husband being transferred to Commerce City, Q's about Denver Area...

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I agree with the above post, especially the part about renting. I would add, take lots of "Sunday drives". Get to know the metro area. Get a feel for driving distances from place to place.

In addition to Sunday drives, take a drive through the area an hour or so after schools let out. That will tell you a lot about who your kids' friends may be. Hanging out on the street corners smoking or actually still at school participating in after school activities? Heading for after-school jobs or spraying graffiti on the lamposts? Kids with nothing to do are the ones who likely enjoy terrorizing their neighborhoods. Find a school that offers kids something to do.

[Sheridan1962]

Hi Ebeth,

We were in a very similar situation just a few months ago. My husband started a new job (in downtown Denver) in mid-November, and I stayed behind in Texas with the kids (we have a 10th grader and a 7th grader) until the semester ended in mid-January. We are in Denver now (still living in temporary housing in Highlands Ranch, but we close on the home we bought at the end of this month).

I would definitely live somewhere besides Commerce City. It smells in that area...seriously! There is some sort of plant over there that is really smelly, lol.

You asked about the best school district....IMHO, that would be Cherry Creek schools. When we moved here, we originally considered Douglas County Schools because we wanted to live in Highlands Ranch. We didn't find a home in HR that we liked, so we extended our search to Parker. There was more there in our price range (up to $350K). BUT, after having our kids in Douglas County schools for just a week, we knew we didn't want to live in this school district. I had read many good things about Douglas County Schools, but both the middle school my son attends and the high school my daughter attends have not been impressive to us at all. So, we switched our search to neighborhoods we could afford in the Cherry Creek school district boundary. You can search this forum and find many glowing reviews of Cherry Creek schools. They are, in many folks opinion, the best district in the state. They have great test scores, etc. I spoke with staff members there, and asked other parents, and found that they do indeed seem to be a very good school district. So, we found a house in Cherry Creek schools (in Centennial) and will close at the end of this month (although my kids will finish out the year at their current school in Douglas County).

The majority of the areas within the Cherry Creek school district are out of your price range, but there are some very nice areas of Southern Aurora and Centennial that lie within the CC school district that have homes for sale close to your price range.

I hope that helps a bit.

[Gilv]

Broomfield is a great school distrrict on the north end of town. Theres still a lot of good foreclosure deals out there so its a great time to buy if you are in a position to do so.
Gil

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by Sheridan1962

Hi Ebeth,

The majority of the areas within the Cherry Creek school district are out of your price range, but there are some very nice areas of Southern Aurora and Centennial that lie within the CC school district that have homes for sale close to your price range.

I hope that helps a bit.

Just to help you out, you should take a look at the Cherry Creek School District boundary map. At the PTO Meeting last week, the principal mentioned that it is one of the biggest in the state. It makes it difficult to call delayed snow hours since it could be snowing heavily in one part of the district and not at all in another. There is a large area to cover and surely there will be a house and or area to look for homes in your price range. Sheridan and I live in Centennial/SE Aurora, but that would be way too much of a commute for your husband.

Many homes will be out of your price range but if you rent for a year (in order not to get stuck in a home that will be hard to sell if you don't like the area), things are only going to get better for you. Take some time and save up some money to make a larger downpayment. Despite the realtors trying to find silver linings everywhere, the reality is that foreclosures are up, people are going to need to sell their homes due to job losses and overextensions and the market will continue to cool off. Who knows when the housing market will hit rock bottom, but there is no way in the world that the market is going to make some sort of huge rebound in a year that will make it impossible to afford a home. You don't need to be in a hurry...people are still going to be trying to even QUALIFY for a home with the higher standards and those of us with good credit are staying put.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by Gilv

Broomfield is a great school distrrict on the north end of town. Theres still a lot of good foreclosure deals out there so its a great time to buy if you are in a position to do so.
Gil

Broomfield is in at least 5 different school districts, depending on where you live. Adams 12, Boulder Valley, Jefferson Co., Brighton, and I think St. Vrain. The majority of the people live in BVSD and Adams 12.

[LEDFuller]

I live in Commerce City/Henderson, work downtown and my kids go to Catholic school in Arvada. I've done some research in the area and would be happy to share what I know-- please PM me if interested.

[PIT2DEN]

I'll ditto Katiana-I'm a Realtor and my wife and I are moving to Denver metro this summer. I also recommend finding an agent that you have a lot in common with. He or she can give you some additional insight- Even if you aren't buying.