Denver Airbnb/STR Recommendations and Advice?

[Daniel Baran]

Hi All - first time buyer (and first time poster!) looking for some advice here. Looking to buy an investment property to rent out as a STR for 1-2 years (since it seems to be about impossible to even break even on CF with LTR) before moving to Denver and then house hacking it while living part-time in my camper van/part time in one of the bedrooms of the property. Given my budget (~500k max, ideally more in 400-450k range) and Airbnb regulations, it seems like Arvada and Wheat Ridge are my best bets. Given that price range looking at 3 bedroom/2 ba type SFHs.

However I'm curious if 1) folks have a sense of the long-term permanence of existing regulations in these cities; and 2) if there are other locations in Denver metro that are unregulated currently but could trend toward investor friendly like Arvada and Wheat Ridge (and Littleton which is out of my budget). Westminster for example seems to have good value and is unregulated to my knowledge but not sure what city's future plans are, plan to talk to city planners in each of these locations but appreciate any and all advice from BP community! If moved to Denver and in some scenario where I was only there 3-5 years I want some sort of peace of mind that the place would still do okay as an investment (i.e BE on CF as an investment property, not primary residence) so looking presumably only at STR friendly areas but open to all general suggestions/advice.