If you are not concerned about proximity to mountains Aurora is an affordable area but be warned you need to be sure of the area you are thinking of as there are many iffy sections of Aurora that are not great.  

I'd love to hear more about your Breckenridge rental experience since a lot of my Denver clients are interested in vacation rentals in the mountains.

I had they same thought as you until I saw the mountain of mail the sellers were getting from people.

I'm interested in buying, improving, creating atmosphere and value, then selling.

One of the parcels has a MOUNTAIN (who would think I would get a mountain!)

This was about 8 years ago and the atmosphere for investing was much different.

I simply just don't trust the news these days and have to look at my own markets and stats.I think the part everyone is conscious of is we saw a post-covid peak that in theory will not return, and we made a gradual return to 2019 levels.What I do think is true, per AirDNA, is that ocean and mountain markets saw the biggest increase, and now the biggest fall.... and now what's happening is many people, particularly older families who tried Airbnb for the first time, are realizing they never want to stay in a hotel again. 

The spring is dead, only a few guests here and there (mid April till the beginning of June) From June-September or even October depending on weather, we have a lot of guests that come for the mountain biking, vacation or weddings, or bachelor parties.

Also, there are a lot of people who are interested in the minimalist/mountain lifestyle and come to colorado specifically for that purpose.  

Also, I put my non profit on hold right now.So over-all, good progress but more needs to be done (as always...as an entrepreneur, there's always another mountain to climb - LOL).