Relocating to Colorado Springs - Vehicle/Insurance/Utilities questions (Black Forest: 2014, vehicle registration)

[pej7445]

My wife and I are strongly considering relocating to COS from FL and I've been wondering about the following.


When transferring a vehicle (2 cars, 2 motorcycles) are there any excise taxes or high fees to get registered?

Is getting a Colorado driver's license quick and painless?


How are homeowners insurance rates in COS?

FL is getting crushed by claims from hurricanes.


How are utility rates? In FL we just have Water and Sewer (about $55/mo) and Electric (about $200/m) to deal with.


Any other info to consider?


Thanks in advance.

[bluescreen73]

You will pay a premium to register your vehicles in Colorado if they are less than 10 years old. There is an ad valorem (personal property tax) component to vehicle registration.

Generally speaking it's as follows:

• First model year - 2.1% of taxable value
• Second model year - 1.5% of taxable value
• Third model year - 1.2% of taxable value
• Fourth model year - 0.90% of taxable value
• Fifth-Ninth model year - 0.45% of taxable value
• Tenth model year (and later) - $3

The full list is here - https://dmv.colorado.gov/sites/dmv/f...%20%281%29.pdf

I'll let others chime in on homeowner's insurance and utilities. Our homeowner's rates are high here due to widespread hail claims. If you choose to live in a Wildland Urban Interface (e.g. a heavily-forested area in the foothills or the Black Forest), your homeowner's rates will likely be even higher due to wildfire risk.

[mtngigi]

Depending on where you buy, many developments have HOAs. I've never been in a neighborhood with an HOA, so I'm not sure of fees. Others with that knowledge will chime in.

Also, you may want to check Colorado's MVD site - you may be able to do what you need to do online, as well as find out cost information.

[bontrager]

I was shocked at how high my homeowners insurance went up when I moved here. It more than tripled, but I moved from a state that didn't have hail or other frequent natural disasters. I'd imagine coming from FL it wouldn't be that different seeing you get hurricanes.

Water is very expensive here, IMO, particularly if you have any sprinklers outside in your yard.

[beezle1]

Your vehicle insurance may be more too, due to the hail risk.

[AddyLompoc]

Homeowner's Insurance - We paid $1,550 for 2020-2021 for an appraised value of about $300K, but our appraised value took a big jump this summer, so I expect to pay around $1,900 to $2,000 for 2021-2022. We had our roof replaced in 2012 due to hail damage and we went with heavy duty shingles for a discount on the insurance. One of our cars was totaled in 2014 due to hail damage, but I still drive it around (insurance paid me the delta between the appraised value and salvage value).

Utilities - Natural gas prices took a big hike this last spring, but I would say our year round average is about $200 per month for water, gas, sewer, and electricity. We keep the house cool in the winter (68F) and warm in the summer (77F).

Garbage - We pay $35 per month, but you can find companies (Infinity) that are down around $22 per month for a smaller can.

Cable - $190 per month for unlimited phone, internet, and 120 or so channels.

Sales Tax - 8.25% within city limits.

Property Tax - Appraised Value x 0.0715 x mill levy rate (ours is around 82 in our zipcode). To fix out the mill levy rate, go to the El Paso County Assessor's website where you can search for properties by address. In our zipcode, a $400K house would be taxed at around $2,350. We have been here over ten years and are over 65, so we get the first $100K of appraised value excluded.

You are moving from low and humid to high and dry, so count on buying some room humidifiers for the winter when the humidity gets really low (or maybe you are not the type to get nosebleeds in really low humidity).

Have fun.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by AddyLompoc

Homeowner's Insurance - We paid $1,550 for 2020-2021 for an appraised value of about $300K, but our appraised value took a big jump this summer, so I expect to pay around $1,900 to $2,000 for 2021-2022. We had our roof replaced in 2012 due to hail damage and we went with heavy duty shingles for a discount on the insurance. One of our cars was totaled in 2014 due to hail damage, but I still drive it around (insurance paid me the delta between the appraised value and salvage value).

Does appraised value affect homeowner's insurance? I guess it might make a difference if you have a cash policy vs. replacement policy. But I would think it would track more with building costs (which have certainly gone up this year) than appraised value. I could be wrong, though.

[AddyLompoc]

Originally Posted by Wittgenstein's Ghost

Does appraised value affect homeowner's insurance? I guess it might make a difference if you have a cash policy vs. replacement policy. But I would think it would track more with building costs (which have certainly gone up this year) than appraised value. I could be wrong, though.

I think you are right, it tracks with building costs. I did recently receive a letter from my insurance agent to come in and review coverage because of the rise in building costs. Good catch.

[TCHP]

Doing a quick online comparison of Jacksonville FL to Colo Spgs CO:
Overall cost index Jax 98 Cos 108
food Jax 99 Cos 98
housing Jax 78 Cos 98
median housing Jax $108k Cos $288k
utilities Jax 102 Cos 92
transportation Jax 101 Cos 95
healthcare Jax 100 Cos 82

If you are earning $65k in the Jacksonville area, you will need to earn $74k in the Colo Spgs area to maintain a similar lifestyle.

As others pointed out, vehicles registration is high initially and tapers off. Insurance for both vehicles and homes is rising. While lacking hurricanes to drive up repairs costs, we do have sporadic but significant hail storms and the occasional tornado. Depending on home location, you may also have fire, flood, expansive soils, landslide or subsidence issues to contend with or cover with insurance. Utilities, transportation, and healthcare are cheaper. Recreation options are obviously significantly different and may or may not also come with a significant price tag.

[abcdefg567]

We pay an average of $300/month for water/electric/gas. Maybe a tiny bit more - I haven't paid attention in awhile.

Our property taxes and insurance were *each around $1700 this past year. I'm expecting it will be around $2000 for each next year. Home is worth between $440-490k based on recent nearby comps - which are all over the place.

House is less than 10 years old, 2000 sq. ft., with a smaller yard. East of Powers area. No basement. :/

Vehicle registration seems high - but like others said, it depends on the year. We pay around $200/month for comprehensive on two cars that are 5 & 3 years old, clean records. Goes up every year, but that was the best price we could find all things considered.