Moving to Denver soon (rent to own, home, budget)

[FLAtoOutWest]

Originally Posted by coloradoalimony

It is one of the fields that if you are currently unemployed, it is very difficult to find a position anywhere, let alone Colorado. Yes, many people come here with jobs in hand - they found their job here BEFORE they left their previous job.

It is all about having the *exact* skill an employer needs, at the *exact* time they need it. Someone who moves here blindly might find a job in a week, or they could apply for a position for which they are perfect, a week after it has been filled, and a year later they might still be looking.

I realize that, next week I'll be technically homeless, and will be living in hotel somewhere, might as well go somewhere that I have a better chance of finding an IT job than Florida. There are quite a bit more IT job postings in Denver than any of the major cities in Florida. I'm not entirely sure if I'm doing the right thing looking at semi-IT heavy places like Denver and Austin, but my hotel money will last a lot longer in places like CO or TX than it will in more expensive, more IT heavy places like DC, Silicon Valley, and Seattle.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by Usrname

I'm in the very similar situation (CS degree, some experience, late 30s) and hope to move to Denver soon too, from SF Bay area. I understand that Denver gets a bunch of snow but I had lived in South Lake Tahoe (on top of Sierra Nevada aka "Snowy Mountains"), where snow piles get as tall as houses, driving RWD car all over the place all the time, including mountain highways. One thing you may not be able to get up the icy slope (iced sloping driveway not cleared previously) and will have to put up snow chains on your front tires to get out. Studded tires might be so expensive that if you have to buy them, you might be better off getting a used 4WD. I, personally, would move with my RWD car (which also had been driven all over DC/NY area before in winters) and then decide. Sounds like your car might have a special problem with instability, though (some cars have steering "wobble", etc, making them especially unstable).

Chains on the front tires of a RWD car? How does this work?

It is incredibly rare to see chains on a non commercial vehicle in Colorado. I know it is the norm in CA. People here drive Subarus. Smart people drive Subarus with snow tires. Studs are not necessary. The new rubber compounds do a great job on non studded winter tires in most situations. If you are during on glare ice a lot, nothing beat studs, but because we get so much sun here, snow melts quickly on the roads.

[Usrname]

Sorry, I meant on rear tires! I had put chains on all 4 tires when I was stuck down the slope as I had an extra pair--two pairs are even better than one. Yes, always carrying chains in CA mountains but only ever use if caught by a bad snowstorm on a highway, really... and remembering not to drive down icy slope if you would need to go back up...Chains are for emergency situation only, they damage both tires and roads, so most places do not want people to drive around in chains. In CA, highway patrol will often make you remove the chains way before snowstorm is over.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by Usrname

I'm in the very similar situation (CS degree, some experience, late 30s) and hope to move to Denver soon too, from SF Bay area. I understand that Denver gets a bunch of snow but I had lived in South Lake Tahoe (on top of Sierra Nevada aka "Snowy Mountains"), where snow piles get as tall as houses, driving RWD car all over the place all the time, including mountain highways. One thing you may not be able to get up the icy slope (iced sloping driveway not cleared previously) and will have to put up snow chains on your front tires to get out. Studded tires might be so expensive that if you have to buy them, you might be better off getting a used 4WD. I, personally, would move with my RWD car (which also had been driven all over DC/NY area before in winters) and then decide. Sounds like your car might have a special problem with instability, though (some cars have steering "wobble", etc, making them especially unstable).

When you said "IT" you should post specific area and skills as it's all depends, IT is a huge "area". I, myself, would like to hear answers to your question #3 (my own stuff is Java, C++, Python and test skills). I'm guessing 70K is quite common for someone with several years of experience in Denver, but I might be wrong.

Depending on your experience you could easily make over $100,000 here as a developer.

[Usrname]

I looked at Indeed's salary search and it gives me average salaries for Denver as: software developer/engineer 84K, software quality assurance engineer 73K, system administrators/IT 66-70K (various administrators--network, database, OS, salesforce, etc) , and 100K looks like software architect/principal salary (averaging 95K). From experience in Bay area, their calulators do reflect reality (at least for SF Bay area) and one can pretty much expect offers around their numbers, as soon they offer within market values...

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by Usrname

I looked at Indeed's salary search and it gives me average salaries for Denver as: software developer/engineer 84K, software quality assurance engineer 73K, system administrators/IT 66-70K (various administrators--network, database, OS, salesforce, etc) , and 100K looks like software architect/principal salary (averaging 95K). From experience in Bay area, their calulators do reflect reality (at least for SF Bay area) and one can pretty much expect offers around their numbers, as soon they offer within market values...

Looks like I am getting over paid then.

[BleeHLH]

Hello, I am looking to move to Denver from Florida also. I would be looking to rent a 3 bedroom house or townhouse preferably. I noticed that the rent in Denver is kind of high. Sites like HotPads are nothing but scams and I'm not sure if I trust Craigslist either. I am looking to pay no more then $1200 for the 3br. I've seen a few for that price online, but I'm not sure of the neighborhoods. I have heard that Aurora is an "ok" neighborhood as most of the places I can afford are there. Can anyone shed some light on that for me? I might just have to take a flight out there, rent a car and check out all the neighborhoods and rental properties myself. I really dont want to live in an apartment again. I live in a pretty nice neighborhood in Tampa and I pay $1100 for 3/2 stand alone house with a den and fireplace. I doubt I will find something like that in Denver, but here's hoping. Does anyone know a good rental agency or site to look up legit rental properties?

[MountainK]

Originally Posted by headingtoDenver

For the time being, the Denver area has a decent train system that goes pretty much all over.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but think the "all over" statement is an exaggeration. See RTD for details.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by BleeHLH

I am looking to pay no more then $1200 for the 3br.

Try Padmapper.com and use the filters.
Denver's vacancy rate is close to an all time low.
Rents have been increasing at 10%/yr.
I think you will have to increase your budget by $300.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by BleeHLH

Hello, I am looking to move to Denver from Florida also. I would be looking to rent a 3 bedroom house or townhouse preferably. I noticed that the rent in Denver is kind of high. Sites like HotPads are nothing but scams and I'm not sure if I trust Craigslist either. I am looking to pay no more then $1200 for the 3br. I've seen a few for that price online, but I'm not sure of the neighborhoods. I have heard that Aurora is an "ok" neighborhood as most of the places I can afford are there. Can anyone shed some light on that for me? I might just have to take a flight out there, rent a car and check out all the neighborhoods and rental properties myself. I really dont want to live in an apartment again. I live in a pretty nice neighborhood in Tampa and I pay $1100 for 3/2 stand alone house with a den and fireplace. I doubt I will find something like that in Denver, but here's hoping. Does anyone know a good rental agency or site to look up legit rental properties?

Aurora is a city, not a neighborhood. It's actually a very large city. There are good parts and bad parts.