To rent or buy?

Houses are pretty expensive but rent isnt much better.

Same for me, on both points.

What industry are you in?

We are buying, we are in a slightly different situation than most as we are coming in with a bunch of cash from the sale of our current home.  If we can find a house in our target price range we are looking at a mortgage that is closer to most people’s down payment.

Hvac controls, I am currently a program manager for the building automation group in an facilities management setting.  I have thought about starting my career over and getting into tech and not being a service provider to tech companies but that is a different discussion.

Edit: this question is aimed less at what I should expect for my job, though that info is welcome, it is more of a general question in what is required to live a comfortable lifestyle in various suburbs around Denver.  We are looking at cities such as centennial(my wife’s favorite), broomsfield, Arvada.  Golden is likely out of our price range unless we go to a smaller house or live further from the mountains.  We do not want to live in Denver proper.

As others have said, I like the west side of Lakewood.  Green Mountain area is good.  The neighborhood are full of similarly minded people and are well maintained.  You can find a nice 1,200 sq ft ranch with a 1 car garage for around $280k.  Its more than most want to spend, but the reality of the current state of affairs.  It is also a good time of year if you need to buy, because anyone who has their home up for sale this time of year really needs to get it sold.

Good luck.

I seriously doubt you’ll find a house worth buying in Lakewood at that price. All I saw on realtor.com were condos/townhouses or sketchy small houses in questionable neighborhoods.

Guys I appreciate the help, however, my wife and I have a realtor and have visited the area multiple times.  We are aware of what our budget is and where that fits in at the towns we are interested in.  What I a solid middle class household income?  Does 100k get you a comfortable lifestyle where you can save money for retirement and take some vacations or do you need 200k for that?  I know much of that is subjective but in the Bay Area where I am currently at a household income of 117k qualifies for “low income”.

Yep.

I live in Golden (borders Lakewood). 280K isn't getting you much here

Yeah it’s crazy here. We live in Golden also. We bought our house four years ago and has literally gone up in value like $175k according to our last appraisal. It’s nothing special just a regular house built in 1984.

What part of Golden are you in? @HoodyHoo21

Golden Heights.

Howdy neighbor.

I think we've done this before.

I was thinking that I thought you lived here too.

Do you shoot bowling pins or USPSA at Bristlecone?

Haha yeah I was thinking the same thing.

I’ve never shot at Bristlecone.