Houses along S. Academy. (Colorado Springs, Fountain: real estate, apartment complexes, how much)

[TJZa]

My husband and I are moving to the area due to the military. We can not afford a very expensive house, but would still like to buy instead of rent. We've found a few houses in the neighborhoods along S. Academy (particularly in Sierra Springs) that are really nice and seem like a decent neighborhood. But I've heard that it's a really bad part of town. We have a toddler and dog and would love to go on walks during the day and small walks at night (but we'd stay within the housing neighborhood). Any help would be appreciated!!

[BornintheSprings]

How much can you afford to spend?

[TJZa]

We are looking for around 200k for a decent, newer home.

[BornintheSprings]

That should be fine in my opinion there aren't any particularly bad areas at all in the springs. There exist some dodgy apartment complexes but thats about it. The springs is great for military families and the area you are looking at is good. Of course I would look downtown as well it would be a shorter commute for your husband if he works at Fort Carson and there exists affordable houses in practically every neighborhood in the springs. Good luck and happy house hunting.

[Mike from back east]

If Fort Carson is the duty station, by all means look in Fountain, CO which has a good number of Army families.

Search realty sites on zip code 80817. In the local MLS service ( Colorado Springs Real Estate - Official MLS Listings - PPAR.com ) I just found 31 SFHs priced from $175k to $210k. Bound to be something there for you. I searched on an upper limit of $210k as you often can offer less than the listing price and get it for the lesser amount. Talk to your realtor about what you can afford, especially now while rates are low and may go up if the government raises the FED Funds Rate later this month.

I'd avoid S. Academy, parts of it are known for some criminal activity, some of it's a run down area and may soon see a lot of redevelopment work. Fountain is nice, is in School District 8 (aka D8) which is a very good district for the toddler to attend someday.

[otowi]

Sierra Springs is new, but the surrounding neighborhood is on the iffy side. I don't think any neighborhood is truly bad in Colorado Springs, but that general area is not one of our best. It's just that the school district isn't the top-rated. That doesn't mean a good education cannot be had there, but you might want to visit the schools and see what you think if that matters. For your money, you might find something nicer in Security/Widefield/Fountain if you haven't looked there yet.