Moving to Denver, looking for advice

[Zachary Carnahan]

Hello everyone, longtime reading first time writter

My wife and I will be moving to the Denver Metro area in April 21’ and are looking to purchase our first home that we intent to turn into a rental property after a few years of becoming more familure with the ins and outs of the business. Right now we are targeting 2 bedroom condo / townhouses that fit our current lifestyle and budget and am hoping that anyone local to the area would be able to share any advice on what to look out for that could help us maintain a positive cash flow and best position for long term appreciation.

Are there any resources that you could share that would help us understand the Denver Market in greater detail?

What do units / apartments usually rent for?

Aside from crunching the numbers, is there any general advice for navigation aronud HOA / fees for properties in the area?

Anything insights would be greatly appreciated!

[Maria Bakaj]

@Zachary Carnahan. Congrats on making the move this coming spring! There are various areas to choose from to live in the Denver metro area and the prices can vary greatly so it would be best to understand the lifestyle you want to achieve.  Cash flow is of course important as it trying to set yourself up for the best appreciation, but since you'll be living there for some time you don't want to pick a part of town that you wouldn't enjoy living in.  It would be best for a Realtor to sit down with you and explain the different parts of town.  There are also a lot of market resources out there that a Realtor can provide.

The being said, typical 2 bed/2 bath rents are around $1700-$2500.  But when doing research and calculations, use rentometer for the most accurate rental figures.

HOA tips: make sure you actually read the HOA docs and the meeting minutes. Be on the lookout for any previous or upcoming special assessments. You'll want to make sure there are good reserves. Also take note of the HOA fee history. If it's risen a lot every year for the past few years, you'll want to find out what's going on. Also, if there is a capital reserve study, take good note of what was outlined. That will tell you the remaining life-span n major community components and what it would cost to replace. Remember, you can terminate a contract if you don't like what you see and you can get your earnest back!