Moving to Colorado - where is the best place to live?

[Penny]

We are considering buying a second home in CO with the desire to retire there, and in the meantime (next 10 yrs or so) use it as a vacation home.

I have some big questions, so, I should ask the most helpful people, who will give me honest answers, right? THE HOMESCHOOLERS!

Where is the best place to invest?

We love Rocky Mountain Nat. Park, but want to live somewhere out of the main crowded area of Estes Park. We are not sold on this, but would like to be close to great places to hike and picnic. (We are not hunters or skiers.)

We have been looking at the Red Feather Lakes area in Northern CO. Why is this so much cheaper than others in the area?

What do we have to look out for? We don't know how to live in snow, for instance. I have never put chains on tires. We are a little worried because we are in our late 40's, early 50's and are not sure we can handle this.

Any suggestions? And as a final note, for us to do this, the area we live in must have real trees (not scrub). It wouldn't be worth it for me to move to an area without trees.

I would love to have help on this and thanks so much.


Penny

[Satori]

Hi Penny!

I live in the Colorado mountains about an hour south of Rocky Mountain National Park, on the Peak to Peak Hwy near Nederland, CO. We live at 9000 feet altitude and on a steep driveway to boot. I've never used snow chains, but you need 4 wheel drive. Maybe snow tires to swap in for winter, but we didn't do that this year. Just make sure to get snow plow service for your driveway and you'll be fine. Roads are cleared out so fast when it snows, and then the sun comes out and melts it all in a few days.

We are surrounded by evergreens, and our backyard is the Roosevelt National Forest. Most of these trees are lodgepole pines, but some are Aspens.

We are not hunters or skiers either, but we're surrounded by hiking trails, camping spots and beauty. It is a 40 minute drive to Boulder.

[Karen in CO]

In Colorado, the big thing to look for is water rights. I have more than one friend who has bought property then found that the well wasn't properly permitted or that the subdivision has no water rights and they have to truck in water. The Wet Mountain (Custer county) area is terrific if you want more of an old-west, uncrowded place. If we were to buy something with no consideration for where we'd work, I'd probably look around Gunnison or Crested Butte.

[CO MOM]

I've been to Red Feather a few times - it does have real trees! Unless the pine beetle has gotten there - this area hasn't been hit as hard as some I don't think, but that would be something to check. There is quite a bit of fishing in the little lakes and a golf course but no real town so to speak other than a few small stores. It is more of a seasonal/weekend cabin kind of place, though I'm sure there are some year-round people there. The closest real town is Fort Collins which is about an hour away. FC is a very nice small city - university town with just about everything you need for shopping, medical, etc. Another reason it might be cheaper would be the water as the other poster mentioned. The cabin I visited had very limited water. You would want to find out if they have a community system or if you have to drill, how deep would be likely (if you are building) or the quality of the water. You would definitely want to check out some places in person and during the off-season if you are considering living there year-round.

[9alive]

I live in Monument/Black Forest area and just love it! It's between the Springs and Denver. Some really pretty homes around here. You're not in the city, but it's not too far away either. I know a great Real Estate Agent in the area if you're interested (Marlene Weaver). She helped us in finding exactly what we were looking for when we were house hunting, and her website was the most helpful compared to others I tried using.

There's homes with acreage, treed lots, golf courses nearby (my husband's favorite is Bear Dance in Larkspur).

[ink_junkie]

My sister in law and family live north of Fort Collins and they love it. I know home prices are quite reasonable as to what they were a few years ago;)!

[gracefulhome]

We love living in Colorado after living in Southern CA for 8 years! We lived in Fort Collins for 3 years before moving closer to DHs work, so we are about 1/2 way between Denver and Ft. Collins currently. There are some nice areas west of Ft. Collins.

I think the Red Feather Lakes area is nice. We were looking at property out there 2 years ago, before we bought our current home (unfortunately, we are back in the suburbs . . . long story). Our favorite property was in Lyons, but it was sold before we could make an offer.

We have friends in the Masonville area which is nice, and also in Lyons which is a bit further south. Nederland area would be a nice area too. Our friends near Masonville used to homeschool, but now drive to town every day to take their boys to a private school. I agree with Satori, 4WD is a necessity, snow tires are nice, but chains aren't necessary.

As long as you drive smart, you will adjust to winter driving. :001_smile: