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We are moving to the Aurora area over the summer. My husband will be working at Buckley AFB, so we would ideally like to be within a 20 minute commute, but have a lot of things we would like in a home so would consider a longer commute (but read that with the snow commutes double). We have read posts and come up with a few areas of interest: Parker and Douglas/West Elbert county area, Cherry Creek Schools in South Aurora, Centennial, Castle Rock, Littleton, the area of Tollgate Crossing.
To sum up the following: Must haves: Safe area (he will work different shifts), Good grade schools, backyard, dog/young kids friendly, cannot touch your next-door neighbor's house, under $300,000.
Prefer: within 20 min.s to Buckley AFB, no covenants, over half an acre, close enough to parks/mtn bike trails, and close to extracurriculars- are there gymnastics, indoor ice skating, little league?
We are looking to buy a house with a garage in a good Elementary/Middle school district (our children will be in K and 3rd) with a budget of $300,000. We also have 3 small dogs, so a yard is a must-also we don't want to be too close to our neighbors so that the dogs barking would bother them- they are very protective. We would ideally like a half-acre or more, but realize this may not be feasible in the area. We do not care for a lot of covenants and stipulations on what you can do on your private property, not that we are "trashy", but why buy a house if you cannot have freedom with it (I hope this is understood). We like the idea of a neighborhood with young families so our kids have kids to play with. At the same time we like having more land so we have our space, so are also looking at having a few acres. We have lived in "the country" and "the city" and find positives and negatives to both, so would like to check out all areas.
We are active outdoors and would love to live near the foothills, but not sure if this would make for a long commute. We would like mountain bike trails and parks around.
We have also considered looking some place in between Aurora and Colorado Springs, as there is a chance we may move there in the future. Would this type of commute be horrible?
Also, what is Kindergarten like in the area, where we live now, it's full-day, but from the schools I've looked at it's part day there. Would they go in the a.m. for part of the year and then the p.m. for the other part or stay at the same time? I am curious because I would like to work similar hours to my children so we don't have to pay for/use child care.
I know this is long, but I tried to provide the extra info. most people are asked for. Thanks for any advice/suggestions!
good news. Just about anything in Aurora, Centennial for $275-$300 would be "good" and "safe." Check with the local police department.
sorry. what you prefer does not exist. You can't be in the foothills and 20 minutes from Buckley.
Aurora invented the planned urban development. Best scenario is to find a community where the covenants have expired (25 years) and to train your dogs not to bark as much to annoy your neighbors.
There is land east outside of Aurora. Good schools? Lots of kids to pay with? Kindergarten? If your kid is enrolled in morning class - that is their schedule for the whole school year.
You can forget about Castle Rock and midway between the Springs if you're looking to keep your commute at under 20 minutes. Put Littleton on that list, too. Now if your husband's shifts will usually be counter to the normal rush hour, Lilttleton may work. We all say we want elbo room between homes, but be prepared for the opposite. Most municipalities require a minimum of ten feet between homes, so if your arms are less than ten foot long, you won't have to worry about touching your neighbor's home. To get away from this, many homes are designed with very few side windows. We do have lots of cul-de-sacs, so if your home is in the "bulb" end, you will get more side space. It's really not that bad and most of us get used to it.
Give up on your dream of owning land. You could venture east to the plains and maybe fill the land part of your dream, but you will just remove yourself further from society and lots of the other things you're looking for. As far as covenants go, most communities have them, however, most communites don't have the enforcement mechanisms in place. Your dog's would fall under county or city ordinences for noise, so your neighbors don't need covenants to make a complaint about them if they're constant barkers.
Another thing about covenants is they protect your home values. You'll see this as you compare homes where covenants aren't enforced compared to areas where they are. The difference becomes more striking as the neighborhoods age. They aren't for everybody but the majortiy of people seem to prefer them to protect their home investment.
As far as schools go, check out; Colorado School Performance Maps. They have links to all the schools, plus they show where the schools are on the map.
We are moving to the Aurora area over the summer. My husband will be working at Buckley AFB, so we would ideally like to be within a 20 minute commute, but have a lot of things we would like in a home so would consider a longer commute (but read that with the snow commutes double). We have read posts and come up with a few areas of interest: Parker and Douglas/West Elbert county area, Cherry Creek Schools in South Aurora, Centennial, Castle Rock, Littleton, the area of Tollgate Crossing.
To sum up the following: Must haves: Safe area (he will work different shifts), Good grade schools, backyard, dog/young kids friendly, cannot touch your next-door neighbor's house, under $300,000.
Prefer: within 20 min.s to Buckley AFB, no covenants, over half an acre, close enough to parks/mtn bike trails, and close to extracurriculars- are there gymnastics, indoor ice skating, little league?
We are looking to buy a house with a garage in a good Elementary/Middle school district (our children will be in K and 3rd) with a budget of $300,000. We also have 3 small dogs, so a yard is a must-also we don't want to be too close to our neighbors so that the dogs barking would bother them- they are very protective. We would ideally like a half-acre or more, but realize this may not be feasible in the area. We do not care for a lot of covenants and stipulations on what you can do on your private property, not that we are "trashy", but why buy a house if you cannot have freedom with it (I hope this is understood). We like the idea of a neighborhood with young families so our kids have kids to play with. At the same time we like having more land so we have our space, so are also looking at having a few acres. We have lived in "the country" and "the city" and find positives and negatives to both, so would like to check out all areas.
We are active outdoors and would love to live near the foothills, but not sure if this would make for a long commute. We would like mountain bike trails and parks around.
We have also considered looking some place in between Aurora and Colorado Springs, as there is a chance we may move there in the future. Would this type of commute be horrible?
Also, what is Kindergarten like in the area, where we live now, it's full-day, but from the schools I've looked at it's part day there. Would they go in the a.m. for part of the year and then the p.m. for the other part or stay at the same time? I am curious because I would like to work similar hours to my children so we don't have to pay for/use child care.
I know this is long, but I tried to provide the extra info. most people are asked for. Thanks for any advice/suggestions!
We are in SE Aurora, in the Cherry Creek School District and love it. I am also good friends with a family who work at Buckley and from what I gather, there are a lot of families who live in this area but commute to Buckey so it must not be a big deal. This area is suburbia. There are tons of activities for kids to join, plenty of bike trails, parks, open spaces to play, good schools, a gymnastics/dance school on the corner, a swimming school just about to open up, karate/tae kwon do schools nearby, an awesome recreation center about 10 minutes away, etc etc. People are friendly, crime is low and schools are excellent.
What you are looking for (in terms of land) is not within your budget. You are going to have to compromise by either not having land or increasing your budget. Colorado is the 5th state I've lived in and I've never seen such small yards. What we've done to alleviate the claustrophobic neighborhoods is to find a house that backs to open space. Our yard is not huge and we're pretty tight on both sides, but the backyard backs to open space, a small creek and a bike trail so it feels much bigger. We have a yellow lab who likes to run around and she enjoys the yard, even though it's small.
Most homes in this area are in HOA neighborhoods. Some people don't like that, but I do. Ours is fairly strict so we are having to do a paperwork trail to get our house painted, a home with dogs that bark constantly (about 5 houses down from us, thank God) has been fined numerous times for their dogs, you can't make landscaping changes without permission, etc. It's the price I am willing to pay because there are people out there who treat their homes like a garbage dump or automotive garage and think neon green is an acceptable outside color on a home. I don't mind a tight leash on my rights if my neighbors have the same leash.
So, for Cherry Creek SD, the Kindergarten programs are 1/2 day. My daughter was in Kindergarten in the a.m. so she went to school from 8:00 - 10:40. The p.m. class goes from 12:00 - 2:45. For working parents, you can sign your child up for "Kindergarten Enrichment" which will take care of your kids during school hours and after school. There is a fee to pay for that (but it's much cheaper than daycare) as well as a waiting list, but many of my daughter's classmates went to Kindergarten in the a.m. and then to Kindie Enrichment (including lunch and recess) until the late afternoon. Most schools in our district offer this. Another thing to look for in CCSD is that many schools are year-round. For a lot of people, they don't want this, but I love it. My daughter is on A track, which starts school at the beginning of July and then has the months of September, December, March and June off. Other tracks have different months off, but it's the same...2 months on, 1 month off. If your child does the after school care, they are eligible to go to all-day care during track off (I think they only take a break for Christmas Break and Spring Break). Most extracurricular activities in our area understand that the kids are in year-round school so their schedules correspond to the times off. The year round school also only applies to elementary schools and not all schools do year-round.
A few neighborhoods come to mind after reading your description of your ideal place to live--though I have to agree with the other posters that finding a half acre in that price range anywhere in the Denver metro will be nearly impossible. It should be relatively easy to fulfill your other criteria, though! : )
We live in SE Aurora near Tower and Orchard Roads and the schools are wonderful. The developments in this area are largely made up of families with children and pets. The houses are nice but fairly generic. You might want to drive by and see if the area appeals to you. If it does, you could consider the subdivisions of the Farm, Piney Creek, and Tuscany. There are many deals to be had in this area and I'm sure you could get something nice around $300 with a yard big enough to accomodate kids and pets. It is probably one of the safest areas around as far as crime is concerned. Cherry Creek State Park is only 5-10 minutes away, so you can take the dogs to the off-leash area and get a taste of some nature out here in the 'burbs! All these developments are in the Cherry Creek School District and, as you've heard, the schools are excellent.
We also have a fantastic new recreation center called The Trails at Orchard and Buckley Roads--it has state of the art equipment and tons of classes/activities for kids and adults. Tuscany has an outdoor pool with a great kiddie pool next too it--perfect for spending many relaxing summer hours reading while your toddlers and preschoolers have a ball playing in the water.
Many of the families who live here are transplants from the city who moved to get more house for the money and a safer environment in which to raise their kids.
Our son will be in kindergarten next year also. He has been at a nearby Montessori school for about a year and a half and we have been so impressed with their approach and curriculum we're going to keep him there for kindergarten also. It is not inexpensive but the school is open from 7 am to 6 pm and if you enroll him for a full day you can have him there as long as you need. The staff is excellent, and the school is only 5 minutes from the developments I mentioned in my last post.
Lots of luck in your search!
Last edited by Mike from back east; 02-21-2010 at 02:43 PM..
Thanks for all you suggestions... I figured my idea of land was a pipe dream . At least it seems like there are a lot of parks, both for the dogs and kids. It's good to read that the areas I have found online and like are the same ones others like. As for my dogs, they don't bark nonstop- I've had neighbors whose do also and drive me crazy, my concern is for the time or two, like when the doorbell rings. I can see what everyone means about some covenants being good for values.
Please excuse my ignorance in some of my questions...
Do HOA fees typically cover certain things, like sidewalk maintenance, common areas, pools, etc? Is there a site I can look up a particular neighboorhood's HOA to see what they have and cover or is it best to just call the realtor? I have tried to find out about a few online(don't have a current list to ask about though). I am new to HOAs, so I guess it's more a fear of the unknown - what do I really get for that fee. Also, what are the property taxes like in the Cherry Creek School District Area?
What HOA fees cover is specific to the neighborhood. All HOA's are not the same and they do have the same fee. Most do not shovel sidewalks or driveways. What the HOA fee covers in in the MLS.
Taxes are about 1% of the assessed value.
Part of the real estate purchase contract has a provision for HOA (called CIC docs) to be reviewed by the buyer.
Do HOA fees typically cover certain things, like sidewalk maintenance, common areas, pools, etc? Is there a site I can look up a particular neighboorhood's HOA to see what they have and cover or is it best to just call the realtor? I have tried to find out about a few online(don't have a current list to ask about though). I am new to HOAs, so I guess it's more a fear of the unknown - what do I really get for that fee. Also, what are the property taxes like in the Cherry Creek School District Area? Thanks!
Last year, the residents in CCSD voted "yes" on a bond/levy for schools so the property taxes will go up $11 for every $100,000 your house is worth. I think that's fair. Our house was $275,000 and our property tax is around $2600 per year.
Our HOA dues are $186 every 6 months and that pays for landscaping the common areas, maintaining the walkways, snowplowing the main streets and sidewalks (we are part of unincorporated Arapahoe County so without the HOA snowplows, we'd be in BIG trouble since the city of Aurora doesn't include their snowplow service for our area), garbage/recycling pickup, cleaning up of occassional graffiti, and stuff like doggie poop bags in little stands along the walkways. HOAs that have a pool nearby usually charge more but cover those areas as well. Our HOA also puts on 2 block parties and a large community garage sale too.
The most expensive HOA fee we found in our area was in Parker at Bradburn Ranch (I think that was the name). It was $65 every month but included the pool. The more amenities you have, the more expensive your HOA fees will be. There were some HOA fees in Florida that were $240 per month, but that included tennis courts, pools, golfing, etc. Most HOAs just do routine maintenance and sidewalks.
Not to change the subject, but the mention of year-round school made me think of a question. We have 2 elem. age children....I'm wondering if they are in the same school, will they automatically be on the same "track" because they are siblings? What about when my daughter goes to middle-school and my son is still in elem.school....do they (the school) try to accomodate the family and have the kids on the same track. Just wondering what I'm in for with year-round school.
yes, they will be on the same track. Once one goes to middle school, you're back on a conventional calendar.
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. At least it seems like there are a lot of parks, both for the dogs and kids. It's good to read that the areas I have found online and like are the same ones others like. As for my dogs, they don't bark nonstop- I've had neighbors whose do also and drive me crazy, my concern is for the time or two, like when the doorbell rings. I can see what everyone means about some covenants being good for values. 
