Rental costs for Boulder area (Westminster, Longmont: real estate, apartments, rentals)

[k-man7]

So, I'm in the process of doing a search through all of the posts for the following cities: "Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Broomfield, Longmont, Erie" i.e. pros/cons, what they are like, what would be best for me etc. before I start a new post on any questions about an area that were not already covered in a previous post.

But what I would like to know in my process of narrowing down my search is the rental costs for these cities. I am looking for a 3 bedroom house, condo, townhouse, and I would like to spend no more than $1200 a month. $1000 would be ideal. Of course I am looking for a safe area (I have 2 small children). A fairly suburban type area preferably.

Do all of the cities mentioned match my criteria? Do none of them?
Or do some other than others?

Thank you for your replies.

[V1VrV2]

You might try looking at the Housing Helpers website.

Though we did not end up using them to rent our place in Longmont, we did meet with them and they seemed helpful.

[k-man7]

I tried looking at some of those sites but when I put in my filters I receive either 0 results or like 3 results and none of them look good. Maybe the good sites are the ones where you have to give them your information, or contact an agent. I'm not in that stage of my searching yet so I don't want to go that far. I just want to browse or get a feel for an area. Was hoping people on this forum can help narrow my search a little with some real world experience from knowing the areas etc.

[qfrost]

Just an observation, but I did a quick search of the cities surrounding Boulder, and between 1000-1400 there are a lot of apartments to pick from, a lot in Westminster, some in Superior, Broomfield, etc., so they're out there. Houses go for a bit more, but I saw a couple. I was using the site for 'housinghelpers', just the first search engine that came up. You might want to tell people here where you're going to be working for insight on the best commutes. Good luck.

[k-man7]

Yea I don't really want an apartment, that's why I only mentioned house, condo or townhouse in my post. House or Condo preferably. I would like a garage and hopefully a small basement. When I restrict the searches to not include apartments its not that many hits. I'm sure there are a lot of rental properties out there in those cities, but hearing from real world people that actually live in these areas, they would probably know best (I hope) :-). Of course a real estate agent from the areas would know the most, but I'm not at that stage yet, and I would like to narrow my search to a certain city or cities first before I contact anyone anyway. I was hoping this post would be able to do that for me.

[k-man7]

My work is in North West Boulder, about 5, 10 minutes from Longmont. I don't mind a commute anywhere between 0-30 minutes though, and according to google maps, Broomfield is about 30 minutes away and all of the other cities I mentioned I believe are closer. Not sure about traffic though.

[qfrost]

Originally Posted by k-man7

Yea I don't really want an apartment, that's why I only mentioned house, condo or townhouse in my post.

Ah, sorry. In my mind condo and townhouse are apartments (shared walls). But there were homes I saw too, so you should find something.

[k-man7]

Yea, I guess when I think of apartments - I think of dorm room style where you open the main door to a lobby with many interior doors to your room/living quarters - (Like a hotel).

I live in a house currently with 2 children that has a basement, garage and a yard. I would like to have at least the garage and possible basement. I don't want to live in a hotel room with my kids coming from a house environment. :-/

I did just check craigslist and I found quite a bit actually. Funny thing is........the houses for 800-1200 a month looked like old small homes that needed TLC. Not my cup of tea. The condos/townhouses/apartments were updated etc., looked nice.

I guess I have a lot to think about.

[qfrost]

Well I wish you the best of luck. Moving is never easy, moreso when you have children to consider. I think a lot of homes in the areas you're checking are older homes - but a yard is a wonderful thing to a kid.

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

I just did a quick look in Boulder Craigs list to see what was there in Longmont and where it was. You are right - many are smaller, older homes. Under today's listing though, there is one in Niwot and one in Longmont that look really good for a good price.

I know in our small neighborhood on the sw side of Longmont there are some homes that are rentals. Wish I could give you an idea of what they are rented for so that you have something to go off of. But I don't - I never even see signs up. I think the lady behind us who rents her house out must use a management company because we never saw a sign.