How to Find an Affordable Home in Colorado

homes for sale in Erie CO

Population growth in Colorado is a well-known reality. The state draws so many people due to the high standards of living, jobs and career opportunities it has to offer. It is a good place to live, there is no doubt about it, but life can be quite expensive here.

Some of the first things you are interested in when moving here are the housing options. Real estate market in Colorado is expensive and homes are not expected to significantly drop in price anytime soon. There are several reasons contributing to this current reality:

  • Historically low interest rates that turn more people from renting to buying their homes or make people able to afford bigger homes, even if these are more expensive options
  • The imbalance between housing demands and supply, which often creates bidding wars
  • The Coronavirus pandemic, which forced so many people to work from their homes; many of these individuals are now looking for bigger places to live that meet their new needs

However, even if the living standards in Colorado are high, there are also people who cannot afford a more expensive home, on the contrary; some of them may actually have to downsize.

In the current real estate market, it is difficult to find affordable housing options, but definitely not impossible. The easiest thing you can do is ask around; maybe someone you know is selling, or knows another home seller. If you are lucky enough to find a home this way, you will avoid going through a bidding war, as well as many other inconveniences related to the process of buying a house.

But, in most of the cases, things are not as easy as this. Sometimes, people are looking for months until they find something – and when they find it, someone else purchase it because they are willing to pay more.

The next thing you should do is to search for the most affordable places to live in Colorado. The average home value in Denver is currently about $450,000, so you should avoid the Mile High City. Almost as expensive are Arvada (median home price: about $440,000; median monthly rent: $2,200), Lakewood (median home price: about $436,000; median monthly rent: $1,700) and Longmont (median home price: about $409,000; median monthly rent: $1,950).

On the other hand, the cheapest place to live in Colorado is Pueblo, where the median home price barely reaches $190,000, and the median monthly rent is about $1,000. Pueblo is followed by Cañon City (median home price: about $244,000; median monthly rent: $700) and Grand Junction (median home price: about $260,000; median monthly rent: $1,300).

If you prefer, you can also go for good old fashioned small towns, where you can peacefully and enjoy inexpensive Rocky Mountain fun: Fort Morgan, Sterling, Craig, Fort Lupton, Lamar, Trinidad etc. Make sure to consider looking at homes for sale in Erie CO.

In order to determine the most affordable place for you to live in Colorado, you must also ask yourself how much money do you make and how much do you need to spend to live there.