Tell me all about renting in Denver!
November 25, 2015 12:29 PM Subscribe
I'm moving to Denver in a few months, and am looking for a two-bedroom apartment near light rail. I would love any tips on the Denver rental market.
In particular, I would LOVE it if I could arrange a rental remotely, without having to take a separate trip out to Denver ahead of time. Does anyone know rental agents or other ways to do this in the Denver area?
Some other questions bouncing around in my head:
--What neighborhoods would you recommend for a young, professional couple with no car? (My husband will be recovering from surgery and unable to drive; I can drive but prefer not to.)
--What's the general timeline for rentals in the Denver area? I've lived places where you basically rent on the spot, and places that get booked up ahead and you want to be looking a couple of months in advance. Which way does Denver tend towards?
--Any other insights on renting in Denver!
p.s. We will be moving with a fair amount of stuff, and so would strongly prefer NOT to do Air BNB for a month while looking. We really want to be able to move right into our newly rented place if at all possible.
In particular, I would LOVE it if I could arrange a rental remotely, without having to take a separate trip out to Denver ahead of time. Does anyone know rental agents or other ways to do this in the Denver area?
Some other questions bouncing around in my head:
--What neighborhoods would you recommend for a young, professional couple with no car? (My husband will be recovering from surgery and unable to drive; I can drive but prefer not to.)
--What's the general timeline for rentals in the Denver area? I've lived places where you basically rent on the spot, and places that get booked up ahead and you want to be looking a couple of months in advance. Which way does Denver tend towards?
--Any other insights on renting in Denver!
p.s. We will be moving with a fair amount of stuff, and so would strongly prefer NOT to do Air BNB for a month while looking. We really want to be able to move right into our newly rented place if at all possible.
The first thing I'd say is that "near light rail" probably isn't specific enough, unless you're fine with potentially going way out of your way to change lines. Where do you both need to go?
posted by deludingmyself at 12:54 PM on November 25, 2015
posted by deludingmyself at 12:54 PM on November 25, 2015
What do you need to be near the light rail for, specifically? There are a few lines -- are you planning to use them to travel downtown, or are you looking at them (especially the lines that go south to the Tech Center) as potential employment corridors?
I lived in Denver for six years without a car (only moved away a few months ago, for a new job) and it was pretty easy. I lived in Capitol Hill, which has some of the best amenities for the carless (several grocery stores, near major bus lines like the 0, which goes down South Broadway, and the 15, which goes down East Colfax, plus lots of bars and restaurants nearby). It helped that I worked downtown and most of my socializing happened within walking distance. You could also look at Baker, Five Points, Uptown (which is essentially north Capitol Hill), City Park West, LoHi, and anywhere else around downtown. There are plenty of cars2go around there, and other carshare services. I actually rarely used light rail, since it didn't really get me anywhere other than the southern/western suburbs.
The rental market is really, really tight and expensive right now. When I found my last place to live there six years ago, there was plenty of inventory, but there isn't now. YMMV, but getting a remote rental might be pretty tough - you probably will have a better chance coming out to visit. A friend of mine came out and found a rental in one day late last year by offering the landlord more than they were asking for the unit, in exchange for a longer lease.
Good luck!
posted by heurtebise at 1:26 PM on November 25, 2015
I lived in Denver for six years without a car (only moved away a few months ago, for a new job) and it was pretty easy. I lived in Capitol Hill, which has some of the best amenities for the carless (several grocery stores, near major bus lines like the 0, which goes down South Broadway, and the 15, which goes down East Colfax, plus lots of bars and restaurants nearby). It helped that I worked downtown and most of my socializing happened within walking distance. You could also look at Baker, Five Points, Uptown (which is essentially north Capitol Hill), City Park West, LoHi, and anywhere else around downtown. There are plenty of cars2go around there, and other carshare services. I actually rarely used light rail, since it didn't really get me anywhere other than the southern/western suburbs.
The rental market is really, really tight and expensive right now. When I found my last place to live there six years ago, there was plenty of inventory, but there isn't now. YMMV, but getting a remote rental might be pretty tough - you probably will have a better chance coming out to visit. A friend of mine came out and found a rental in one day late last year by offering the landlord more than they were asking for the unit, in exchange for a longer lease.
Good luck!
posted by heurtebise at 1:26 PM on November 25, 2015
You could probably rent remotely easily enough in one of the large new complexes, but it'll cost you. (Not that anywhere in Denver won't be expensive -- the rental market's a mess.) The large new complexes all have floor plans and that sort of thing online, and are better equipped to work with remote prospective renters.
If you've got a job lined up, use Walk Score to find apartments and neighborhoods that are within an acceptable transit commute range. You can even input multiple addresses to get neighborhoods that would work well with travel to more than one destination.
If you're not sure where you might end up working, try to go for centrally located so that you're not too limited in where you could commute to without a car. This was why my partner and I moved to Glendale, and it's worked well for us -- easy to get around without driving and a lot cheaper than the neighborhoods that are closer to downtown or immediately next to light rail stations. It takes about as long to get downtown as it does to the Denver Tech Center area (which is an office park hellscape I wouldn't recommend trying to live in, but there are a lot of jobs there.)
And definitely check out the new light rail map to figure out what might work for you. There'll be several new lines starting at various points next year.
posted by asperity at 1:44 PM on November 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you've got a job lined up, use Walk Score to find apartments and neighborhoods that are within an acceptable transit commute range. You can even input multiple addresses to get neighborhoods that would work well with travel to more than one destination.
If you're not sure where you might end up working, try to go for centrally located so that you're not too limited in where you could commute to without a car. This was why my partner and I moved to Glendale, and it's worked well for us -- easy to get around without driving and a lot cheaper than the neighborhoods that are closer to downtown or immediately next to light rail stations. It takes about as long to get downtown as it does to the Denver Tech Center area (which is an office park hellscape I wouldn't recommend trying to live in, but there are a lot of jobs there.)
And definitely check out the new light rail map to figure out what might work for you. There'll be several new lines starting at various points next year.
posted by asperity at 1:44 PM on November 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
craven_morhead's list is what you want. You can live in the Denver Tech Center or Centennial and be on the light rail, but you're not really going to be near anything you want to be near.
It's very expensive to rent here, rent goes up every year, too.
When we moved here, we rented from a large apartment complex in Louisville (Boulder bedroom community, not super Denver-convenient) and arranged the whole thing over the phone. Any larger complex will be used to doing this sort of thing. Good luck! Denver is a lovely place to live but be prepared to move fast on your apartment. This time of the year is a little slower than the warmer months, tho!
Also: make sure you are ready with the lipbalm, lotion, and lots of extra water when you get here. The altitude does take some adjusting to. Be particularly cautious if you are unloading your own truck.
posted by rachelpapers at 3:18 PM on November 25, 2015
It's very expensive to rent here, rent goes up every year, too.
When we moved here, we rented from a large apartment complex in Louisville (Boulder bedroom community, not super Denver-convenient) and arranged the whole thing over the phone. Any larger complex will be used to doing this sort of thing. Good luck! Denver is a lovely place to live but be prepared to move fast on your apartment. This time of the year is a little slower than the warmer months, tho!
Also: make sure you are ready with the lipbalm, lotion, and lots of extra water when you get here. The altitude does take some adjusting to. Be particularly cautious if you are unloading your own truck.
posted by rachelpapers at 3:18 PM on November 25, 2015
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posted by craven_morhead at 12:53 PM on November 25, 2015 [1 favorite]