Want to buy rental property. Are there areas to avoid? (Denver: real estate, renters)

[whoisjongalt]

I'm interested in buying a condo in the Springs as a rental property / investment. I don''t really know the "neighborhoods" that well. Someone mentioned that the area to the east near the airport is sort of the Aurora of CS. Other than that I like downtown and the area west of I-25 toward the Broadmoor and Colorado City/Manitou although I don't think there are as many condos there. I didn't see any really sketchy areas but if there are I'd like to avoid them. For example, I was looking at one just northwest of 8th and Cheyenne. How is that area?

[dr.frog]

Umm. I don't think buying real estate in an area you know nothing about is a good investment strategy, nor does asking random people on the internet for neighborhood advice constitute "due diligence".

[BornintheSprings]

I would visit the city to get a feel for the different neighborhoods. Personally I don't think any area is off limits sure some are worse than others. Compared to the cities back east even the roughest section of Colorado Springs is quite nice.

[TCHP]

whoisjongalt has been on the forum for quite a while and posting throughout the Colorado forums so not a complete greenhorn to the area but not a resident.

Yes, the SE part of Cos is similar to Aurora overall, but does have some very new areas and traditionally has the most abundant number of renters with some of the most reliable incomes looking in the area. However, you renting base will be predominately working class and non-commisioned military.

The upper income demographic area will be in the north-northeast area. More building of new units will be in this area and prices will be the highest along with larger HOA fees. The northwest 80919 area may be a good alternative to examine simply because it is an upper income area but also has townhome and condo developments in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood built within the last 20-30 years along with some 40+ year old units in the Holland Park area.

There are pockets of investment properties in the south-west and west areas. Every so often a small patch of land will see some condos pop up on it but most of the area will be single family homes. You'll have to do some digging to find them, but they are there. Closer to Cheyenne Mtn High school would be the preference in this corner of town as a considerable number of people would rent in the district to have their kids attend the school.

[whoisjongalt]

Thanks THCP! That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. The reason I'm posting here is because I live in Denver, not Colorado Springs. To answer Dr. Frog, it's not an area I know "nothing about"; it's an area I know less about than Denver and I was hoping for opinions from locals, not just real estate agents. I'd like to be able to rule out places based on location without having to drive down and check it out every time I see a listing I like.

I know the rents / prices are about half what they are in Denver but I still think CS is going to do great in the long term.

[jaz0003]

There are some new town homes being built at Cheyenne Blvd and Tejon, that may be a good area fora rental. That area has a lot of potential and if all the proposed development happens, I would expect that area to do well.