Housing prices in Fort Fun (Fort Collins, Loveland: sales, 2014, to rent)

[Dangerous Dave]

Hi all,
I put in for a promotion at my normal job that would move us to the Northern CO area. Office is in FoCo. I got to looking at home prices, it looks like the area has really taken off in price. Are there any areas within reasonable commuting distance that have decent schools, lower crime and an average Joe can find a 3bd/2ba place on city services for under $300k that is fairly recently built and won't need repairs? I used to live in Wyoming so I'm familiar with the other aspects (weather, demographics, the excellent beer, etc)

[Mike Weber]

Hi Dave,

Since Labor Day, there have been 73 homes sold in Fort Collins with at least 3 bedrooms and 2 baths at $300k or less. The newest home was built in 2014 and the oldest was built in 1945. The largest is 3100 square feet (1550 square feet finished ranch with 1550 square feet unfinished in the basement) while the smallest is 1040 square feet.

Most of the newer homes that are selling in the price range are on the north-east side of town. Subdivisions in which these homes are located include Maple Hill, Dry Creek, Brightwater Landing. A little older homes are available in Waterglen and Richard's Lake.

These neighborhoods attend either Fort Collins High School or Poudre High School. Almost all of them attend Lincoln Middle School or Cache La Poudre Middle School. They attend a variety of elementary schools, including CLP, Tavelli, and Laurel. While it is hard to go wrong wtih any school in Fort Collins, you can research individual schools at GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

Hope that helps,
Mike Weber

[Dangerous Dave]

Thanks for the info Mike!

[StealthRabbit]

Where and how often do you need to be in FC?

How old are the kids?
Rural or urban?

I prefer Loveland for QoL, but you need to see what activities your kids will be in.
I definitely hate FC traffic (N-S and E-W)

If kids are grade school and you like rural, (and you don't have to go to office everyday) consider Masonville (previous home)
but... as kids age, they go to town to school, and you will be driving a lot.

If you can handle urban living.... get within biking / walking distance to work AND school.

[Dangerous Dave]

Four kids, all currently in elementary school. We live in a subdivision ten miles from my office, and traffic isn't too bad here and I'd like to keep it that way. I'd have to be in the office m-f.

[Mike Weber]

Where is the Fort Collins office? That may affect our input to you.

[Dangerous Dave]

2150 centre ave.

[Mike Weber]

That is a 10-20 minute commute from the above mentioned areas. There are neighborhoods closer to that location that have homes in the price range, but they are going to be older homes. The office location is in a central part of town and most of the newer construction is on the edges, or more specifically the north-east edge. Closer to your office, Warren Farm has some homes built around 2000. Meadowlark, South College Heights, Brown Farm, Woodwest, Kensington, Silverplume, Rossborough, and Cedar Village are all really close (walkable) options if you don't mind homes built between 1962 and 1990.

[StealthRabbit]

since you are close in... consider an older home in established neighborhood east or slightly SE of your office. That will be LESS likely to be a 'college rental' neighborhood. (I'm not keen on 'subdivisions', and FC is FULL of them.) There is often a bit higher price of admission to an older neighborhood, but the homes are sought after, and when you go to sell you will be one of a few, not one of hundreds (subdivision / tract homes). You should be able to find just the right place, but limited offerings in older homes, so you may need to rent close-by for a season. I like to make it a point to cross through weekly or daily the places I like, and I do a lot of ground pounding to find potential sales BEFORE they hit the market. ... If you feel you need a realtor, once you know what and where you want, get someone working for you very hard and diligently. Be precise with expectations and be ready to ACT on a sale. I try to keep their activity to less than 10 hrs per sale. (usually less than 2).

Best wishes

[Dangerous Dave]

Thanks. It's all speculation and the wife says if she moves again it's going to be somewhere warm lol. We'll see what happens.

I'm driving ten miles to work now and it takes me almost half an hour in traffic. In good weather I ride my bike and I'm able to shave off almost two miles and takes me 38-45 minutes depending on the wind.