honest opinions about east colfax neighborhood, please! (Denver, Aurora: 2009, foreclosures)

[cowboyxjon]

Hi everyone,

I've been on this forum for quite awhile and have used the search function, but I was wondering if anyone on the forum lives in the (Denver) East Colfax neighborhood (part of 80220), knows anyone who lives there, or has any stories to share about it -- most specifically the area east of Quebec, north of Colfax, south of Stapleton (Montview?) and west of Yosemite.

Basically, I've found a house that I like near the intersection of 17th and Spruce. It's a small bungalow that would be perfect for me and my partner and our two dogs. The area doesn't seem horrible (even though I'm aware of the reputation of "East Colfax"), the homes on the block look fine for the most part -- not fancy like Cherry Creek or Wash Park, but not horrible, and it actually seems like a fairly quiet area. In fact, I love the mature trees and love that most of the homes have a little bit of character and this particular home has a garage and space for off-street parking. We're seriously thinking about making an offer on this place, but as with any large purchase, I'm worried that we would be making a horrible decision or missing something obvious and would love a little bit of feedback.

I've checked the crime stats on DenverMaps, and it doesn't seem like anything major goes on in this area aside from a bit of crime on Colfax itself, which even then was less than I assumed it would be. The address of the home, for instance, had no crime reported between Sept 2008 and Feb 2009 within a 1000ft radius), and price-wise, the payment would be well within our means and actually quite a bit less than what we qualify for, which I'm definitely OK with. We don't want to be house poor.

I've driven by at various times of day/night and everything seems fine to me, but I just want to know if anyone who lives there feels unsafe (I usually walk the dogs in the evening/night) or has had other major problems in this specific area. I know it's not glamorous, but its near many of the places I like to go to, near the Stapleton dog park (we could walk to it from this house), and has relatively easy access to our jobs.

Finally, I'm not planning to flip the home or anything, and I know this is only speculation, but I've seen other people recommend buying in Aurora 80010 because of the Fitzsimmons/Hospital redevlopment, and this area is probably 6-7 blocks from 80010, so could this potentially be considered an area that won't dramatically lose value within the next few years, considering the proximity to Stapleton *and* Fitzsimmons? I know really it's a crapshoot and nobody knows for sure, but according to what i've seen, this particular neighborhood hasn't seen a dramatic drop in home values but rather has seen a steady, although slight, increase over the past few years, which is fine with me. The house isn't an ATM. I would just hate to get into something that I absolutely *could not* sell in the future if something happened and we had to move to a different city.

Anyway, any feedback would be great. I appreciate it, and especially would appreciate any firsthand info from someone who lives there or lives nearby. I wish there was a way to "test-drive" living there, like that one show on TLC -- sleep on it!

Thanks,

J

[denverian]

As far as that area seems to me, I drive through there often (live in Stapleton, go to gym in Lowry) and I've never seen anything unusual going on. You've done research and it sounds like crime isn't an issue. I know on some streets there are really tiny houses, on others they seem more average. Can you tell who your immediate neighbors would be?

I think my only concern would be losing value since there seems to be many foreclosures in this area. I looked online recently and found a couple housese in this area for around $50K! But they sounded really tiny and probably run down.

[cowboyxjon]

Good point, re: foreclosures, and thanks for the feedback!

This particular house isn't a foreclosure and is around 1100 square feet, but still, it is something to consider. Thanks again!

[yodi]

I know one person who lives in that neighborhood. As far as crime he has had problems with people tagging his garage in the alley and recently someone was arrested in his yard. Overall, it does seem fairly quiet but the tagging and arrest would concern me. Tagging is usually (not always) a sign of gang activity. The location is great and it seems like the area could go either way as far as value. Maybe you could take your dog for a walk through the area on a Friday night and see how it feels?

[steveindenver]

Great location. There is a pocket park at that intersection, the dog park a short walk north in Stapleton, a school just a block away and some good eating on Colfax in that area if you like Mexican or Japanese not to mention a 7-11 at the corner of Spruce and Colfax for quick trips.

In that area you will inherit the value benefits of Stapleton eventually - but are about 8 blocks too far east to have already seen them increase. An ideal location to speculate.

FC's in that area tend to be really rundown, but you won't find many west of there. Spruce is really at the edge of the FC market right now. East of there and you see a few, quite a few more once you cross Yosemite and hit Aurora.

[hon614]

pawn shop, liquor store, pawn shop, etc...

[ottodog]

Wow brings back memories of my days in district 2. Actually got fired at on Yosemite. Dirtbags used to start ****e west of Yosemite, and run back into Aurora knowing we wouldn't chase them. That was back in the days when Stapleton was actually an airport though.

[Americana1st]

I'm not quite sure if where you're looking at is near Colfax and Havana, but I do know someone who lives near there.

Have you seen the new Clint Eastwood movie "Gran Torino?" Well, it's not quite that bad, but similar.

She's an older white woman, living alone w/ three dogs, has the cutest 1950s house that she says each room is decorated like a "page out of a Speigel catalog" (and I can vouch for that), and has a really private and enchanting backyard w/ the greatest oversize one-car detached garage. Lived there for 10 years now, and she knows she can't get out...and certainly not now.

Everyone else on the block is Hispanic or Black, low-income, not speaking much English. She has a privacy fence around the backyard w/ carpet tack strip posted on the inside so if someone tries to get over, well, you get the picture. She walks her dogs, gives gifts to her neighbors' kids, and says that some years ago a neighbor got stabbed at his front door (my guess is that it was a known assailant; usually is.) She makes reference to her dogs barking at "drug dealers" and "prostitutes" walking the back alley, but I think that's a bit overexagerrated, as she tends to do.

So, again, I'm not sure if this area is close to where you're thinking, but this is the facts about this area.

My best advice: If the place you want "feels" right for you, make that offer. Only don't pay too much because you've fallen in love w/ it. Now is the time to get something for less, and lots of times much less, because now is the time!

Best of luck! I know it's difficult, but mediate on it, pray on it, dream on it, do whatever your slant is on it.

[steveindenver]

I'm not quite sure if where you're looking at is near Colfax and Havana, but I do know someone who lives near there.

So you have no idea about the area this person is asking about yet you still feel it neccessary to respond despite not having any knowledge. Wow, just ... wow.

Again, 17th and Spruce is in a nice area with quite a few homes in the area having recently gone through or currently going through renovations and price increases.

[cowboyxjon]

Thanks for all of the valuable feedback! I appreciate it.

We're going to take more time to think about it, since we're not in a huge hurry. The feedback is very helpful though, and like I said, neither of us want to "get rich" from purchasing a house and selling it for much more later on, but we also don't want to get into something that we absolutely could not sell in the future if we needed to for some reason.

As for the person who talked about Colfax and Havana -- it's not right near that intersection, and like I said, this particular block seems quiet.. although there are houses on other blocks that have bars on the windows and whatnot, so it is definitely something to think about.

Again, thanks!