Moving to Loveland; need info please (Windsor, Center: apartment, rentals, home equity)

[tsample]

We are a family of 4, and looking to move to Loveland area. I just have a few questions, if anyone is available for answering, that would be great!

1) How is the water quality? I would love to live somewhere that one could actually drink the water from tap and not feel like I'm going to sacrifice my health.

2) What are the best areas to live in and the bad areas (crime) to stay away from?

3) Schools? Middle-High school levels

4) Is it possible to ride your bike to the grocery store, library and other places, as this is a dream of mine to live in an area that you can get around safely/easily on a bike.

5) Hows the Economy? And is it expensive to live there? We are looking to rent at the start and would be able to afford somewhere around $1200/mo-ish

That should be good for now.

Thanks in advance!

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by tsample

We are a family of 4, and looking to move to Loveland area. I just have a few questions, if anyone is available for answering, that would be great!

1) How is the water quality? I would love to live somewhere that one could actually drink the water from tap and not feel like I'm going to sacrifice my health.
City of Loveland, CO : Water Quality Report

2) What are the best areas to live in and the bad areas (crime) to stay away from? West side of tracks is better quality of life. Safety is not a big concern

3) Schools? Middle-High school levels .. Look them up on Great Schools .com (West of town was best for elementary, but Middle and up got bussed to town (that was not fun OR educational)
I'm out of date on middle schools
4) Is it possible to ride your bike to the grocery store, library and other places, as this is a dream of mine to live in an area that you can get around safely/easily on a bike. Depends... there are some decent places BETWEEN Library and Safeway (downtown / east of tracks) Don't go EAST of library, it is the worst part of town. DO go see the library and nearby Rec Center. It is very nice. BTW: I rode my bike everyday but 4 the last yr I lived / worked in Loveland. I was riding about 5 miles to work.

Can also live near west Safeway it is a decent area (but no library)

5) Hows the Economy? And is it expensive to live there? We are looking to rent at the start and would be able to afford somewhere around $1200/mo-ish

Can rent for that amount and get a very decent place,


That should be good for now.

Thanks in advance!

JOBS... What do you do? (work can be tough to find)
What are your salary needs?
Will you have a car?

[tsample]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

JOBS... What do you do? (work can be tough to find)
What are your salary needs?
Will you have a car?

thanks for replying! I am a Medical Aesthetician and my husband works for Wells Fargo. We can live or manage earning around $50,000-60,000 combined annual.

Also, yes, we have vehicles. Both 4 wheel drive.

I'm more concerned about finding the right school and environment for my, soon to be, 8th grader.

Thanks again!

(Can you help me figure out how to retrieve my forum replies? I found this be accident.)

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by tsample

thanks for replying! I am a Medical Aesthetician and my husband works for Wells Fargo. We can live or manage earning around $50,000-60,000 combined annual.

Also, yes, we have vehicles. Both 4 wheel drive.

I'm more concerned about finding the right school and environment for my, soon to be, 8th grader.

Thanks again!

(Can you help me figure out how to retrieve my forum replies? I found this be accident.)

Click on your name (UL) go to "Find all Posts by tsample"

You will be fine for $$ and schools.
Probably search 'great schools'. I have been away from CO middle school contacts too long for good advice. We homeschooled our own, they designed and built their own houses ages 13-15 then sent them to college when they were 15.(for free in WA) They survived, as will yours.

If you work 3 days / week as a RNA you can pull down the $60k, and your DH can be a house husband! He can teach the kid's 'finance' They will find that very useful!

[tsample]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Click on your name (UL) go to "Find all Posts by tsample"

You will be fine for $$ and schools.
Probably search 'great schools'. I have been away from CO middle school contacts too long for good advice. We homeschooled our own, they designed and built their own houses ages 13-15 then sent them to college when they were 15.(for free in WA) They survived, as will yours.

If you work 3 days / week as a RNA you can pull down the $60k, and your DH can be a house husband! He can teach the kid's 'finance' They will find that very useful!

WAIT! They built their own houses at ages 13-15? How awesome! And my husband would go stir crazy! haha

Thanks so much for the help!

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by tsample

WAIT! They built their own houses at ages 13-15? How awesome! And my husband would go stir crazy! haha

There are a lot of things your husband could do with and for the kids and he will be quite rewarded (his time left with kids is short). Schools LOVE men volunteers and he could surely teach math / tutor math and accounting. Men volunteers and teachers / aids at schools are very helpful to youth that don't have dads around. (As a homeschool family we worked in public schools 2days / week).

Kids at ages 13-15 are very creative and need to be using their hands and accomplishing physical work. Our kids had just returned from living in Europe, so were interested in designing and building 'chalets' on mtn acreages. It was a lot of work for all of us, but they each cleared $70k on their homes which was handy when they had to pay for their last 2 yrs of college. (FAFSA doesn't count their home equity or their IRA's as 'available funds' Very important to PLAN that now... Our kids started their ROTHs at age 12 (need 'earned' income, but we had a farm and commercial rentals they could work on.. I matched their wages 1:1 till age 18, then they were GONE)

You could easily do the same thing in Ft Collins / Loveland area. Remember that if you make it your 'primary' residence you can collect $500k gains TAX FREE every 24 months (Sooner if you have new multiple BIRTHs !!, one of a few 'exclusions'). Several of our homeschool friends did that as families. Just buy a parcel that can be split, and you won't have to move far. (Build a shop with apartment on the lot you plan to keep, and store your STUFF (and kids ) there!.

Being a 'Banker' your DH can figure all this stuff out, but you really don't want WAGE income in Colorado (taxes). And the feds are getting pretty greedy too

[tsample]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

There are a lot of things your husband could do with and for the kids and he will be quite rewarded (his time left with kids is short). Schools LOVE men volunteers and he could surely teach math / tutor math and accounting. Men volunteers and teachers / aids at schools are very helpful to youth that don't have dads around. (As a homeschool family we worked in public schools 2days / week).

Kids at ages 13-15 are very creative and need to be using their hands and accomplishing physical work. Our kids had just returned from living in Europe, so were interested in designing and building 'chalets' on mtn acreages. It was a lot of work for all of us, but they each cleared $70k on their homes which was handy when they had to pay for their last 2 yrs of college. (FAFSA doesn't count their home equity or their IRA's as 'available funds' Very important to PLAN that now... Our kids started their ROTHs at age 12 (need 'earned' income, but we had a farm and commercial rentals they could work on.. I matched their wages 1:1 till age 18, then they were GONE)

You could easily do the same thing in Ft Collins / Loveland area. Remember that if you make it your 'primary' residence you can collect $500k gains TAX FREE every 24 months (Sooner if you have new multiple BIRTHs !!, one of a few 'exclusions'). Several of our homeschool friends did that as families. Just buy a parcel that can be split, and you won't have to move far. (Build a shop with apartment on the lot you plan to keep, and store your STUFF (and kids ) there!.

Being a 'Banker' your DH can figure all this stuff out, but you really don't want WAGE income in Colorado (taxes). And the feds are getting pretty greedy too

Wow! So much to consider. I homeschooled years ago, however, I didn't feel I was very successful. My husband was against it, but didn't communicate it until the kids were in junior high, so I always felt like I was fighting a bigger battle than needed. With regret, we put them in public school. I would homeshool again in a second, if i KNEW I had my husbands 100% support. My two older kids have graduated, however, we still have a 7th grader at home and it's extremely difficult to help her stay grounded in our beliefs these days, although, she does a pretty good job herself.

I can't thank you enough for the information. I feel it's worth another shot to begin dialoguing about the issues.

Thanks again!

[StealthRabbit]

There are some great Private school options in NoCo, if your DH prefers to work. They are easily accessible from Loveland, Ft Collins or Windsor

[tsample]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

There are some great Private school options in NoCo, if your DH prefers to work. They are easily accessible from Loveland, Ft Collins or Windsor

I've actually been researching them. If you can recommend any, one, please do so. It's a little overwhelming. I did find one that I'm interested in, but keeping options open.