Looking 4 Safe, Trendy neighborhood, homes under $150k (Denver, Lakewood: for sale, foreclosed)

[CassandraK]

Does this exist? We have a dog so need a yard. We will both be working downtown. Moving from Portland, and would love a neighborhood with that same walking, biking community oriented feel. Any suggestions?

[shukertj]

Hi Cassandra,

You'll probably be able to find a cute house in a decent neighborhood with a small yard for $150k, but it won't be in a trendy area. Trendy areas such as Highlands in W Denver are very pricey--with the average house around $300k. You'll get more for your money if you're willing to look outside of the Denver city limits. Lots of luck in your search and welcome (in advance!) to Denver.

[sunsprit]

Looking through the current listings in metro Denver ... where you'd be relatively close to your downtown work locations ... you'll not find single family homes at your price point.

This is a price point more consistent today with condo's some distance away from the core Denver area.

And we're not even trying to meet your other priorities of "safe & trendy", let alone a neighborhood with walking and biking trails community oriented ...

Some years ago, I used to bicycle through these neighborhoods to classes in downtown Denver from my business in Lakewood (13th at Colfax area), or my residence in Park Hill, and I got a lot of "catcalls" and threats from the folks sitting on their porches or clustered around their cars in the driveways. More than a few appeared to be under the influence, and this was anytime during the day. More than once, I've been chased by people in those areas for whatever ill they intended to me ... and had to pedal for my life to outrun them, sometimes at speeds in excess of what I'd consider prudent or safe given the traffic, path, or road conditions present. It's been a few years since I've bicycled those neighborhoods, but when I've been in the areas recently, they don't seem to have improved. Much of the core Denver residential areas close in to downtown are less than "nice" when it comes to the community that lives there ... I'm reminded of my recent trips to Cincinnatti or Seattle where the businesses that were putting on the seminars I was attending (for product training) required that we stay in a group as we went to "trendy" restaurants for lunches and dinners, and even the restaurant operators would escort us to our chartered buses for the groups. Or like being at Peter Luger's in NYC, where they will call you a cab and escort you to the cab rather than risk having an incident in their parking lot .... are you getting my drift? And I lived in prime downtown accessible areas in Denver, like in the low hundred blocks of Lincoln, or in the areas around 9th & Santa Fe (where I fixed houses for rentals for a friend ... in a very "low rent" district). I know first hand what it feels like to live in these places ... and "safe" isn't what comes to mind.

So, there are some small older houses with yards in metro Denver that might be available at your price point, but "safe and trendy" aren't descriptions I'd use for them, nor would I risk leaving my dog out unattended during the day in the yard. "fixxer-upper" in rough neighborhoods would be a more apt description ... and the ones in the bank repo files typically have an emphasis on "fixxer" more than livable house; few people who abandoned their homes in the area or were foreclosed on and evicted kept "nice" houses. So even if you can buy cheaply, you'll be spending a lot of additional money to bring the house up to any sort of reasonable livability ... and you'll still be in less than the neighborhood you'd wanted.

May I suggest that you look at the houses for sale listings in the Denver Post classified's on-line to get a better idea of price points in the Denver metro area? as of today, there's 456 houses or condo's listed that meet your price point, but none that I think you'd call "safe and trendy". or contact a realty company in that metro Denver area that knows the market and can help you with the various neighborhoods and the respective price points?

Best of luck with your relocation. Hope you find Denver to your satisfaction, too.

[shukertj]

I think there are neighborhoods in Denver proper where you'll be able to buy a house with a yard for that price--you'll have to investigate a little more to decide if they're "safe enough" for you. And like Sunspirit says, you may have to put in a little elbow grease. You might want to forget about being right in the downtown core, or else consider a condo. I have a family member who lives in Bear Valley, a nice, fairly well-kept neighborhood near Hampden and Santa Fe. The schools there are good, if that will be a consideration. I just looked it up and there is a house on the market in there for $175k.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by shukertj

I think there are neighborhoods in Denver proper where you'll be able to buy a house with a yard for that price--you'll have to investigate a little more to decide if they're "safe enough" for you. And like Sunspirit says, you may have to put in a little elbow grease. You might want to forget about being right in the downtown core, or else consider a condo. I have a family member who lives in Bear Valley, a nice, fairly well-kept neighborhood near Hampden and Santa Fe. The schools there are good, if that will be a consideration. I just looked it up and there is a house on the market in there for $175k.

Ah, you're proving my point. $150,000 single family homes ... let alone, "safe and trendy" ... simply is unrealistic in the core Denver area.

Bear Valley, which is actually some distance West from Hapden/Santa Fe, is in Englewood, not Denver. It's a reasonably clean and fairly well kept neighborhood a bit west from Teikyo Loretto Heights University, not what you'd call "trendy", close to shopping on the Sheridan or Federal Blvd corridors ... and about 20-25 minutes away from Downtown Denver if the commute up Santa Fe or Broadway is moving along. Not too far away from the public transportation along Santa Fe ... but by the time you get to the transit stop and park, and then get to Downtown and perhaps a modest walk to your office ... it's a wash for commute time, although you beat the cost of downtown parking unless it's a perk at your office location.

IIRC, from my travels in the area when I lived just North of Cinderalla City (on South Elati, essentially a little East of Bear Valley just the other side of Santa Fe Drive) ... the houses were modest wood-frame structures, fairly small ... perhaps 850 sq ft. A big house in the area was 1,000 sq ft. But I could be wrong on that ... it's been awhile since I've been down that way; I had friends that had a much larger rambling ranch house on an acre that was apparently the old farmstead property that was subdivided up for the residential neighborhood development there many years prior. The place was pretty trashed out with a bunch of chicken coops and their kids little moto-cross track in the yard and the horses they kept in a couple of stalls ....

Again, good luck with your search for housing in Denver and your move.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

Ah, you're proving my point. $150,000 single family homes ... let alone, "safe and trendy" ... simply is unrealistic in the core Denver area.

Bear Valley, which is actually some distance West from Hapden/Santa Fe, is in Englewood, not Denver. It's a reasonably clean and fairly well kept neighborhood a bit west from Teikyo Loretto Heights University, not what you'd call "trendy", close to shopping on the Sheridan or Federal Blvd corridors ... and about 20-25 minutes away from Downtown Denver if the commute up Santa Fe or Broadway is moving along. Not too far away from the public transportation along Santa Fe ... but by the time you get to the transit stop and park, and then get to Downtown and perhaps a modest walk to your office ... it's a wash for commute time, although you beat the cost of downtown parking unless it's a perk at your office location.

IIRC, from my travels in the area when I lived just North of Cinderalla City (on South Elati, essentially a little East of Bear Valley just the other side of Santa Fe Drive) ... the houses were modest wood-frame structures, fairly small ... perhaps 850 sq ft. A big house in the area was 1,000 sq ft. But I could be wrong on that ... it's been awhile since I've been down that way; I had friends that had a much larger rambling ranch house on an acre that was apparently the old farmstead property that was subdivided up for the residential neighborhood development there many years prior. The place was pretty trashed out with a bunch of chicken coops and their kids little moto-cross track in the yard and the horses they kept in a couple of stalls ....

Again, good luck with your search for housing in Denver and your move.

Actually, Bear Valley is in Denver, north of Hampden, west of Sheridan. It borders Lakewood on the west. Mostly (fairly large) brick ranches, and a few tri-levels IIRC. Here is the listing I believe shukertj is talking about:

REcolorado.com - brought to you by Metrolist Inc. (http://www.recolorado.com/Search/propertyDetail.asp?mls_number=836739 - broken link)

A fixer for sure.

$150K won't get the OP what she is describing, but she could look in Ruby Hill (trendy might be in its future), or places like Athmar Park, Valverde, etc.

But yeah, that price point needs to be inflated a bit to get safe and trendy.

[Dorthy]

I don't know about trendy but I would look into Englewood. There are houses in that price range (small fixer uppers/ ranches and bungalows). It's just south of Denver and on a good bus line, bike path and light rail. It's a very walkable area with it's own historic downtown and a newer transit oriented development.

ETA: 80113, 80110

[80skeys]

From what I've heard, the walkability factor isn't as good in Denver as in Portland.

[LoneSentinel]

I would suggest either Wheatridge (few houses may be right for ya) or Edgewater. Now, neither is truly 'trendy', but both are close to highlands, which is trendy. Both are also along well used bike routes and have good parks either within them or very near by. Both are safe.

[Jerry Bckr]

You've gotten some good advice for areas, but one thing to remember is that your price point puts you smack in the middle for competition with investors. Presently, that price is one of the hottest in this market. It's hot because it's considered entry level and home price below that will usually need some major replair. If a home is in this price range and only needs some cosmetic up-dating, plus it isn't in a real bad neighborhood, new listings will have multiple offers with usually several of those being all cash from investors. You've got your work cut out for you.