I love, love, love to rollerblade. I also love, love, love Sloan's Lake in Denver. Put the two together and you have a happy Jennifer.
Temps today in the 70's, amazingly blue, almost purple sky (at least thru my rose-colored glasses), light wind... ahhhhh... rollerblade bliss.
My poor blades have been packed away for nearly three years - Alabama is not rollerblade-friendly - so I was pleased that I could find them and that the wheels still turn relatively easily.
Sloan's Lake is a perfect rollerblade park. It's, I dunno, maybe three miles around on a wide, smooth path right next to the lake. As you're blading, you can watch the fish jump and the ducks herd their young, or focus inland to see young boys playing soccer or dog-owners playing catch. The lake itself has that lovely lake smell and in certain seasons, the linden trees are almost overpoweringly fragrant.
I love Sloan's Lake.
One minor gripe. Even though the park isn't terribly crowded, there are always one or two groups of people who insist on taking up the whole path. You know what I mean. The guy in the middle of his two leashed dogs or the four young mothers with their four strollers. What's the proper etiquette for a rollerblader? I find that shouting at people from behind simply startles them and more often than not, they jump right into my path. But when I just try to squeeze thru them, I hear their annoyance behind me. Sometimes I choose to express my annoyance by coming to a full stop and simply walking around them on the grass. This usually results in an apology, but that's not my goal. I just wanna share the path with walkers, riders and fellow bladers without having to shout, squeeze or elicit apologies.
But that's such a minor issue. I thoroughly enjoyed my first day back in the blades and am looking forward to dozens more as spring turns to summer in Charming Old Denver!
To continue with the story of new construction here in my beloved ‘hood (here and here), I thought it might be interesting to talk about the what's, where's and how much's of what's available here.
Your best bet for entry level single family homes (which includes attached duplexes and triplexes, but not condos or townhomes) is in East Bay. East Bay is just a few blocks from Sloan's Lake (my favorite park) and was developed in the mid 1990's. While the homes are detached (no common walls with other homes), they're on ridiculously small lots, so are probably better labeled patio homes. However, the homes have held up well through the last ten years and offer tremendous square footage for the price. I lived in East Bay for awhile in a 4 bedroom/4 bath house with over 2700 finished sqft. Prices in East Bay start in the mid-$300's, but they're not often available (and there's nothing right now)
Next we have Highlands Garden Village, AKA to locals as Old Elitch's. These homes were built in the late 1990's/early 2000's and again, offer lots of square footage on teeny tiny lots. The location used to be a bit suspect, but with all the development within Old Elitches and on Tennyson Street, it's gotten pretty darn trendy. Prices for the single family homes in HGV start around $400,000, and, like East Bay, aren't often on the market (nothing right now).
That pretty much does it for planned developments in NW Denver. The rest of your new single-family construction options are onesies/twosies scattered throughout the ‘hood.
At this time, there is only one newer construction single family listing under $400,000. It's an attached 4bed/4bath, 2300 sqft home built in 1999,on a busy street, priced at $350,000. We don't see another single family listing until $445,000, but there are plenty of options in that price range ($450,000 - $500,000). Most are in Berkeley, north of 38th, which isn't primo, but it may be some day! Here are some sample listings* of what's available today.
Over $500,000, you can have your location, location, location. There are listings right around Highland Square and near Sloan's Lake. Most of the homes are brand new, and while all are attached, offer serious square footage and sexy finishes. Many even feature roof-top decks! Here are some* of my favorites.
Over $600,000, frankly, I'm not seeing a huge improvement over the $500,000 offerings. I suspect many of the properties are simply overpriced.
Currently there are only two new DETACHED single family homes on the market, one at $660,000 and the other at $975,000. There are four under contract.
So... to summarize... if you're looking for a newer single family home in NW Denver, you have options priced from $350,000 to $1M. If you're happy with attached, you can have a brand spanking new home with lots of goodies starting around $450,000. If you'd really prefer not to share a wall with anyone, check out East Bay or Highlands Garden Village, or keep an eagle eye out for the rare detached properties that occasionally come on the market. (I do know of an AWESOME one coming soon - let me know if you'd like a head's up!)
* If the link doesn't work, it means that this property has gone under contract since the date of this posting.
Isn't it funny how you assume that the way things are done in YOUR market is the way they're done everywhere?
And then when you find out it's not, you hear that eerie Twilight Zone music playing in the background?
I remember when I worked with my first out-of-town buyer way back in my first year. They were moving to Denver from Chicago. Found ‘em a lovely house, wrote a lovely offer on it; all was going well until we received the counterproposal back from the seller.
Among the provisions countered was the Date of Possession. The seller changed my 
requested "Date of Closing" possession provision to "Three Days Following Closing" at 5pm. No biggie (so I thought), and delivered the counterproposal to my buyers, expecting them to happily sign it.
Uh, no. They were incensed by the change of the possession date, to the point of nearly backing out of the deal all together. They almost seemed to feel that the sellers were evil people, trying to take advantage of an out-of-towner. Huh?
Well, apparently in Chicago, it's unheard of to agree to a delayed possession. It's simply not done. Sellers are expected to be completely out of their home BEFORE closing, even though the buyers have not yet consummated the deal. Even though they don't have the proceeds from the sale of their home to consummate the purchase of their replacement home.
So, I've always wondered... how does this work exactly? Here in Colorado, a table-funding state (which means that money is brought to the closing table and sellers get their proceeds immediately), it's common to have back-to-back closings - that is - the seller closes on the sale of their home and then immediately closes on the purchase of their replacement home. If the seller gets immediate possession of said replacement home, he can move in right away, but not before the closing, obviously. This is where the three days comes in - until the seller closes on his next home he has no place to go, so how can he be expected to deliver possession to the buyer on the date of closing? Do sellers in markets where delayed possession isn't an option move out of their home and then just drive around the block for a few days waiting for their buyers to close so they have the funds to close on their own replacement home?
Anyway, just so's you know - if you purchase a home in Denver, the seller may very well expect three days to move out. Sometimes even more, if the home the seller is purchasing also has a three-day delayed date of possession. I've seen deals where the guy at the end of the chain has to wait a week or more while everyone ahead of him shuffles their belongings from house to house. However, in these situations, you can usually negotiate a reasonable daily rental allowance for any delay beyond three days.
Those of us who know and love the Charming Old Denver neighborhoods have a soft spot in our hearts for older homes - we love our Tudors, our Bungalows, our Victorians, our cottages and our Denver Squares. We happily put up with an appalling lack of electrical outlets, virtually non-existent closet space, garages built for Model T's and so on. You know what I mean.
But as our families have grown (or, ahem, we've "matured"), we're noticing that these Charming Old Homes don't quite meet our needs the way they used to. We kinda want the amenities of newer construction, but are loath to give up our City life to get them. What to do, what to do?
The answer? In-fill construction.
In-fill construction is nothing new in Denver - they've been doing it all over town for at least a decade. But the trend is relatively new to my part of the world - that is - Northwest Denver. When I left Denver a few years ago for my writing sabbatical, there was some new construction here in the ‘hood - specifically at Highland Garden Village (Old Elitch's), East Bay near Sloan's Lake, a few condo projects in what is now hot LoHi and some random attached homes scattered around. But the attached homes didn't sell well and many of the local Old House Snobs (myself included) had a tendency to look down their/our noses at the tiny lots and vinyl-sided exteriors of the new developments.
Well, no more!
Northwest Denver is now exploding with in-fill new construction! Some, even, at reasonable prices! Admittedly, many of the new homes are attached - that is - they're duplex style where each side is sold separately, but you can get some serious square footage and generous amenities, including gourmet kitchens, master suites, awesome finished basements and rooftop decks. Most have usable yards and two-car garages. Yeah, I love my 1927 Bungalow, but I'll admit, walk-in closets, plentiful outlets and a garage that comfortably holds a Subaru are seductive, even to this Old House Snob...
Tomorrow... How Does the Neighborhood Feel About the ‘New'comers (that is, all this development)?
The next day... Northwest Denver In-Fill development - Where, what and how much?
I love to read. I love to read. I love to read. Did I mention how much I love to read?
But reading can be an expensive habit. Walk around my house and you'll find no fewer than 5 books open. That's at least $50 worth of books, assuming I purchased them used on Amazon (don't forget shipping)!
For me, a trip to a retail bookstore is at least a $75 adventure.
Ahhhh, but the USED bookstore... sheer bliss for rabid readers like me. In my quest for cheap used books, I've been to a lot of bookstores across the city and have been [sigh] disappointed by most. Prices aren't quite as low as I'd hope, service isn't nearly as friendly as I'd like and worst of all, when I try to bring back my books for trade, they pick thru them and leave me toting most of ‘em back home with me. I don't like that.
Welcome to the Park Hill Bookstore at 23rd Ave & Cherry, across from The Cherry Tomato and Spinelli's Market.
The Park Hill Bookstore is special. First, their pricing structure is simple - $1 for paperback romance novels, $2 for all other paperbacks, $4 for hardcover. Second, the "staff" is all volunteer and are always friendly and helpful. Third (if you're a member at a cost of $15/year which includes 10 used book credits), you can exchange your own used books for store credits and I've never had them turn my books down!
I love the Park Hill Bookstore!
I take care of the details! As my FIRST priority, not as an afterthought when my prospecting is done. My clients get my full attention which is why... dare I say it...I've never had to prospect ;-)
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