Nice neighborhoods in Cherry Creek High zone around $400-$500k? (Denver: bank owned, for sale)

[hts]

Contemplating a relo to Denver and looking at Cherry Creek High. I'm a little surprised at what $500k buys in Denver these days, so not sure where we should be looking. If I can't find what we like for $500k, I'd rather buy a nice lot (with a house on it, lol) for $350k and put $150k into gutting it to get it to where we want.

Thoughts on where we might focus? What's the best middle school that feeds into Cherry Creek High? That would probably be a good place for us to start, as we still have a 4th and 6th grader.

[davidv]

Both middle schools that feed into CCHS are very good, but I believe that Campus is better. It is on the CCHS campus (hence its name).

Advanced students can have the opportunity to take some classes at the high school, and they can walk across the campus to the high school. CCHS sees middle schoolers take classes in foreign language and math most often.

Try any of the following neighborhoods: Willow Creek, Fox Ridge, Homestead, Arapahoe Lakes, or Cherry Creek Vista.

[davebarnes]

You need to find a short sale or foreclosure.
Find a buyers' agent who specializes in such.
I like this website for fun (because I am not looking) Bank Owned Properties (The house for $5M is/was the golfer David Duval's)
Understand that the median asking price in greater Denver is $300K.
Inventory is at a record low. dept of numbers.com

[davebarnes]

For buyers, it is "hard times".

Home sales soar, prices rise, inventory drops | Inside Real Estate News

Home buyers in the Denver-area closed on 4,095 single-family homes and condos in the Denver area in October, a 28.7 percent jump from the 3,183 sales in October 2011...
The average price of a home sold in October was $278,438, a 13.4 percent increase from $245,546 in October 2011...
Metrolist reports a total of 9,719 residential properties for sale at the end of October, down 31.3 percent from 14,156 in October 2011

Here is some context on these numbers.
The typical ratio of for sale inventory to sold is 6. This has been true for Denver for the last 20+ years.
Today, it is 2.
For buyers, this is awful.

[randomparent]

Originally Posted by hts

Contemplating a relo to Denver and looking at Cherry Creek High. I'm a little surprised at what $500k buys in Denver these days, so not sure where we should be looking. If I can't find what we like for $500k, I'd rather buy a nice lot (with a house on it, lol) for $350k and put $150k into gutting it to get it to where we want.

Thoughts on where we might focus? What's the best middle school that feeds into Cherry Creek High? That would probably be a good place for us to start, as we still have a 4th and 6th grader.

Both Campus and West are excellent, and you may choose to enroll your child in either -- given there's room -- no matter where you live in CCSD.

I would suggest beginning in the neighborhoods already mentioned by DavidV, along with Hunters Hill, which is north of Dry Creek between Yosemite and Quebec. Inventory is tighter now than in the recent years, but all those mentioned are within your price range and offer nice amenities for families with children. They also have excellent access to the Denver Tech Center.

[hts]

Thanks for all the good advice guys. While I can certainly afford more than $500k, after being bit (twice) by the RE collapse in the past few years, I'm a little bit gun-shy about jumping back in again at a higher price point. I'm really not any more impressed with the properties I'm seeing for $750k than I am with the ones at $500k, and as a result, I think a more prudent course of action is to buy on the lower end and put $100-$150k into significant worthwhile upgrades to make the place livable and hopefully add to its value.

Is there a good RE search site that will allow me to enter in neighborhood names like "Hunters Hill" or "Arapahoe Lakes" or do they all go by zip code?

[randomparent]

80111 and 80112.

You can also go to the Cherry Creek School District Website, and take a look at the boundary map, which will give you an idea of where to look. The following elementary schools, which are clearly marked, will help you get your bearings:

Dry Creek
Homestead
Willow Creek
Cottonwood Creek
High Plains
Heritage

Those schools in light blue areas go to West Middle School, while those in dark blue go to Campus Middle School. However, as I noted, you may enroll your child in either, provided there is room. Some neighborhoods are split between the two, but all students eventually end up at the high school together.

Note: Cherry Creek Academy is a public charter for academically-advanced students.

[hts]

Thanks. Elementary schools are moot for us now, but we do have 2 for middle schools and my understanding is that Campus is the pyramid we want, so that will invariably narrow the housing search down for us a little bit as well.

[randomparent]

I mentioned elementary schools simply to help you get your bearings because many of them are neighborhood based. Also, I understand from your initial post that you have a current fourth-grader, who will have one more year of elementary school.

Dry Creek serves Walnut Hills and Hunters Hill.

Willow Creek serves Willow Creek.

Homestead serves Homestead. (Be careful here. There are two Homestead neighborhoods, and one of them is outside CCSD.)

The Arapahoe Lakes and Cherry Creek Farm neighborhoods appear to go to High Plains.

The area around Cottonwood Elementary is also very nice and might suit your needs.

Here's a link to a school assignment locator tool at the CCSD website for further help.

[hts]

Thanks. We do have a 4th (who will obviously be in 5th next fall when we relo/register her), so we're primarily concerned with middle/high schools at this point as we're done (I hope). :-)