houses are very close to each other.

*The current Redfin value is estimated at $519k.

[nachofries]

So let me get this straight. It will just be you working as wife stays home. All you do is medical device sales and can afford a home up to 750K. …doesn’t sound very complex without any specific degree or expensive training it’s just sales. I think more people on here would be interested how they can sell medical devices and make lots of money. Unless you are like many others who move to the state after selling their last home for millions or just have wealthy parents. I’m just flat out curious.

[TCHP]

An acquaintance of mine has a child who is in medical sales. This child has a degree in marketing, studied internationally, and has done a start-up venture while overseas. Once they returned to the US, they settled in with a company, they have progressed through the ranks rather rapidly, and are making $150k annually. With minimal educational debt behind them, they have saved a considerable amount of money and put a rather large down payment on a house.

There are those motivated individuals and those opportunities out there for those inclined to chase them. Of course there also inheritances, lottery winnings, and wealthy parents that can create these types of cushions. Who cares. There are plenty of people out there that are better of, but there are also plenty more that struggle.