Affordable Homes in Colorado Springs: Where the Cheap Houses Are, What They Cost a Month, and How to Buy One for About $1,000

The short answer

Where are the cheapest homes in Colorado Springs?

Colorado Springs is the one big Colorado city where $400,000 buys a three-bedroom house on its own lot. The affordable homes sit in the 1950s to 1980s neighborhoods east of Academy Boulevard, south toward Fort Carson, and in Security-Widefield; the condos and townhomes cluster in Village Seven, Vista Grande and along Austin Bluffs.

• 80909, Palmer Park and Rustic Hills: 117 homes under $400,000 this week, median $360,000, from $15,000; mostly houses on their own lots (14 percent carry an HOA), 82 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 1,490 square feet at the median. 1950s and 1960s ranches and bi-levels of 1,200 to 1,600 square feet on 7,000 square foot lots, no HOA, between Academy and Union with Palmer Park's 730 acres of trails at the north end. The deepest pool of affordable detached houses in the city.
• 80916, Pikes Peak Park and the airport side: 117 homes under $400,000 this week, median $290,000, from $35,000; a mix of condos and houses (59 percent carry an HOA), 73 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 1,360 square feet at the median. The cheapest houses in the Springs: 1960s and 1970s ranches and split-levels off Chelton and Hancock, with a strip of condos along Fountain Boulevard that pulls the floor under $100,000.
• 80910, Stratmoor Hills and Deerfield Hills: 97 homes under $400,000 this week, median $349,000, from $65,000; a mix of condos and houses (60 percent carry an HOA), 62 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 1,493 square feet at the median. 1960s ranches and tri-levels south of Fountain Creek toward Fort Carson, no HOA on most, VA buyers on every block, and the South Academy corridor rebuilding around them.
• 80911, Security-Widefield: 90 homes under $400,000 this week, median $359,800, from $190,000; mostly houses on their own lots (13 percent carry an HOA), 87 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 1,582 square feet at the median. Just outside the city line: 1960s and 1970s three- and four-bedroom houses of 1,500 square feet on quarter-acre lots, 87 percent with three bedrooms or more, the most house for the money near Fort Carson and Peterson.
• 80906, Ivywild and Broadmoor Bluffs: 83 homes under $400,000 this week, median $315,000, from $70,000; a mix of condos and houses (58 percent carry an HOA), 61 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 1,265 square feet at the median. A split pocket: 1920s to 1950s cottages in Ivywild and Cheyenne Canon under $400,000 next to condos on the Broadmoor side; the oldest housing stock on this list and the only one with mountain views at this price.
• 80907, Holland Park and Patty Jewett: 76 homes under $400,000 this week, median $300,000, from $18,000; a mix of condos and houses (36 percent carry an HOA), 42 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 1,056 square feet at the median. North of downtown: 1950s houses in Holland Park, condos along Fillmore, and two manufactured-home parks that put the floor at $18,000 (chattel loan plus lot rent).
• 80917, Village Seven: 76 homes under $400,000 this week, median $265,000, from $174,900; nearly all condos and townhomes (79 percent carry an HOA), 45 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 1,216 square feet at the median. The condo and townhome pocket: 1970s and 1980s complexes off Austin Bluffs and Academy with dues of $250 to $350, two-bedroom units from the $170,000s.
• 80918, Vista Grande and Garden Ranch: 69 homes under $400,000 this week, median $300,000, from $135,000; nearly all condos and townhomes (83 percent carry an HOA), 47 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 1,362 square feet at the median. 1980s townhomes and condos north of Austin Bluffs with attached garages, dues $250 to $400, and the first houses under $400,000 in the north-central city.
• 80915, Cimarron Hills: 62 homes under $400,000 this week, median $364,950, from $99,500; a mix of condos and houses (33 percent carry an HOA), 96 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 1,482 square feet at the median. 1970s and 1980s ranches and split-levels east of Powers near Peterson Space Force Base, 96 percent with three bedrooms or more, no HOA on most, a VA buyer's staple.

What does $250,000, $320,000 and $400,000 buy in Colorado Springs?

What does an affordable Colorado Springs home cost a month?

Colorado Springs has the lowest property taxes of any big Colorado city (about 0.45 percent of value in most of El Paso County) and half its affordable homes have no HOA, so the payment tracks the price more closely than anywhere on the Front Range.

Add $100 to $200 a month for insurance on a house with a 20-year-old roof: hail is the cost of living here, and insurers price it. Run your own numbers on can I afford a home now.

Which programs cut the cash, and what is the catch?

How many bedrooms do cheap Colorado Springs homes have?

Three bedrooms is the Colorado Springs affordable home, the opposite of Denver: about 518 three-bedroom homes under $400,000 this week, and Security-Widefield and Cimarron Hills run 87 to 96 percent three-plus. The bedroom-count pages: 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, 4-bedroom Colorado Springs homes.

What to check before you buy a cheap home in Colorado Springs

• The roof and the hail history. Ask the roof age and whether the last storm claim was paid; insurers quote $1,500 to $3,000 a year on older roofs east of Academy.
• Radon. El Paso County tests high; a $150 test and a $1,200 mitigation system are standard asks in the inspection objection.
• Wildfire zones on the west side. Ivywild, Cheyenne Canon and anything west of I-25 carries a wildfire insurance surcharge and, in some pockets, a non-renewal risk; get the quote before you waive the inspection.
• Military clauses and VA appraisals. VA appraisals enforce minimum property requirements (peeling paint, roof life, working systems); a fixer in Pikes Peak Park fails them, so FHA 203(k) or conventional is the route there.
• Fountain Creek flood zones. Low ground along Fountain Creek in 80910 and 80916 sits in a flood zone that adds $800 to $2,500 a year of insurance.
• Older sewer lines and galvanized plumbing. 1950s and 1960s houses in Palmer Park and Rustic Hills: a $250 sewer scope saves a $10,000 surprise.
• HOA reserves on the Village Seven and Vista Grande condos. Two years of financials and the reserve study before you fall for a $200,000 price.

The 60-day plan to buy an affordable home in Colorado Springs

1. Day 1: call or text 303-955-4220. We set up the under-$400,000 search and send the lender introduction the same day.
2. Days 1 to 7: pre-approval with CHFA or Turnkey Plus priced side by side with plain FHA and VA; the two-hour homebuyer class online. Mortgage pre-approval.
3. Days 7 to 30: tour the pockets above, two or three a day, with the inspection history and the roof age pulled before each showing.
4. Days 30 to 35: the offer, written with seller-paid closing costs and the earnest money sized to come back to you.
5. Days 35 to 60: inspection, appraisal, clear to close. You bring about $1,000.

Quick answers

Where are the cheapest houses in Colorado Springs?

Pikes Peak Park (80916), Stratmoor and Deerfield Hills (80910) and Security-Widefield (80911) for houses; Village Seven (80917) and the Fountain Boulevard strip for condos. Palmer Park and Rustic Hills (80909) has the most houses under $400,000 of any ZIP. All 1,151 are on affordable homes for sale in Colorado Springs.

Can I buy a house in Colorado Springs for under $300,000?

Yes: 440 homes are listed under $300,000 this week and about half of them are detached houses, mostly 1950s to 1970s ranches in Pikes Peak Park, Stratmoor and Rustic Hills that need some work. The rest are condos and townhomes in Village Seven and Vista Grande.

How much is the payment on a $320,000 Colorado Springs house?

About $2,423 a month with an FHA loan at 7 percent and 3.5 percent down, including taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance and no HOA; a lender approves that at about $97,000 a year of income. A VA buyer pays about $200 less.

What is El Paso County Turnkey Plus?

The county's down payment assistance program: a grant toward down payment and closing costs attached to a 30-year loan for buyers under the program income limit, usable in Colorado Springs, Fountain and the rest of El Paso County. The rate on the first mortgage is higher than market to pay for the grant, so we price it against CHFA on your file.

Is it cheaper to buy in Fountain or Security-Widefield than in the Springs?

Per square foot, yes: Security-Widefield (80911) and Fountain (80817) run 1,500 to 1,600 square feet at the $360,000 median against 1,300 to 1,500 inside the city, with no HOA on most. The trade is a longer drive to anything north of downtown. Fountain affordable homes.

Are there HUD homes in Colorado Springs?

Yes, more than anywhere else in Colorado: 3 to 6 at a time, sold as-is at HUD's appraised price with the $100 down FHA option and an owner-occupant-first bidding window. Colorado Springs HUD homes.

Should I rent to own in Colorado Springs?

Only when no loan works today. A lease-option on a $320,000 house takes about $9,600 up front plus a rent premium with no title until the end; a VA buyer gets on title now for $0 down and a CHFA buyer for about $1,000. Colorado Springs rent-to-own homes.

Keep going

Every Colorado Springs home under $400,000, updated daily · Affordable homes across Colorado · The Denver affordable homes guide · $1,000 cash to close · CHFA assistance · Colorado Springs starter homes · Colorado Springs condos · Colorado Springs townhomes · Colorado Springs HUD homes · Colorado Springs rent-to-own · Credit care · All Colorado Springs homes. Nearby: Fountain, Pueblo, Woodland Park.