Considering move from S. California to Colorado (Colorado Springs, Pueblo: for sale, real estate)

[ellabella65]

We would appreciate any feedback and suggestions you could give.
We are considering moving from S. California to find a more wholesome environment to raise our kids as well an less expensive area to live.
We are attracted to the outdoor beauty in Co. and dry climate
We are a fairly conservative religious family.
We would hope to to find a town/suburb with lots of churches and outdoor parks. We are an pretty active, social family as well.

My husband runs a small toner cartridge recycling business in S. California and we are looking for a city that he might move his business to. Does anyone have experience with operating a business in Colorado? What is the climate like for business? California is becoming unbearable as we are being taxed to death.

I homeschool our twin 7 year olds. Does anyone have experience with local groups in the area. I understand that Colorado requires testing. Can anyone speak to how difficult this is to do?

We would like to live in a smaller suburb within 30-40 minutes outside of a city. The most challenging part is that we want to find a small home (at least 1000 square feet) so we can pay cash. Which would limit us to 100 K.
I know yikes! Are we barking up the wrong tree?

Any ideas?
thanks, ellabella

[Arrby]

The only area I can think of with houses at or under $100000 in the Colorado Springs area (since the query was posted on the C.S. board) would be out east toward Ellicott and Yoder, or possibly down south near Fountain. These will almost always be modular/mobile construction.

You got the dry climate right, so I'll give the stock advice always given to anyone looking for Colorado real estate: Make absolutely sure about your water rights before you sign anything.

Good luck to you.

[Carrera32]

Ellabella - Having grown up in SoCal (many moons ago) with relatives still there, I found it to be a great place to be a kid. Granted, I know it's changed a lot over the years, so I guess it would help if you'd define what you mean by "wholesome."

I think you'll find the weather and the lack of humidity to your liking, but, of course, you'll have to get used to an alien concept to SoCal folks: winter. It doesn't snow that much here, but it can be cold and you will see some snow and ice. The climate and terrain is similar in many respects to SoCal (high desert), except instead of smog and the ocean to your west, we have clear skies and Pikes Peak. Colorado is a gorgeous state and the mountains are spectacular. There are loads of parks in the Colorado Springs and Manitou areas, and you can be in the mountains literally within a half hour or so from downtown. You'll find lots of churches in town. Also, as a conservative, you'll be right at home. Others will be able to answer your questions about home schooling.

As for housing, it's far less expensive here than just about anywhere in SoCal. However, I agree with Arrby, unless you're willing to be way out east of CS in a very small community (I'm not talking about suburbs) you'll be hard pressed to find anything to buy for $100K. In the CS suburbs (15-20 minutes from downtown), you can probably find houses in the mid-200's (check Briargate; it's pretty representative of the suburbs around here). I've seen banners for new construction in the Stetson Hills area "starting in the 160's" but I'm guessing that's for a duplex and doesn't include any upgrades, so add a few thousand... You may be able to find an older fixer upper in the low 100's, but you'll be putting money into it.

If you have a toner recycling business you want to relocate to this area, your competition will probably include Cartridge World, located in downtown CS. As for business/jobs in general, we're subject to the same problems everyone's having; everything's slow. We're having a runoff election for our first "strong mayor" in a couple of weeks. Both are local business people (each with a differing political bent), but either should be able (and have promised) to create a better business climate than what we've had in the past. A lot of the economy, other than tourism, is military related. We have several military bases here, so there's a lot of active military, DoD civilian workers, and government contractors.

[Vision67]

You can search here for homes: Colorado Springs Homes For Sale - Official MLS Listings - PPAR.com

Seems Pueblo has more low cost homes than Colorado Springs.

[Userdavey]

You'd be amazed at how dry and cold it can be here. The summers are short and it's always windy. The winters last from October to May-ish and are very windy. This year saw little snow, but it's cold. Yesterday afternoon it was 40 and very windy and it was just too cold out for anything really. This is why it's so cheap here. So remember you really get what you pay for.
If you want conservative then this place has that for sure. I've never seen so many political bumper stickers and narrow minded cowboy homesteaders as here. I'm not saying I love Obama but Jeez, there's more to life than politics.
Good Luck

[Marcy1210]

This is the Colorado Homeschooling Law site. It's in question and answer form, and it's very comprehensive with lots of links. It'll take a while to get through, but it's excellent information.

RMEC - The Colorado Homeschool Law In A Nutshell (http://www.rmec-online.com/laws/CO_law_inanutshell.html - broken link)