Question for Colorado locals -- buying parcel of land

[dave_lucas]

Fort Collins is 55 miles due north and a great town.

Number 1 according to Money Mag
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/

1. Fort Collins, Colorado Tour Fort Collins
Population: 128,000
Typical single-family home: $215,000
Est. property taxes: $1,700
Pros: Outdoors lovers' paradise; good schools; very little stress
Cons: Tech-dependent economy

Great schools, low crime, good jobs in a high-tech economy and a fantastic outdoor life make Fort Collins No. 1. Situated 5,000 feet above sea level in the Rocky Mountains, the city offers restaurants, night life and culture, plus natural attractions like nearby Horsetooth Reservoir for boating and swimming. There are 60 miles of hiking and biking trails, and most major roads have bicycle lanes. The place took off in the '90s as companies moved from high-priced California.

:ack:

Buffs man, the Buffs! CU > CSU

http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060910/CSUZONE01/609100322/1110

 

[mikemeyer0]

http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060910/CSUZONE01/609100322/1110

:smilelol: asshole

 

[MarkP]

It's going to take YEARS for CU to recover from the recent debacles. Given the mindset of Boulder it was predictable.

CU grad here.

 

[p m]

Number 1 according to Money Mag
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/

don't know about Colorado, here's what the same source lists for California:
(http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/states/CA.html)
1. Folsom
2. Livermore
3. Rancho Cucamonga

Let's see... all three - in agricultural areas. All three are scorching hot and moderately humid in Summer. There's a perennial smell of cow and horse manure in Rancho Cucamonga, and the only freeway passing through R.C. (I-15) is hopelessly gridlocked in rush hours with Riverside and San Bernardino traffic.

I could live in Livermore, but only if I had a job at LLNL.
Folsom? My only consolation would be living within 1.5 hours' drive from Rubicon...

I hope CNN Money has a better take on Ft.Collins...

 

[MarkP]

Let's see... all three - in agricultural areas. All three are scorching hot and moderately humid in Summer. There's a perennial smell of cow and horse manure . . .

Ah, that's the smell of money. Well in Greeley and Loveland area at least.

 

[dave_lucas]

Ah, that's the smell of money. Well in Greeley and Loveland area at least.

ewwww you mentioned Greeley... Now I have to go scrub my skin off just for thinking about that town.

Worst town ever = Greeley Colorado :ack: uke:

 

[jhmover]

Just buy some from "Officer Poncherello" at 3AM.

 

[darw_n]

why you guys dissing breck? It's easily the best town I have lived, and if you got the cash, I would get property there since the gondola is going up, and they plan on expanding to peak 6.

anyways, the people rock, and it's pretty cheap to live there, and it's close to pretty much everything

 

[MarkP]

Worst town ever = Greeley Colorado :ack: uke:

Todd Helton would disagree . . .

Actually Greeley's aroma is no where near a Southeastern Colorado / Southwestern Kansas feedlot in the evening after a 100+ degree day.

 

[dave_lucas]

Todd Helton would disagree . . .

Actually Greeley's aroma is no where near a Southeastern Colorado / Southwestern Kansas feedlot in the evening after a 100+ degree day.

My disgust for Greeley goes far beyond the aroma.

Poor planning on the part of the city
Crime / gang activity
Dirty filthy town
Job market
The people

and on and on and on :ack:

 

[bri]

I owned down there for about 5 years. My ranch was better location than both of those and I owned mineral rights. I was on Blackhawk Ranch.

Be very careful. Mineral rights ownership is very rare in CO and that area is pretty ripe for coal bed methane. Which means if they choose your property to test drill, you are out of a well (they pump the water out first and you cannot retain it).

Do not buy sight unseen.

I would never buy another property that does not have big trees. The area that you are looking at is pretty much pinon below 7k' and ponderosa above. Get big trees, whereever you live. I live on an acre in 70' trees 30 minutes from Denver tech center, 30 minutes from CO springs.

That area is really hot in summer and really cold in winter. 110 is not rare and neither is -30, this comes from personal experience.

If you are a hunter/fisher and like Elk and Turkey and fising, its a great area. The nearest grocery is Walsenburg and the nearest big shopping is Pueblo. Its a good 3 hours to Denver.

IMO, the places to buy now are Pagosa Springs or Leadville, look there.

 

[bri]

and it's pretty cheap to live there

LOL. What do you consider cheap. Homes less than 500k are pretty few and far between and if you need 2000 sq st and parking for a few cars, I'd say likely do not exist.

 

[Apexdisco]

I owned down there for about 5 years. My ranch was better location than both of those and I owned mineral rights. I was on Blackhawk Ranch.

Be very careful. Mineral rights ownership is very rare in CO and that area is pretty ripe for coal bed methane. Which means if they choose your property to test drill, you are out of a well (they pump the water out first and you cannot retain it).

Do not buy sight unseen.

I would never buy another property that does not have big trees. The area that you are looking at is pretty much pinon below 7k' and ponderosa above. Get big trees, whereever you live. I live on an acre in 70' trees 30 minutes from Denver tech center, 30 minutes from CO springs.

That area is really hot in summer and really cold in winter. 110 is not rare and neither is -30, this comes from personal experience.

If you are a hunter/fisher and like Elk and Turkey and fising, its a great area. The nearest grocery is Walsenburg and the nearest big shopping is Pueblo. Its a good 3 hours to Denver.

IMO, the places to buy now are Pagosa Springs or Leadville, look there.

Bri,

This is the type of information I appreciate. Will continue my search to include Pagosa and Leadville.

Cheers!

 

[Apexdisco]

Be careful, those pictures reveal some washed-out gullies in the background. Only a small amount of that land may be usable for a cabin.

Check this article out. Apparently, a lot of the land sold on eBay is sold for much more than it's actually worth.

I've been thinking of buying some land in rural Wyoming (oxymoron?) lately and I think I'm going to take the advice of a friend: use a realtor.

Chris

Good article. I don't know how, but I missed this the first time around.

 

[chris snell]

There should be a sign at the Livermore city limits:

WELCOME TO LIVERMORE.
THIS IS WHAT DEATH IS LIKE.​

Seriously, that place sucks, even with LLNL. Lived there for a year and a half and the only excitement I had was when I drove away for the last time.

After posting about my wishes to acquire land in western Wyoming, I did a little googling and found this site. $268,000 for 3.6 acres in Pinedale, Wyoming? Come the fuck on!

Surely, there has to be some place in the Mountain West where I can still by 3 (good) acres and a cabin for under $175,000.

Any ideas?

Chris

 

[flyfisher11]

:ack:

Buffs man, the Buffs! CU > CSU

Too damn many libs in Boulder!
atriot:

 

[jhmover]

Man and I thought Livermore was the land of excitement (NOT!) hehe.

 

[ange87]

Ahh, the Colorado land ownership fantasy. My mom bought in Vail when there was still a Village Inn there, now untouchable$ and owned by wall street (NY style). Leadville ok cheaper but at 10ft as the locals say there are two seasons in Leadville: July and Winter. BTW up the road they are reopening the Climax mine now the price of moly is up (environmental disaster) but you must go up take a short jaunt up the highway and check it out. How about Red Cliff, Minturn? Oops, $billons earmarked for Beaver Creek II. The fact is the secret is long out and you're late. I'm not saying stuff doensn't exist but you need to do some on the ground work but at least you can rule out Greeley I couldn't believe that was in the press as a good place to move to:ack: Dave Lucas is right on.

 

[bri]

Its never too late. Sure its too late to buy an acre for 1k and sell for 1M , but its not too late to invest and you would stand to make some money, but only on places that people want.

Land and homes in the most desireable places in Colorado will remain a good investment. I know quite a few real estatte people that regularly double their money on homes/land in 5-10 years, sometimes much faster, but you have to buy smart. Remote areas that have no draw are cheap, but tougher to sell and tougher to make money on, so only buy if you know that you are going to keep it and use it.

But making money is not apparently what this guy wants to do. He'd rather build up a ranch.

So thats easy. Get your land, where you want it-- location, location, location. In the hills, foothill and start building.

I used a guide tent for 3 years. On a raised deck, but it was eventually taken out by wind and snow. You'd really need a cabin to hold back the elements. A cabin can be a large shed, modular, mobile or what ever you want it to be, shit Home Depot evens sells cabins these days.

Many places will have some form of HOA or POA.

If you can get into a property that has an agricultural lease taxes will be really low. Taxes on my 35 acre property were $4.