Moving to Fort Collins and have a lot of questions..... (Greeley: real estate, apartment)

[Jenneelee28]

My husband is transferring for his job to Greeley but from everything I have read on the schools and safety has convinced me to move to Fort Collins.

1. We have decided to rent our first year and I am curious as to why the rental contracts are for six months? Some of the ads say that prices increase June 30th. Does anybody know how much they go up from June-Dec.? Are there places that sign year leases?

2. I have read about schools on greatschools.org but know that some times this information is lagging. We are coming from the number one elementary school in our town and want to make sure the kids get a similar education in CO. Does anybody have any thoughts on elementary schools, good, bad or indifferent?

3. We have contacted two real estate agents that don't want to have anything to do with us because we are renters. We will eventually buy a place but want to live there for a year. We have never been there and want get a feel for the neighborhoods. Are there any agents that like repeat business that would be willing to start looking for something for us to rent and then we can use you when we buy too?

Thank you!

[jwiley]

1. Fort Collins is a college town with most of the rental owners wanting the properties on the market in June and July when college kids and their parents are renting the houses for the following year for the students. The rental prices are usually highest then as the demand for decent housing is much higher, if a house is empty in November or December then the price will usually come down as the demand can be very low.

2 My son is in Odea, so far we are okay with his progress but my wife and I work hard to ensure he is learning what he needs both with his school requirements and what we personally feel he is ready to learn. I personally feel most schools have went downhill over the last 20 years or so.

3. Unless the agent is a property manger there is really limited if any commission available to a real estate agent helping someone find a rental plus there is no guarantee that you will even remember their name if/when you decide to buy a house not to mention buying a house in Fort Collins. In a slow market you may have more luck, but in reality northern Colorado's market is pretty hot right now, and the realtors are not looking at working on getting a possibility at a deal in the next year or two when they have people struggling to even make an offer before a house goes under contract to someone else.

Also have you looked into moving into Windsor or Erie? There are several more towns in the area then just Fort collins or Greeley, depending on what area of Greeley your husband will be working and the area you live Fort Collins to Greeley commute can easily be a 45+ minute commute in good weather and double that in bad weather. While I personally did the commute for 4 years so that my special needs daughter could be in the best school system for her, I would not recommend it for parents of healthy kids that want to actually spend time together during the week.

[Jenneelee28]

In your opinion are the schools elsewhere as good as in Ft. Collins? I tried to do the school choice thing but I know that a lot of that (especially here in Tucson) is who you know.

We went through the boom in real estate down here and it was a disaster. I am not interested in getting back into that nightmare again. Does it seem like the house prices are inflated?

My husband will be moving in front of us, so hopefully he can judge if the commute is too much for him. He drives pretty far here and doesn't seem to mind. Could be different there though. Thanks for the info. I like what I read about Windsor and I will have to check out Erie.

[Mike Weber]

You'll find that just about all of the schools in Fort Collins are pretty good. Several have special programs and are sought out for those programs. (Harris - bilingual, Dunn - IB, Traut - Core Knowledge) The Poudre School District does have school of choice options, but there has to be room available and you have to provide transportation for your child. Our kids got a good education at a school that has since been closed due to low enrollment (Moore). We found that, while the teachers were great, the facility was not as nice as the newer schools in the more affluent parts of town, and because of the demographics, more parents worked outside the home and there was less volunteerism. Loveland and Windsor are known to have pretty good schools, as well, but I don't know about specifics.

I don't wish to defend bad customer service from my fellow Realtors, but many of us are limited by our Errors and Omissions Insurance or by our brokers from practicing property management functions including locating rental properties and negotiating leases. While I am an expert at helping buyer locate and purchase homes, and helping sellers market and sell their propI personally do not know enough to help someone and would more likely put someone in harm's way if I were to try and negotiate a lease. We as Realtors have great a resource for helping people find homes to purchase through our MLS system, but for finding rentals, we don't have any more resources than a savvy Google user might. Each week I get 2-3 requests for assistance in locating rentals and I pass these along to my colleagues in my office to see if any of them have recently sold a home to an investor for a rental. Sometimes we can put the parties in touch.

That being said, I love to help people learn about my town and give them info about different parts of town when they ask about a particular rental they have found.

Hope that helps!
Good luck with your move!

Mike

[Davros]

Originally Posted by Jenneelee28

In your opinion are the schools elsewhere as good as in Ft. Collins? I tried to do the school choice thing but I know that a lot of that (especially here in Tucson) is who you know.

We went through the boom in real estate down here and it was a disaster. I am not interested in getting back into that nightmare again. Does it seem like the house prices are inflated?

My husband will be moving in front of us, so hopefully he can judge if the commute is too much for him. He drives pretty far here and doesn't seem to mind. Could be different there though. Thanks for the info. I like what I read about Windsor and I will have to check out Erie.

Snow affects the commute in northern Colorado from time to time, which I assume never happens in Tucson.

I can't comment on the schools at all. But I'm not sure why Erie was recommended as an alternative to Ft. Collins. Erie is further away from Greeley than Ft. Collins is. Maybe it was recommended because of the schools. I don't know anything about Erie.

Finally, I'd recommend adding Loveland to your list of towns to consider. It's a little closer to Greeley than Ft. Collins is, at least as long as he isn't working north of Greeley like in Eaton or Ault.

As for how to find rentals, I'm not sure. I've not looked for a rental in that area for a while. Currently I use apartmentratings.com in other parts of the country. But if you search the Ft Collins forum for the word "rentals" you'll find ideas from people. I don't think you need a realtor to find rentals in northern Colorado. But I guess you can keep calling around, and maybe you'll find one who's willing to help.

[jwiley]

I apologize for writing Erie, had an appointment there this morning so must of had that on my mind, the town to look into is Eaton.

[Jenneelee28]

Thank you all! No, we don't have snow but we do have snowbirds who like to congest the streets. Tucson's road system is terrible.

Mike Weber is it OK to use you as a resource as we get closer to the summer and more rentals become available? I would love to have your input on neighborhoods.

I will check out Eaton too!

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I look forward to becoming a CO resident!

[Mike Weber]

No problem! Glad to help if I am able.

[Davros]

Originally Posted by jwiley

I apologize for writing Erie, had an appointment there this morning so must of had that on my mind, the town to look into is Eaton.

Ah, yes. That makes more sense. Thanks.

[Jenneelee28]

We didn't get into the school choice that I picked, which was Zach. Would love to hear the ins and outs of other schools. I will talk to people when I get up there but would love real parent feedback if you have the time. My boys will be entering 3rd and 5th grade. Thanks!