Housing in rural areas outside Denver advice sought. (Arvada, Westminster: for sale, to rent)

[NatureLuvr's]

We are certainly doing our research on our end including using the wonderful tool of Google maps and earth. But the insider tips and advice is invisible so we would like to pose the question here for advice.

What or where are some nice rural locations outside the city of Denver but still in a comfortable commuting distance for work? We are thinking we are preferring the western to northern part of the Denver area. We are white collar working class so not rich and thus would be seeking a nice 3br, 2bth home around the 200k-225k range and do prefer areas with some kind of vegetation like evergreens outside of the hardwoods the die off every winter. We just don't care for open barren areas or heavily overdeveloped areas. We love the Golden area but not sure about the feasibility of that commute. Under 45 minutes is ok. I am sue once we got there we could do a lot of driving around and discover many things, but in the mean time any help or advice from someone on the inside there would greatly be appreciated. Thanks in advance!


We would also love to hear some examples of what you may be paying on property taxes where and for how much house to give us an idea since where we are currently at is sky high.

[Katarina Witt]

If you think the commute from Golden is too far, then there is no rural area I would recommend.

[NatureLuvr's]

It's not that we think Golden is too far, as we are not sure of the realistic commute with traffic considerations. Mapquest is not always accurate, lol.. what is the realistic commute time? Golden is by far the one that is catching our eyes, but a little closer in we are curious and wondering about Westminster and Thorton. Arvada seems to be bland. Just seeing some good insider tips. Thanks

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by NatureLuvr's

It's not that we think Golden is too far, as we are not sure of the realistic commute with traffic considerations. Mapquest is not always accurate, lol.. what is the realistic commute time? Golden is by far the one that is catching our eyes, but a little closer in we are curious and wondering about Westminster and Thorton. Arvada seems to be bland. Just seeing some good insider tips. Thanks

A Golden address covers a lot of territory, not all of it in Golden. That said, it probably takes 30 min. from downtown Golden to downtown Denver. Westminster and Thornton are by no means rural. Arvada has some larger lots, but again, is suburbia. In addition, these places are only minutes closer to downtown, for the most part.

[NatureLuvr's]

Yes we see that according to mapquest that Golden actually goes into the mountains which seems really far from where Golden actually is! (which had us scratching our heads, lol. But a 30-35 minute commute is totally ok ! So Golden is sounding great!

If we can't find a suitable rural area we may consider other options....

Semi-Rural or not-so-cramped suburbs may be ok, just depends on the look and feel. Thanks for the input!

[NatureLuvr's]

Can anyone recommend a a great site that you can view Denver area properties for sale that actually has more than 1 pic and you don't have to jump through hoops signing up each time you want to view a house? yahoo is ok, but usually only gives one pic

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

OP, where in Denver will you be commuting to? Downtown? Denver is a REALLY big city, so it's hard to say how long a commute is without knowing where you are going.

That said, there probably is nothing that fits your criteria in your price range, especially if you are commuting to downtown. The "nice rural areas" are going to be a longer commute time and/or will cost more. You are looking for what the other million people who move to Denver are looking for, so there's lot of competition.

One website that I like to use to look for properties is realtor.com. Easy to search and you don't have to log on. You could also try zillow.com, but I'm told that their information is not always reliable. The number of pictures of the homes depends on how many pictures the seller feels like posting.

[Consider_Again]

Originally Posted by NatureLuvr's

Can anyone recommend a a great site that you can view Denver area properties for sale that actually has more than 1 pic and you don't have to jump through hoops signing up each time you want to view a house? yahoo is ok, but usually only gives one pic

COhomefinder
Trulia
Zillow

It sounds like you really are not familiar with the Denver area. It may very well be wise to rent somplace for a few months and scout different areas first hand before commiting to a home purchase.

[steveindenver]

That price range with your land and plant requirements along with the commute requirement does not exist.

This area is a high desert. Mostly flat, mostly lacking of vegetation.

[NatureLuvr's]

Yes we know about Denver! In the plains (HIGH PLAINS not desert), semi arid, brown in the winter (normal) etc... HGTV, the internet and Google Earth are Great tools.. I must be seeing another location if Denver is lacking in Vegetation?? HGTV has shown some beautiful neighborhoods on house hunters and on google, you zoom in and damn there are trees there... Agreed though, it does have less than greener parts of the US. But Colorado is not Nevada.

Thanks for the Link advice (though zillow is unreliable) and other helpful advice like commute times from Golden. Great help there!

We have already seen houses listed in our price range and that meet our criteria, thus one reason we like golden! We are just inquiring on others we may have missed and on commute times. Nothing exact! We never said we required a lot of land. Quite contrary! Nice suburbs outside of Denver are not out of the question. And we do plan on renting first. That being so, the info sought is for research and preparation purposes only at present.

The current trend is moving towards the city or near downtown thus making those properties more expensive in general. Though, there will always be those who seek rural locals. This is nothing exclusive to DENVER.