Author Topic: Finding a rental in Denver area  (Read 5356 times)

socaso

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Finding a rental in Denver area
« on: January 08, 2015, 12:19:31 PM »
Hi fellow MMM folks! My husband and I are making the move from SoCal to the Denver area and are looking to rent a house or townhouse. I thought I'd post over here and see if any MMMer's had a rental property that might be vacant or if anyone knows of a good rental agency to help relocators. We will likely not be able to visit before we move. We will be moving in April and are looking for 3 bedrooms. 1 bath is fine. We have one small (5lbs) cat and a three year old son. We are good renters and have lived in our current rental home for 5 years with no problems. We don't require much fanciness at this stage, just a clean place with reasonable rent and a bit of a backyard for the kiddo. We are willing to live a bit more suburban if that makes for more reasonable rent. We have our own fridge/stove/washer/dryer if the place isn't equipped. Any leads would be most appreciated! I'm going to post this in the Ask a Mustachian forum as well. Thank you!

Annf

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2015, 01:08:34 PM »
We just moved here a couple of months ago. It's hard to find rentals. Do you know where you will be working?  Commuting here absolutely blows so if you can avoid a commute, that would be good. Perhaps give a distance from the light rail/bus stations and if you want to live north or south of the city. We ended up paying 1000 more a month to be able to sell a car and walk/bike everywhere. My husband works downtown though so it was a pretty easy decision.

Good luck! 

waltworks

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2015, 06:18:05 PM »
What *part* of Denver? It's a HUGE area. If you can narrow it down I might have a connection for you.

-W

socaso

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2015, 08:41:10 PM »
We are pretty open when it comes to area. We eventually want to buy so we thought we'd just get an inexpensive rental for the first year and get to know the city so we can decide what neighborhood is ideal for us. I would say just a nice family neighborhood.

waltworks

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2015, 09:41:50 PM »
Nah, you gotta narrow it down. "Denver" to some people means basically everything north of Castle Rock and south of Loveland/Ft Collins. The sprawl is impressive. Where are you going to be working? Do you want to be close to downtown, or close to the mountains? Do you want to ski, mountain bike, etc?

-W

tmterrill

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2015, 10:26:04 AM »
Find a place close to your work where you do not have to commute far on I-25. Rent in Denver is crazily inflated. If we had an idea of where your work was it would be easier to recommend places.

socaso

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #6 on: January 09, 2015, 10:32:24 AM »
I wish I knew exactly where one or both of us are going to work. We both work for a company that has several locations in Denver and they have not yet told us just where we will be placed. So I'm not trying to be mysterious, I just don't know.

tmterrill

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #7 on: January 09, 2015, 10:49:50 AM »
I couldn't in good conscience recommend an area for you unless I had an idea where your work was.

I do know one thing about Denver though, do not do like most people and fall for living south (Castle rock, centenial) and working north or downtown. Your commute will be atrocious (an hour or more on bad days, 30 mins if you are lucky).

waltworks

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #8 on: January 09, 2015, 10:55:18 AM »
Well, get back to us when you know more. You really don't want to try to deal with I-25 or 36 if you can avoid it.

-W

ysette9

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2015, 11:09:15 AM »
I'd strongly recommend not looking for a rental until you know where you will be working. My first summer internship was for a company in "Denver" so I got on craigslist and rented a room in "Denver" i.e. near downtown. Turns out my work location was in Littleton so I had a 45-minute commute each way, and that was reverse commute direction!

Others have said it and I will repeat it: I have lived and worked in the Denver metro area twice now and it is a huge suburban sprawly mess. Denver proper is a much nicer place to live with mature neighborhoods and activities but the suburbs can offer cheap housing (from the CA perspective) and is definitely where you want to be if that is where work is. One thing that Denver metro area really has going for it is these fabulous network of paved bike trails. Definitely try to make biking to work an option for you.

socaso

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #10 on: January 09, 2015, 11:34:07 AM »
Thanks for the advice, guys!

clarkfan1979

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2015, 07:44:59 PM »
This was six years ago, but I liked some of the neighborhoods east of downtown. They were more ghetto, but also more affordable. I knew a girl that paid $600/month for a 1 bed/1bath on the second floor. Maybe the price is closer to 800/month now. Nice 1 bed/1 baths close to Coors field are around 1300/month.

Ynari

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #12 on: January 11, 2015, 10:11:41 PM »
Heh, I was thinking of posting something along these lines in a few weeks. I'm in the final round for a job in Denver (google maps places it by Denver Union Station?), and I'm hoping to be near a gym with a trapeze (looks like there's one closer to aurora, one by lakewood, and a few here and there that I don't know the quality of.)

I'm not 100% certain I'm moving yet, but anyone who's keeping their eyes peeled for socaso, would you mind keeping me in mind too?

ETA: It's just me, and I'd be OK with a room, sublet, or a 1br. Nothing to snazzy, just space to sleep!

ETA2: I actually just got curious, plotted out my potential destinations, and discovered that my ideal location would be the zoo. Do you think they have any open habitats?
« Last Edit: January 11, 2015, 11:49:29 PM by freznow »

LucyBIT

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #13 on: January 15, 2015, 04:21:36 PM »
Heh, I was thinking of posting something along these lines in a few weeks. I'm in the final round for a job in Denver (google maps places it by Denver Union Station?), and I'm hoping to be near a gym with a trapeze (looks like there's one closer to aurora, one by lakewood, and a few here and there that I don't know the quality of.)

I'm not 100% certain I'm moving yet, but anyone who's keeping their eyes peeled for socaso, would you mind keeping me in mind too?

ETA: It's just me, and I'd be OK with a room, sublet, or a 1br. Nothing to snazzy, just space to sleep!

ETA2: I actually just got curious, plotted out my potential destinations, and discovered that my ideal location would be the zoo. Do you think they have any open habitats?

If there's a gym in Lakewood and your job is by Union Station, I'd recommend looking along the W light rail line. It runs between Golden and Denver, would dump you off right by Union Station.

If your ideal location is the zoo (lol), you could probably find a non-snazzy place to sleep around there (City Park, Congress Park, etc.). Rents are obviously higher than in the suburbs, but you can walk/bike almost anywhere, and being OK with a room/sublet/1br makes you more flexible.

nawhite

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #14 on: January 16, 2015, 07:00:02 AM »
If your move gets postponed a year hit me up. My wife and I are planning on rving the country for at least a year and renting out our 3 bedroom 1 bath house in south Denver right next to the Yale light rail stop. Sounds like it would be prefect for the OP but we need another year or so to sell-all-the-things! and for my wife to finish grad school. So if anybody comes along this page in a year or two with similar requirements, let me know!

Angie55

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #15 on: January 16, 2015, 08:50:33 AM »
Near the zoo is mostly single family homes. Not many apartment complexes in that area but there are some condos (more like very small townhomes) that could be had around 1250 for barebones with no outdoor space. If you don't have many requirements there are tons of old apartments in Capitol Hill. The "vintage" ones can be around 1150 I would say. No porch, storage, difficult parking. Not updated.

jsternitzky

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Re: Finding a rental in Denver area
« Reply #16 on: April 27, 2015, 09:01:02 PM »
I will be working at Centennial Airport. I visited and driving down Arapahoe was horrible during rush hour.

Any recommendations on rentals? Looking for a 3 bedroom. Parker seems cheaper but a longer commute.


 

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