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Well it is coming down to the wire... We ship out to Denver March 9th. My wife will be working at Pappadeaux in Englewood at I25 and 225. We are looking for a house rental in that area to rent for a year. (i donot have a job lined up yet, so proximity to her job is most important)
We have been mainly usnig craigslist to look for rentals, but are tehre any other sites I should be using to help find a place to rent?
We are going to be in a time crunch when we first get there. We will have only 3 days to find a place and sign a lease before our things arrive... it will be very hectic.
Our plan is to setup viewings of the rental properties before we get there, so that saturday morning the 10th we hit the ground running and can find something quickly.. We have already been in communicatino with properties we liked the details on, so we are well on the way so far.
We have 2 kids who are not in school yet, so school district is not important, only safety at home is important. (we are looking at homes/townhome/duplex rentals in order to have a yard, as we also have a dog). Are there any areas around the DTC I should stay AWAY from. I have found several in our price range East of Cherry Creek Res. Several in S Aurora by 470, ne or two in Centennial, and a few in Englewood itself. I also found a few North of DTC in aurora, but I was conerned where the good bad shift of North vs s Aurora was...
Ok so here is a little map I made with the help of google earth... The red dot is Pappadeaux, all the little Blue dots are Homes that are for lease, within our price range.
Should I be scared of any of the locations of these?
Personally, I would stay south of Hampden and west of Parker Road, for a resonable commute for wife. Or figure where you may have your best chance of working and split the difference.
If you want to live in Denver, look at Southmoor east of I-25 to where Hampden changes to Havana & south of Iliff.
Most of your dots are pretty far away from Pappadeaux's. Why commute so far when you don't have to? Of your selections, I would choose those closer to I-25 to allow for an easier commute as well as the option to take light rail to/from work.
I agree that you should choose a place near to freeway access - that way your wife can drive or ride light rail. The bottom dot you have off I-25 to the right is a nice area.
So far these are all of the rentals I have found in the area, that are within our budget. which admittedly is probably a bit limiting.. but I want to minimize the impact on our savings and the best way to do that is limit what we are willing to pay for a rental. Realize we are only gauranteed one income while I look for work. So while I would like to minimize her commute.. there are other factors to consider as well.
I have put myself through the whole, I cannot live without x y or z in the past (wether that is lcoation or rental size or vehicle, or whatever) Putting myself ni a bad financial situation just for convienence just aint going to happen. Every penny I can save on renting now, is more we have in a year when we buy a house. One year of a slightly longer commute is nothing in the grand scheme of things... I am just trying to put things into perspective.
The closest dot is 3.6 miles. the farthest is 12.4 miles. There are a bunch in the 7-9 mile range. The map is actually an interactive google earth file, that I have entered all the correct info into. It includes computed milage, computed commute time (based on streets having to be driven (ie slower on surface, faster on hiway), and all the home details (size, ammenities, etc...) So I do have commute times on each dot as well as distance, so I am keeping that in mind as well.
Sad thing was I had a place that was less than a mile away, from her office, but the company representing the property strongly suggested I see the place in person before committing to it (maybe had some issues that a tennant should be aware of) but it got rented last week, so I had to take that one off my list. It also didn't have a fenced yard which we would like, so that was a negative about it. ahh the joy of finding a rental home....
Last edited by BrianAggie95; 03-02-2007 at 09:39 PM..
Sorry I don't have helpful suggestions for you since I'm not a resident(yet).
Just reading you have 2 small kids a dog and one income for the moment planning a huge move, want to wish you and family all the best of luck.
My wife and I are planning a move and keep running into "gotcha's". We have 3 small kids to consider as well, so I admire your bravery trying to get all the timing to fall in place simultaneously making sure the family is taken care of.
Thanks for the well wishes. Indeed it is a ton of things to consider...
We are moving from Overseas. I have been working in the Middle East for the last two years, so it is a 20 hour flight to the states from here. So making premove trips was pretty much out of the question for us. Otherwise I would have made a premove trip or two first to have a place lined up. Of course even worse in this case is we are 11 hours different time zone to Denver, so even making phone calls is difficult. It has been really frustrating too that it seems a lot of rentals donot keep their listings up to date. For instance we were interested in one house, and they returned our call, and said it was no longer available. OK.. Then it was suggested we check out their website for other rentals... There was the same rental still listed on their webpage as avialble... worse than that, it was relisted on craigslist a day later.... well is it available or not.... geeesh..
We have a vonage phone, and while it does not work currently from where we live, I can download voicemail messages (or listen online to them). So we have a local denver number, so this has at least helped maintain some connection there in Denver.
My father in law, is letting us borrow a car when we fly in, so we have transportation right off the bat, as the one car we kept while overseas is in storage in Dallas, at my mother's house. My mother also kept our dog while we were here, as we felt it would have been cruel to submit a dog to 20 hours in the hold of an aircraft, trapped in her crate, and then deal with the extremely hot weather here. So whenever I can get a chance to fly to Dallas, and then drive the car up to denver I will pick up the dog...
This is going to be one heck of a week coming up... and we are nearly there at this point.... The movers pack up the few things we are shipping back to the states on Wednesday. (it is monday lunchtime as I type this). Thursday night (well friday morning 3:00AM) our flight leaves Dubai. We have a 6 1/2 hour layover in London, then our flight gets to Denver 4:00pm ish Denver time. We are checking into a hotel in Highlands Ranch, and staying there while we look for our rental home, as using Father In Law's house in greeley as home base didn't make much sense.. So then we have sat-sun-mon to get a place lined up... Our things from storage will show up tues or wed. Wed afternoon My wife's mother is flying in to Denver to help out. Friday we are leaving for WinterPark to spend 5 days off, recharge, relax, and ski some... We get back on the 21st. we have the rest of that week to get settled, and then the 26th my wife starts work.
Sounds like a lot... for sure... and it is, but once you get the ball rolling and if you are careful with your planning everything can fall into place.
We are in the throws of the last few things here... Turning in our cable box to get back the deposit, trying to decide which toys to take with us, as the things we are shipping from here will take 6-8 weeks to show up in Denver, giving away anything we have not sold, that we are not keeping... Trying to figure out if the car seats can be bound together and count as one piece of luggage instead of two...
My advice - break it up into small pieces. Weigh what is worth your time and what is worth your money. (is it worth the time savings to pay a mover, or do you have more time than money and can move yourself? (or can you get an employer to pay)) Have as much lined up as possible prior to arriving. (I have prebooked every detail, hotels, movers, etc...) The ONLY thing remaining for me *and its a big one* is finding the actual place to live. If you have friends or family in your destination, ask for help... Even people you may not know will offer things... (my alumni association from college has an alumni club in Denver and have been very helpful, as have several members of this forum). When making your schedule of when things happen leave a few days semi clear just before your move OUT day. There are always a bunch of little things you find you need to take care of when leaving a place. I strongly strongly suggest making premove trips to your destination (with us this was impossible, this move, but the last 3 I did). Finally dont overfill your schedule moving is stressful enough without trying to do it in a rush..
I hope that helps. This is our 4th long distance move, we moved twice inside the US, and then moved out of the US 2 years ago, and now this is moving back... It does get easier the more you do it, but it is still extremely stressful.
I just moved from Springs 1 to Denver in mid-December. Maybe I know your wife, lol. I met so many women over there. Did that Dubai traffic and inflation get to you - it did me. It may be too late for this, but I used Global Relocations for my move from Dubai, and it was the best, and least stressful move I have ever had (and I have moved about 10 times in the last 15 years). I just cannot praise them enough - plus they were the CHEAPEST too. What more could you ask for?
I see your predicament. I would suggest you focus your search in Highlands Ranch and Parker areas. There is easy freeway access, and the communities are very family friendly. You would settle in easily. Plus, I think rent is cheaper for what you actually get. Don't go into Aurora - it will not be worth a $100 a month savings.
As for buying a house, maybe Dubai has sucked you dry, wouldn't be surprised, but now actually is a really good time to buy in Colorado. Colorado is reeling from being named the biggest foreclosure state in the country. There is alot of new build inventory that needs cleared, and builders are offering huge incentives. I am not a real estate agent, so do check with a professional. But if I were bent on staying in Colorado permanently, I would be looking around soon.
What line of work are you in? Maybe you already told us, I don't recall now. Maybe someone on here could help in that area. My husband is in the Software Field. I am an attorney, but not currently working. This is my 4th time moving to Colorado, so we know a few people.
It really sucked when Dubai outlawed Vonage - another reason on a very long list that I packed up and moved back. Have you tried calling with Skype? My husband would add credit to the Skype account here in USA, and then I could use it to make calls from Dubai. Maybe a family member could help you out with that - it was really cheap.
When I moved to Denver area once before years ago, I think I used this website below to search for rentals:
I did a search on 3 bedroom houses for you and many came up in Castle Rock and Parker and Highlands Ranch. I lived in Parker in an area called Stonegate. We had a 3 bedroom house for $1450. It was really nice. Only about a 10 minute drive to the freeway. Castle Rock would be alot further for your wife, but Highlands Ranch would be easy enough to get on C470, then I25.
As a last resort.... I am temporarily living in an apartment in Lonetree. We are a family of 5 living in a 2 bedroom. Not ideal, but the apartment is very spacious, and it is only temporary, so we make do. If I were you, I would research apartments now, before you leave, just to give you a backup. That way if all the home rentals fall thru in your 3 day time frame, you still have a backup plan. Just a suggestion.
When do you arrive? I have alot of free time during the school hours, and would be happy to help out in any way I can. Just let me know.
Regards,
Maryam Medina
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Nice job with the map
