Move to Carson in Oct.

Sonic03svtCobra · 09-12-2009, 20:21

Reporting to 10th soon just out the Q-course. Looked around on the 10th forum only saw one link about places to live posted early 2008.
Looking in the Monument, Fountain and Pueblo West area, biggest concerns are schools for my kids, looking to spend around $250, large yard preferred with a build no more then 5 years old. I`ve looked on all the realtor pages but it still doesn`t give a good feel of the areas. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

JJ_BPK · 09-13-2009, 04:04

No local knowledge, but a suggestion.

I have use Zillow and find it accurate and timely. It's a search engine for real estate.

You can use Zip codes, or town/cities as a delimiter, or a specific address. They list most if not add MLS listings, also 4salebyowners.. You can use filters to limit the hits, like # of BR & BA or price,, condo -vs- apt -vs- individual homes.

I have found that using the filters is iffy.. It can only find what the agent enters,, so if they don't list the home correctly you can't find it.

www.zillow.com

If you find a place via zillow,, take the MLS # to google and find the listing agent. You may be able to shave some agent fees by using only the listing agent verses splitting between multiple agents..

Good luck..

BigJimCalhoun · 09-13-2009, 10:29

Monument is really nice but I think it is a drive from Fort Carson. It is a lot closer to the Air Force Academy.

Fort Carson is in S.W. Colorado Springs. I have never been there personally and am not familiar with the Southern end of Colorado Springs at all but I suspect Fort Carson is a good 30 minutes plus from Monument.

Some nice subdivisions in C.S. that I like are RockRimmon and Briargate. They are near the North end near the Air Force academy. There are many other nice subdivisions in Colorado Springs. I would love to live there myself but my work is in Denver and that would mean a 150 mile commute each day.

District 20 schools are supposed to be really nice.

I am not sure where you are emigrating from but many of the newer subidivisions in Colorado have homes that are very close together. This was hard for me when I first moved here.

Stras · 09-13-2009, 16:01

Look out the Gate 20 area from FCCO. this is where Powers BLVD dumps into the base. Fountain has some good neighborhoods and within a mile or 2 of my house is the grade school, junior high and high schools. My house was built in Aug 05, and there's tons of new homes around the Safeway vic of Powers and Fountain Mesa Road.

Best of luck to you. Get with guys in the bn for the latest on the areas to avoid..

the housing is a little on the spendy side. be forewarned before you show up thinking that what your money bought in Fayettenam will get you the same house in CO.

Ret10Echo · 09-13-2009, 16:11

...Lived down in Pueblo West while stationed at Carson. The drive in mileage terms was longer, but time-wise was much more efficient than coming down from the north end of C.S. The place has grown a bunch since I was there with a retail coming in as well as a H.S. .... plus the golf course and the resevoir nearby....50 is a quick sneak the back way to the ski areas...great fishing up the Arkansas River.

Price-wise it used to be a bit cheaper than the Springs...down side is the travel for family to FRG stuff, commissary, etc.

R10

Sonic03svtCobra · 09-13-2009, 17:27

Thanks for the intel. Looking forward to the move.

**Razor** · 09-18-2009, 09:43

Sonic, the stuff posted in 2008 still pretty much applies. Monument is nice, but taxes are high (District 20 schools are indeed good, but you pay for them through property tax) and its a real haul from Carson. Fountain is much closer, but not many really big lots unless you head further east. Pueblo West seems to be growing, with many folks commuting to COS for work. Nice outdoor covered range out there, but you have to be a member and there's a waiting list. If you have any other questions, shoot me a PM.

Sonic03svtCobra · 09-20-2009, 16:08

Thanks for the Info.

apache23b · 09-29-2009, 23:27

I'm in the same situation, minus a family, was thinking about just renting an apartment for little while. I was wondering if anyone had any info on apartments? I've looked and there are alot of them, and I have also looked up reviews. Some of the nicer places had some pretty bad reviews, and thats what most reviews are going to be.......bad reviews. Any info is appreciated.

Stras · 09-30-2009, 06:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by apache23b

I'm in the same situation, minus a family, was thinking about just renting an apartment for little while. I was wondering if anyone had any info on apartments? I've looked and there are alot of them, and I have also looked up reviews. Some of the nicer places had some pretty bad reviews, and thats what most reviews are going to be.......bad reviews. Any info is appreciated.

for the amount of $$ you'll spend on an apartment, you're better off renting a house.

there were some decent apartment complexes off of Cheyenne Mountain road just north of Ft Carson. but that was in 2005-2007 era.

SdAufKla · 09-30-2009, 12:00

We lived down on the east side of Fountain from '95 until '01. The elementary schools in Fountain were pretty good, but the HS in Widefield wasn't anything to crow about. Certainly not the worst in the AOR, just average at best.

If you have younger kids, then the Fountain schools will probably be OK.

You'll have to shop around and might have to suck up some commute if you want a big lot.

I knew a couple of guys that commuted from Pueblo, but it's a pretty good haul. Driving down from Monument or the Black Forest areas means dealing with the in-town rush hour traffic.

Renting vs. buying: I rented for far too long in way too many places. Worst financial mistake ever. Start building some equity - buy. Even if you don't make a lot of $ when you sell, you'll almost always at least break even. If you're just now PCSing to Group, you'll probably get some pretty good stability and be able to live in your house for a decent amount of time. And, the odds are better than good that you'll go right back to Carson if you have to do a SWC tour which means keeping that house while you're at Bragg.

Stras · 10-03-2009, 20:18

My house in Fountain will be open for renting EOM Oct. just heard that my renters have PCS orders....

abnremf · 10-05-2009, 09:57

My wife and I bought a house in Fountain late last year for around 300K. It's on 3 acres and very close to post. The Fountain/Fort Carson school district is really good and is funded well. Dollar for dollar I'd say that area is the best deal in the area.

lindy · 05-06-2011, 16:55

I'm heading out next week to Colorado Springs on a "house hunting trip" in preparation for my PCS to Peterson AFB in early July. Unfortunately, we're going to end up renting (can't unload my damn TH in Maryland) and I'm wondering if the info here is still good. Our girls are in college now (WAHOO!!!!) so schools aren't a factor.

Any recommendations (realtors, areas to avoid, eateries, best trail runs, etc) would be most welcome.

dollarbill · 05-07-2011, 15:24

Stationed at Ft Carson some time back, loved it. Lived in a small town named Security. At the time it was a nice place to live. Its been awhile but worth looking at. Good luck, boat load of things to see and do.