Ft. Collins peeps: Looking for a realtor to call

[C-daleRidr]

The wifey and I are planning on heading up that way in March. We're thinking about maybe moving to Ft. Collins in a year or so, but we'd like to talk to a realtor when we're there in a couple of months just to get an idea of the lay of the land and see what's there in terms of housing. Anyone suggest someone that I might be able to call? I don't want to just hop online and end up talking to someone that won't be helpful if we do end up moving there.

Thanks!

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[Merdock777]

That's what I would do Check out some places for sale online and when you see a realitor that has more than a couple of places you are interested in, set up an apointment and check them out. My parents used to do that tot me all the time. where ever we would go, they would always drag me house hunting. good luck and welcome (hopefully)!
DanO

[C-daleRidr]

The problem with going online is that I don't know Ft. Collins real well at all. We spent a couple of days up there a couple of years ago, but we dont' know what any of the areas are like. In other words, we have no idea where to drive around to see any older homes, new homes, acreages, etc. Maybe someone here can even point us in some different directions. We aren't looking for anything massive and would be willing to do some fixing up if need be, but nothing major. Can anyone suggest some areas to look at?

[TheNookie]

I would say a good place to start would be a place called "The Group." They do a lot of real estate in Fort Collins and in the front range. Its who a friend of mine got his house through:

http://www.fortcollinsrealestate.com/

Also, there is a big company out here who makes homes...sometimes its easier and cheaper to build than buy.. called KB homes...

Can't find a specific site with them, but I would suggest just driving around in Fort Collins and you will find the sub-divisions (sp?) that are being built. Most of them are on the towns edge.

Seth

[Vorticity_the_Monkey]

C-dale:

We used Leone Coryell with the Group, and she did a wonderful job for us. She's pretty senior at The Group, I think, and really knows Fort Collins realty.

And welcome to Fort Fun! Lots of WRXs for us poor non-XT Forester drivers to sigh wistfully at.

[C-daleRidr]

We're not moving up there yet! We're looking to move a year from June, but we want to get an idea of what's there since we'll be in Colorado for a week in March.

[Vorticity_the_Monkey]

We're not moving up there yet!

Well, then the 'welcome to Fort Fun' comment may safely be seen as one applying to when you actually arrive.

With respect to what you're looking for - if you don't mind a bit of fixer-upper-type work, there's some really nice houses near Old Town that date from the 1930s-1950s and later. My wife and I drive through there, and say 'ooh, I want *that* one all the time. Nice, older brick houses, and whatnot. Of course, if you're looking for a newer, tract-type home, then you'll want to look further south.

Word of caution - houses are darn expensive in Fort Collins. Not sure what you're used to in Arizona, but even a older, smallish 3BR 2BTH house near Old Town can go for upwards of $250k. Bigger, tract-style homes in the southeast neighborhoods can easily go for $300-450k. But then again, maybe that's not expensive for you.

cheers

[C-daleRidr]

That's a little pricey for us, to say the least. Compared to the front range, though, Fort Collins is reasonable. And where we live in AZ is not in any way, shape or form representative of real estate in AZ. Helps us out because we really have no idea what's out there in the rest of the world.

Oh, and I wasn't being a jergoff with the comment about coming up there. I appreciate the hospitality you showed. We'd love to move up there, but we'll see. What kind of employers are in Fort Collins? Anyone know anything about jobs at CSU?

We're looking to stay under $200k, preferable under $175k. A lot of the older places downtown are really 'spensive from what I've seen online.

This is why we need to get up there and see what's up.

[Vorticity_the_Monkey]

Oh, and I wasn't being a jergoff with the comment about coming up there.

I know - my original post looked funny, even to me. No worries.

As far as Fort Collins employers, Hewlett-Packard (and Agilent), Lucent Technologies, and Celestica are pretty big. CSU is also a big employer (I'm a doctoral student at CSU) and various local companies. I'm sure I'm missing a few - what is it that you do?

If you want to keep in the sub-$200k range, you might consider a condo or townhome. There's lots of nice units, and it's likely you'll find a nice end-unit (as houselike as it gets) with 3 BDR or so for less that $200k. We have a plain vanilla 2BDR 2 bath condo with neighbors on all sides, went for $132k. It's worth checking with the realtor, though.

Good luck finding your place!

[hoodwho]

sub $200k might want to consider loveland too... it only a few minutes south and cheaper... also windsor area is real cheap for more stuff right now.

quiter area is in the south... more college stuff up north...

expanding quickly in the southeast/southwest outskirts...

[otisfireboy]

My wife work's for her best friend, who is a realitor. Lots of opions up here on the front range for work, living and playing. Send me a private message if you would like her # and serious about movin up here, Hell everybodies doin it.

[Merdock777]

Most of the higher acreage lots lie just outside of the main parts of Fort Fun. The main drags are:
Sheilds - runs N. & S. all the way from loveland up to around 287
College (287) - runs N. & S. all the way from denver
Prospect - runs E. & W. I-25 exchange to the foothills
Mulberry - runs E. & W. I-25 exchange to the foothills
Harmony - runs E. & W. I-25 exchange to the foothills

Now then most of the *new* cookie cutter houses are S. of Harmony $200 k - over 1/2 mill. these are typical new colorado development and remind me of highlands ranch or the meadows S. of denver. North of Harmony but S. of porspect are the "average" houses. this is where I live acutally, I like it everything is close and the prices aren't sky high ($100k - $350k)
North of Prospect things start to get hairy. most of the houseing is fairly inexpensive (up to about $250k) untill you close in on College ave. the coser you get to college, when N. of prospect (in Old Town) the older the buildings get and the values skyrocket!
East of college in general is about the same as where I live, at least untill you get out twords I-25 then the lot sizes increase drastically. west of sheilds is the same also at least untill you get to the foot hills and then it is mostly national parks lands and large range lots.
Hope that helps a little more. really what you'll want to look at is where you'll be working in the Fort. if you are w/ HP on Harmony then you might not want to live way out NW by Horsetooth canyon. where as if you're working for CSU you might not want to drive all the way from S. of Harmony. acctually even then it doesn't really matter, since there is minimal traffic it is actually very easy to get around the city. Another consideration is how close you want to be to any of the schools in Fort Collins, (I don't know if you have kids ) Oh and the closer you do get to campus the closer you will live to college students. and don't consider anything on house street or near GREEK you'll hate it, especially if you have kids!
Dan

[docwhorocks]

Originally posted by Merdock777
acctually even then it doesn't really matter, since there is minimal traffic it is actually very easy to get around the city.

That's all in the eye of the beholder. I think traffic in Ft. Fun can suck ass sometimes. Then again I'm used to Cheyenne where our "rush" hour is from like 5:00-5:20. It gets bad somedays, once it took me 7 minutes to get the gym! (opposed to the normal 4 minute drive). Or another time when they were doing constuction I had to hit 2 stop lights instead of just 3 stop signs to get home!

[Merdock777]

Originally posted by docwhorocks
That's all in the eye of the beholder. I think traffic in Ft. Fun can suck ass sometimes. Then again I'm used to Cheyenne where our "rush" hour is from like 5:00-5:20. It gets bad somedays, once it took me 7 minutes to get the gym! (opposed to the normal 4 minute drive). Or another time when they were doing constuction I had to hit 2 stop lights instead of just 3 stop signs to get home!

Yeah sometimes it can be annoying, but not really much more. I moved to CO from NY and then moved from the Tech center area up to the Fort. Traffic becomes more and more a thing of the past for me, like slap-it braclets! My traffic nightmare stories are all from over 5 years ago now, since there is no traffic around here that can compare! Go Fort Collins!
DanO
edit: HERE this might help you get aquainted with CO