Relocating to Colorado? Well, it is a state that has something for everybody, from snow-capped mountain peaks to rolling grasslands, from quaint mountain towns to big populated cities.
However, there are two sides of the coin when it comes to living in a Colorado mountain town like Eagle. Though you have all the skiing and hiking that you can ever hope for the year around, be prepared to put up with annoyances too when you look for Eagle County homes for sale for house moving to Colorado.
In this post and the video below, Bob Friel will highlight everything there is to know about Colorado mountain towns, from living, eating, recreation, and more. The focus will be on the drawbacks that you should expect when you move to a Colorado mountain town like Eagle.
Managing expectations and settling down in a Colorado mountain town is not going to be easy but doable. For more details about experiences when house moving to Colorado, feel free to reach out to us. We will take you through what it takes to be a part of the Colorado mountain-living dream.
So, here are the headaches but don’t let them get you down.
The Lack Of Home Deliveries
When you look for homes in Eagle, Colorado, be prepared for a lack of home deliveries from the post office.
- If you own or rent property in this County, you will be provided with a PO box by the city. You have to periodically go there and check for mail. Arrange for e-bills rather than physical ones so that you do not miss out on payments by the due date.
- You will get your packages delivered by FedEx or UPS at your home but a third of them might get sent back because of a shipping or software error or address validation. Plan well in advance for your package deliveries when you are house-moving to a Colorado mountain town.
Limited Parking
Before buying new homes in Eagle, ensure that you have plenty of parking space. Colorado mountain towns have fewer parking slots because they have limited space due to geographical factors. Further, with tourists pouring in all the year around, parking is always at a premium more so during events or at the resorts.
Don’t expect parking to be free either, though Copper Mountain offers free parking and so does Vail in summer.
Higher Prices
Even accounting for inflation, there is a wide variance in prices between mountain towns and cities like Denver for routine items like groceries or your favorite burgers. That makes living in a Colorado mountain town quite expensive. For example, the cost of gas is about 30 to 70 cents higher than in cities.
This is primarily because of the additional cost of transportation of goods and services to higher reaches of the state. Moreover, the rents and the costs of the limited properties available for service providers are higher than in Denver. This also leads to higher prices since the owners need to generate profits to survive.
Fewer Amenities
Do not expect Walmart or other similar stores to operate in small mountain towns with hardly 500 to 1000 residents. You might have to drive an hour to get to the nearest store. In your town, you will find stores that cover the basic amenities but if you need something specific, plan to bring them with you from out of town.
A Lot Of Tourism
Be prepared to be flooded with tourists when you buy or rent homes in Eagle, Colorado and this might sometimes get very annoying for the residents. This influx stays throughout the year as tourists flock for skiing in winter and for rafting or to hit the beautiful trails in summer.
What difference does it make to people who stay in the mountain towns?
- Tourists do not follow driving rules or are just more aggressive with their car honking, probably to get to their resorts as early as possible. They are, in most cases, just not prepared for major snowstorms and that adds to the woes of permanent residents of the towns.
- With the general overcrowding of the small towns, there are multiple problems such as getting reservations at restaurants.
- Expect the trails to be overflowing with people as the tourists head into the mountains. Most tourists make the towns their base before they start exploring the wilds. A tip here – go for trails that are beside the most popular ones as they are less crowded. You get to enjoy the nature around you, and they can be just as challenging as the main ones.
Travel Issues
Traveling is a major issue when you are house-moving to a Colorado mountain town. There are only a few ways to visit the area. Most mountain towns are in valleys surrounded by mountains and there are not many roads leading in and out of them.
Take the case of Eagle County. There is the I-70 that runs through the town, starting from Denver to Glenwood Springs. A couple of years back when there was massive flooding the I-70 closed, putting the residents to untold hardships. You can get side roads but that will extend your travel time. Further, plan in advance because sometimes your phone’s GPS might not work.
In Conclusion
If you are keen on relocating to Colorado and are looking for new homes in Eagle, we can make it simple for you. You can request a pre-qualification certificate to know about your buying power and the type of house that you can really afford.
After you fill out the form, we book a discovery call where we figure out your wants and needs to put together an action plan for you to buy the house of your dreams in Eagle County, Colorado.