House Hunting/Possible Relocation (Denver, Parker: apartment complexes, foreclosure, rental)

[SillyJKC]

We may relocate to Denver from Royal Oak Michigan. I am searching online for housing... and having a lot of luck in the rental department, there are plenty of Apartment complexes and so on... my concern is when I look to purchase a home. Of course, we will not buy for at least a year when we are more familiar with the area etc., but I am not finding housing to purchase for $150,000 or less in any areas that have a decent public school rating? (GreatSchools.com). As I have never been to Colorado, I am hoping I am just not looking in the right place... any suggestions? Cherry Creek seems to be "the place to be" according to everyone I know personally... but it is WAY out of our price range. We are just middle class Americans here, looking for a modest house, 3 bedrooms, clean and safe area with decent schools for our little girl. We would love to live where we can walk to restaurants, shops etc., if possible?

Thank You!

[Nea1]

Hello, yes we had the same problem, we are just renting here in the Cherry Creek area, for the schools. Maybe look for a foreclosure, ask a realtor they may have a scoop.

[Nav]

Unfortunately, the Denver housing market is a lot more expensive than Michigan. Starter, tract homes are usually in the 200-250k starting range. Move up homes in Tract housing run 300-450k and custom homes start around 500k and up. If I were you, I would look in the "Centennial" area. Its in the Cherry Creek School district and there are a lot of older established neighborhoods and you may be able to find something in the low 2's if you look.

Remember, salaries here in the Denver area are usually higher than in Michigan so that is why the housing prices are higher as well. Do you have employment here or are you just looking around? You may find that it will all balance out in the end.

Nav

[bhcompy]

You might find something in Parker or farther south in your range. The older areas of Parker, like in the Cottonwood development, had some homes in the upper 100's when we looked last summer. I'm sure prices have dropped some since then. Schools in Douglas County are fairly good. The downside is that Parker isn't the most walkable area.

[steveindenver]

There are good and bad schools in every district; do not assume that any school in a district is going to be a good school.

For 150,00 I can't think of any area that has any highly rated schools. That is at the very very low end of this market for a single family home and you are going to find most children in those areas have both parents working, sometimes multiple jobs, that is if they have both parents at home to start with.

You might be able to do the "drive until you qualify" thing and find a newerish house somewhere in Colorado that is new enough to have more young kids and as a byproduct likely to have good schools, but it won't be within an hour of Denver, especially with traffic.

[SillyJKC]

Thank you! Yeah, I'm thinking we will be renting for some time!