The Community of the Year for the entire Denver Metro Area: Homebuyers are showing every sign that they already know that coveted award was won this year by BackCountry – Highlands Ranch’s final chapter unfolding against 8,200 acres of scenic open space.

Sundial House, Gold Nugget award winning clubhouse, is luring large numbers of visitors behind BackCountry’s gates. Its Pikes Pub bar overlooks the 467-acre – South Rim.

And those buyers are arriving to see BackCountry in big numbers – up to 100 visitors a weekend despite the winter weather.

You can slip behind the gates at BackCountry to have your own look with a special gate pass that you can pick up at BackCountry’s Discovery Center, off Broadway three miles south of C-470. That includes a look at the splendid Sundial House private retreat/clubhouse – dramatic architecture, views of the ridges, the Front Range, and city lights, and alluring Pikes Pub bar for residents – that won architect Mike Woodley his own flurry of awards, including the National Association of Home Builders’ Gold Award for best clubhouse, and the Pacific Coast Builders Conference sought-after Gold Nugget.

“This is a chance to see a community with miles of private hiking and biking trails, and that has its own 467-acre open space, its own outdoor amphitheater, a resort-quality pool, and a lifestyle director who plans activities for our families, to help build a true sense of community,” says Cheryl Haflich, marketing director for Shea Homes, the community’s developer. “Those amenities create a lifestyle unlike anything on the Colorado residential scene.”

You’ll also appreciate the easy commuter access to employment campuses and city attractions, while you tour twelve different models from the $300s, by Richmond American, Shea Homes and Toll Brothers – along with a semi-custom model (tour it today from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.) by Paragon Homes. Nearby are some half-acre home sites where Shea offers its impressive Water Dance series homes, from the upper $500s, including two new plans that open as models next weekend. Those are the largest sites ever offered in Water Dance — so popular that Shea took three sales, plus three reservations, just since the holidays.

…And you’ll see that 467-acre South Rim that BackCountry residents get as a private reserve, unfolding beyond the outdoor amphitheater beside Sundial House. Residents also enjoy fitness/movement studios, spa treatment rooms — even a demonstration kitchen … not to mention the pools, designed grotto-style to blend with the setting. Start your tour of the Community of the Year winner from the Discovery Center, just outside the gate as Broadway becomes BackCountry Drive. From C-470 take Broadway south 2.8 miles, past Wildcat Reserve Parkway; watch for the Discovery Center on your left.
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IF YOU GO

WHERE: Gate passes available to see Highlands Ranch’s BackCountry and its Gold Award-winning Sundial House private retreat; 12 models by participating builders including semi-custom home. Pick up gate pass at BackCountry Discovery Center; from C-470 take Broadway south 2.8 mi., past Wildcat Reserve Pkwy, left in to Discovery Center parking lot just before gate.

PRICE: Richmond American from $300s; Shea Homes from $400s-$700s; Toll Brothers from upper-$500s; Paragon semi-custom homes from $1M (view 10 a.m.–2 p.m.); Custom Collection from $1.2M
WHEN: Today 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday 11–6
PHONE: 720-344-9600 WEB: BackCountryCO.com

Anybody who has ever tried to sell a house knows that you’re nuts to try and do it without a real estate agent’s help. But how about if you’re BUYING a house? How about if you already know what you want…have done your own research on neighborhoods…and you know how much you can afford? Do you still need to pay an agent a full buyer’s commission (generally 2.8% of the closing price) to help, if all you really need is somebody to manage the paperwork?

Slice Realty’s Tommy Lorden on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall. Slice serves the Denver metro area, but can usually assist with a purchase anywhere in Colorado.

Jeremy Long and his wife were exactly those kinds of buyers; he writes computer code for a living and with his skills, would need very little help in any internet search. Using the ‘net, he also found licensed broker Tommy Lorden, founder of Buyer’s Slice Realty, who specializes in what agents consider to be the ‘easy ones’ – buyers that do most of the work for themselves, and are likely to purchase without a lot of unexpected problems.

In return for matching that profile, Long and his wife received a trouble-free closing, and 50% of the 3% buyer commission at closing.
“Three percent is a pretty substantial amount of a $200,000 house,” said Long, who’d been troubled by the idea of paying an agent for a job he knew he’d be doing much of the work on. “Even if (we) did a substantial amount of research, a Realtor would still get a substantial commission.” Long added that if he hadn’t found Lorden, he would have paid an attorney, just to “keep everything kosher.”

Slice Realty was the perfect match (Lorden has been an agent 15 years, but has also practiced as an attorney and prosecutor before moving his family to Colorado in 2006). He had the Longs sign his limited-service buyer-broker agreement (a ‘Right-to-Buy’ agreement) and gave the couple some help in searching, including access to the agents’ MultiList system — up-to-date listings as they come on the market, and information to help evaluate whether a home is worth the price.

“My average buyer gets over $5,700 back,” says Lorden, adding that one received back $9,000 (the determining factors are the sale price, amount of co-op offered, and in some cases some lending stipulations). Rebates are made at closing – in 90% of cases as a credit against the buyer’s bottom-line. In a few cases, a lender may arrange to apply a rebate against financing.

What Lorden WON’T do is pick you up at the airport, or spend days driving you around, or sorting through listings over your coffee table. Buyers who need that extra support get their money’s worth by using regular buyer’s agents working on full commission. “My buyer’s agreement is actually a little longer than most buyer-broker agreements,” he told me, over coffee on Pearl Street near his house in Boulder. The objective, he added, is to find that particular buyer that really wants to buy, and that wants to do much of their own searching.

What do the feds say about rebating buyer commissions? The U.S. Justice Department encourages the agreements (they’re allowed by state law in 40 states — Lorden links DOJ’s site to his own web site). Are buyer rebates the way of the future? “Absolutely,” adds Lorden, who like other agents, sees the market’s pace picking up this year. “People have been trying to time it to buy low, but now they’re thinking ‘I want to be able to move quickly, I don’t want to miss it.’” The way to start, he adds, is at ColoradoCommissionRebate.com (you need to sign a Right-to-Buy agreement before you make an offer, not after). Or write Tommy Lorden at Tommy@SliceRealty.com.

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IF YOU GO

WHERE: Buyers’ Slice Realty, LLC, limited service buyer-broker that provides a 50% rebate of buyer’s commission according to U.S. Department of Justice guidelines, to purchasers who use the internet or other means to find their own home. Serves all of the Denver metro area and other locations within Colorado.

DISCOUNT: Average purchaser has received over $5,700 at closing
MANAGING BROKER: Tommy Lorden
PHONE: 303-376-6111 EMAIL: Tommy@SliceRealty.com WEB: ColoradoCommissionRebate.com

Two years ago, builder David Sinkey of Boulder Creek Builders was on the phone to the big Denver developers, trying to convince them to work some of his low-maintenance patio ranch designs into their large master-plans. Now a half dozen developers are talking with him, wanting to rub some of the same magic into their own communities that, just since November, attracted 18 sales in the $400s and $500s.

Boulder Creek Builders’ David Sinkey shows his fast-selling patio ranch models at Steel Ranch in Louisville, showcasing stone elevations with rich cedar and copper trim, from the $4s.

You can see those sharp, traditionally styled patio models (from the low $4s) today at Steel Ranch in Louisville (they were packed with visitors when I toured Wednesday).

And you can tour some Boulder Creek townhomes near the Longmont Diagonal Highway that offer the same low maintenance and high energy efficiency, at half the price.

Kingsbridge Townhomes, off Airport Road in Longmont, is a little hard to find and gets a fraction of the traffic that Steel Ranch does – but has such a high conversion rate that Boulder Creek has already gone through well over half of the 109 townhome sites it took over there from a California builder in 2010.

“We don’t restrict any of our communities to 55-and-older,” said Sinkey — one of four principals in a company that dates from one his father launched in Boulder in 1976. We left headquarters in Louisville’s scenic downtown, surrounded by shops and dining that helped earn Louisville the number-1 national ranking in Money Magazine’s annual ‘Best Places to Live’…and headed for Steel Ranch, a mile north.

Nevertheless, Boulder Creek’s buyers seem to ‘self-restrict’ into that older, downsizing demographic. Along with a few single females, empty-nest buyers dominate sales at Steel Ranch (and are catching the attention of those large developers, anxious to tap into that market).

Those downsizers are also a factor at Longmont’s Kingsbridge (it has four 2-story townhome plans, including one that could go main-floor master)…however, buyers there also find three schools within walking distance including Longmont’s Silver Creek High, rated 9-for-10 stars at GreatSchools.net. The schools and the prices (from the very low $200s for 2- and 3-bedrooms that are nine miles from Boulder, four miles from IBM) also lure single moms and dads, and another demographic you don’t hear much about: ‘never-nesters’ – ones who have rented for years and years, and now have plenty of cash to make a purchase.

What Boulder Creek DOESN’T see at Kingsbridge are first-time buyers; and that, says Sinkey, doesn’t make any sense. After all, these large plans have attached 2-car garages, roomy storage spaces, extra-outdoor private storage for bikes; and optimal energy features (blown-Fiberglas insulation that earn HERS scores under 60, so low they were featured by Channel 9 News). The smallest, a 2-bedroom ‘Florence,’ delivers 1,490 square feet for $205,000 – with a bright-and-light interior that comes standard with wood kitchen floors, nicer birch cabinets in a choice of colors, and ceramic tile bath surrounds.

They also show something all Boulder Creek’s buyers, young and old, agree on: Despite the low-maintenance, they want manageable HOA fees. “Our people say, ‘Give us walking-biking trails; but not a pool, that means higher dues,’” Sinkey added. Boulder Creek keeps track of its buyers’ preferences through a ‘Founders Group’ that reviews new models. When the group was asked what they’d be willing to pay for the new Steel Ranch patio plans, their estimates were so high, Sinkey says, that company planners knew they had a winner on their hands.

You can see Steel Ranch off 95th Street in Louisville; from the Turnpike take Northwest Parkway north, jogging onto 96th, and continue north 5 miles, just past Baseline. Kingsbridge in Longmont is off Airport Road between Diagonal and Nelson Road; from Boulder take the Diagonal north 6 miles to Airport, then left a mile to Venice Lane.
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IF YOU GO

WHERE: Kingsbridge Townhomes in west Longmont by Boulder Creek Builders, low-maintenance 2-&-3 bedroom townhomes near trails, 4 miles to IBM. 1656 Venice Lane, Longmont; take I-25 north to Exit 240, Colo. 119; west 7.6 mi., continue west on Nelson Rd. 1.9 mi to Airport Rd.; left 1 mi. to Venice Lane. Or from Boulder’s Foothills Pkwy take Diagonal north 6.6 mi. to Airport Rd, left 1 mi. to Venice

PRICE: From $205s; Steel Ranch from the low $400s
WHEN: Today & Saturday 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.; Sunday 11-5
PHONE: 303-772-3063 Steel Ranch, 303-745-1091 WEB: LiveBoulderCreek.com
-END-

Terri and Derek Zukosky were committed to Denver and its center-city neighborhoods: They’d migrated from Cheesman to Wash Park and then to Cory Merrill, and along the way did a scrape-and-build house on one of its urban sites.

Toll Brothers’ Cynthia Considine showed off her ‘Bella’ model after it opened last August. She’s taken four reservations since Jan. 1 on the homes, wrapped by trails and amenities.

Now, improbably, the couple is moving ten miles west of Wash Park to Solterra, near Green Mountain and Red Rocks Park, where Toll Brothers is finishing off a new home for them.

“It had that community feel; it didn’t feel like the suburbs,” says Terri Zukosky, physician’s assistant at Sky Ridge Medical Center, who’d been driving over to Solterra ever since 2008 when the Parade of Homes was there. Toll Brothers’ Cynthia Considine – she sold 14 luxury-sized homes last year and has four reservations just since Jan. 1 – has muffins and Danish out and will show you an alluring ‘Bella’ model, as well as trails and amenities that helped reel in the Zukoskys.

You may also want to talk to neighbors – something that Terri Zukosky did. “We’ve already met people that had come from Highlands and Wash Park,” she added. “It’s very appealing in terms of everybody is in the same place in life.” That means kids (the Zukoskys have two toddlers and have already checked out the schools), as well as outdoor sports — particularly mountain bikes, a common thread among Toll Brothers’ buyers. With their move to Solterra the Zukoskys shave a half hour off their ski trips in winter and water skiing ventures in summer.

Terri Zukosky says she’ll miss little Wash Park restaurant haunts; but already likes the look of places in Morrison – and has been reassured by other Toll Brothers buyers that the trip into LoDo from here is quick and routine.

You’ll also, Zukosky adds, get more for your money out here, revealed in the size and quality of these homes from the $540s. They’re selling fast enough that Considine has only one spec for sale, months from completion: It’s a ‘Bertoni’ 4-bedroom with 3-car split garage and west-facing covered patio, at $590,995. You can see that site and others where you could have plenty of time to pick options and market your old place.

You’ll also see Solterra’s Tuscan-styled ‘Retreat’ pool/community center set against the scenic panorama of Red Rocks and Dinosaur Ridge. Toll Brothers’ is standard with the 3-car garage and can customize any to three, four, or even five bedrooms (one ‘Costa’ 3,200-foot main-floor master design can go to six) without moving into the basement. Take C-470 north from Morrison or south from I-70 to Alameda, then east. You can also arrive from Lakewood on either Alameda or Morrison Road, to Indiana.
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IF YOU GO

WHERE: Toll Brothers at Solterra, Tuscan-styled ‘Bella’ model, 3-car standard garage, options for 4 or 5 bedrooms, Tuscan architecture; master planned amenities; coffee, Danish & muffins today. 2157 S. Juniper, Lakewood; take C-470 either north from Morrison or south from I-70 to Alameda Pkwy; head east 1 mi. to Indiana, then south 0.4 mi to W. Evans Pl.

PRICE: From $545,995
WHEN: Today & Sunday, 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
PHONE: 303-237-3354 WEB: TollBrothersAtSolterra.com

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If you’ve imagined owning a solar-powered house someday but have wondered just how much power old Sol really delivers on a Colorado winter day, you can see for yourself, right down to the kilowatt-hour, at Bear Creek Meadows by KB Home, off C-470 at Quincy Avenue.

KB Home Regional President Matt Mandino, right, and Vice President Darrell Hensley at ZeroHouse 2.0 near Morrison, Colo.

KB Home is holding a grand opening for its ‘ZeroHouse 2.0’ ranch model at Bear Creek Meadows – designed to use absolutely no energy at all — an average family’s annual use totally offset by conservation design and solar panels.

“This home will save a new homeowner over $299 a month or $3,500 a year as designed, when compared to a typical resale home in the area,” said KB Home Division President Matt Mandino, checking up on the house last week.

KB Home not only created a net-zero home within range of average new-home buying families, but modeled the systems to get the most cost-effective mix of energy strategies. “There are other ways to get there, but the tradeoffs weren’t worth it,” said KB Home Vice President Darrell Hensley. The route on ZeroHouse was to balance the insulation, infiltration and heating-ventilating efficiencies to create a HERS rating of around 40 – very low — then add solar panels necessary to get the rest of the way to zero.

That solar component is nine kilowatts of photovoltaic cells by California-based SunPower Corporation, plus some extra panels to heat domestic hot water for kitchen and baths. SunPower includes monitoring software that’s displayed real-time on a wide-screen TV, with exactly what the system delivers right now (2 p.m. Wednesday, 7.07 kilowatt-hours over the past hour (pretty close to rated capacity)…320 hours since it was first turned on a few weeks ago. You can even explore what the solar was doing during snow and cloudy days.

Best of all, this is a system you can buy now – the same ranch home and all of its components from the mid-$300s; and other homes, extra energy options not included, from the $250s (KB Home has sold 20 homes at Bear Creek Meadows in eight months; a remarkable seven since Jan. 1). To reach 13844 W. Marlowe Circ. in Morrison; take Hampden/285 west to Simms, exit south to Quincy, then west 1.6 mi. to Eldridge and south. Or from C-470, exit at Quincy, follow the ramp around to Quincy Avenue, then a block east to Tufts, and right to Eldridge.

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IF YOU GO

WHERE: ZeroHouse 2.0 by KB Home, Bear Creek Meadows. 13844 W. Marlowe Circ., Morrison; take Hampden/285 west to Simms exit, south 0.7 mi. to Quincy, west 1.6 mi. to Eldridge, south 0.3 mi. Or from C-470 exit at Quincy, follow ramp around to Quincy Ave, then 1 blk east to Tufts, right to Eldridge, south

PRICE: From $250s; zero energy homes from mid-$3s
WHEN: Today, 10-7
PHONE: 303-323-1187

Jack O’Connor.

“We’re going to see price increases of from four-to-six percent in the market for homes at $250,000 and under,” O’Connor told readers when he released a 2012 Denver Residential Real Estate Annual Report, including a set of “2012 Predictions for Denver Real Estate.”

Some neighborhoods in the $250,000-and-lower range would outperform others, based on inventory and location, he added.
That, O’Connor said, followed from year-end data that show only a 2.4 month supply of homes in the under-$250,000 range. A supply of less than six months, he added, typically suggests prices will increase.

O’Connor also predicted that 2012 will finally see a stabilization in prices for homes over $1 million, a price range that has been disproportionately affected by the real estate downturn and where supply of homes is still very high, around 18 months at current rates of sale.

“You’re going to see some neighborhoods at the upper end showing modest increases in price,” O’Connor noted, adding that inventory in the million-plus range dropped around 16% over the course of last year, for a variety of reasons. He predicts that supply will continue to fall in 2012, ending at around 15 months — still high, but the lowest in several years.

Among other predictions O’Connor makes for the coming year: Upper-end neighborhoods in particular will show a wide disparity in performance, based on location and other factors. Builders will deliver significantly more housing starts in the Denver area, particularly in the lower price range; mirroring Denver’s very low apartment vacancy rates, which he expects to remain low even if unemployment remains the same.

Foreclosures in the metro area will decrease, O’Connor added. Despite efforts by the Federal Reserve, he expects interest rates to rise slightly, heading for 4.5%-5% for a 30-year fixed rate loan.

O’Connor has authored his monthly ‘So How’s the Market?’ letter for eight years. The Denver 100 is a boutique broker-centric service model that emphasizes experience and skills of individual agents – over 20 years on average — and that completes four times more transactions-per-year than the Denver metropolitan average. The Denver 100 has offices at 385 Inverness Parkway near Park Meadows Shopping Center. To receive Jack O’Connor’s So How’s The Market? Trends report, contact Jack O’Connor at 303-880-8561, or on the web at The Denver-100.com.
-END-

Denver’s Villa Park neighborhood, south of Lakewood Gulch from Federal to Sheridan, is seeing two arrivals this new year, one high-tech, the other low-tech but just as hard to get approved.

Builder Mark Druva (left), architect Mike Kephart and Councilman Paul Lopez check progress of an ADU taking shape near the new Knox Court Light Rail Station.

Right across Sanchez Park from the new FasTracks station on the route from downtown to Golden, builder Mark Druva is trimming an ADU – accessory dwelling unit — a detached cottage behind a house, that can be home for grandma, or a college kid, or renter.

Award winning architect Mike Kephart became fascinated by the ADU concept after he kept noticing little cottage-sized houses that manage to survive decades at the rear of many city lots. Now he’s a national advocate for ADUs; and opened Sidekick Homes to design them, including one you can tour by appointment (it and its adjacent primary house are set for completion this spring, at $195,000).

City Councilman Paul Lopez (he not only represents Villa Park but grew up there) says ADUs are a solution to the problem that eventually faces older residents – having to give up their home after they can no longer live completely independent. “Why should you leave a neighborhood where you raised your family?” he asked, as he dropped by 1095 Julian Street to see how the ADU was coming a football-field southeast of the new Knox Court Station.

Druva can show you how he remodeled the small 2-bedroom home at the front of the 6,250-foot lot, then built the ADU out back, 576 square feet with a studio bedroom-kitchen and bath, all ADA accessible. The size, Kephart notes, is exactly the dimension of a 2-car garage, raising the possibility that after some structural changes, you could create one on top of your alley-load garage.

But getting ADUs past neighborhood associations and city planners was no walk-in-the-park, Kephart adds, noting that Denver’s new 2010 zoning allows them in 13% of neighborhoods. He estimates that the buyer of the Villa Park home could rent the ADU for $500 or $600 per month. Grandma might not have to pay rent; but that could still be a good deal for a college student, who could hop on Light Rail (the West Rail Line opens in 2013) and be into Metro, CU Denver, or west to Red Rocks Community College, without going near a car.

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IF YOU GO

[BOX] WHERE: ADU – accessory dwelling unit, small cottage adjacent to a primary home, near Denver’s Sanchez Park, for housing an elderly parent, student, or renter; for viewing by appointment only. 1095 Julian St., Denver; from Federal head west on W. 10th 5 blks to Julian, then north

PRICE: $195,000
WHEN: By appointment only
PHONE: 303-790-1129 WEB: DruvaRedevelopment.com KephartLiving.com

You never count chickens before they hatch, but when Mayor Hancock and his team climbed off a plane from California early this month after a state-led trip that included the governor, the Chamber’s Tom Clark and others, they were feeling pumped about what’s ahead for Denver, business-wise.

Economic Development Director Paul Washington in Civic Center Park. “Anytime there’s a crane in downtown Denver is a good thing,” he said.

“The broader business community views Denver with tremendous excitement,” said Paul Washington, the mayor’s new Economic Development director. “They see us having a strong tech base and a strong cadre of young people with tech backgrounds.”

Colorado – ranked in a recent Forbes survey among the top-5 most inviting business climates – has good reason to prospect for leads in California (ranked 39th). But that has less to do with getting companies to pack up and move, says Washington, than with conveying what an unusually fertile place this is for a new business to grow.

“We weren’t there to poach companies,” Washington added. “There is no need for Denver to be Silicon Valley; we have our own strengths. It’s great to have companies relocate, but we’re more focused on retention, particularly on small business.” Rather than wait for the phone to ring, the most productive approach is to nurture along expansions that Fortune 500 companies already have in Colorado – and to create a place where entrepreneurs, some coming out of those very companies, will launch their own start-ups.

With that in mind, the team talked not only with Bay-area giants Google, HP and Oracle, all of which already have Colorado ops, but also Plug and Play Tech Center and its founder Saeed Amidi (they create incubator spaces for start-ups, with one already open in the DTC). When those companies look at Denver, they’re very much focused on human capital, particularly tech skills — software engineers and designers, among others. On that front, Washington notes, Denver has advantages.

The first is the education base – something that provokes debate here, but that’s respected nationally for its output of tech-oriented grads. That includes University of Colorado, Colorado School of Mines, and CSU in Fort Collins; linked to labs like NREL and NCAR that draw on their resources; as well as other schools that turn out trades in business, hotel management, hospitality and other specialties.

The other advantage, Washington says, is the allure of the Denver-Boulder lifestyle – something that’s capturing the imagination of young workers nationally. “Denver is already the number-one place to live among 18-to-34 year olds,” Washington noted. “It’s attractive to highly educated people who specifically want to live close to where they work and play.” What they see in walkable neighborhoods like Highlands, Wash Park, Park Hill and Boulder is enhanced by infrastructure investments over 20 years – the nation’s most advanced airport; about to link to downtown’s Union Station expansion via commuter rail; plus T-REX and light rail. “Infrastructure is super critical,” Washington added…and makes for an easier job to target some industries that are top priorities to nurture: aviation/aerospace, clean technology, health and bioscience, telecom, fossil fuels, information tech, and finance.

Washington is particularly focused on the latter. “Our biggest weakness is losing venture capital funds located in Denver,” he says. “But we’re being proactive; it’s early and the dynamic is going well.”

His team is also digesting results of a trip to Beijing, Chongqing and Denver’s sister-city Kunming, where Washington and Chinese-speaking policy advisor Abdul Sesay discussed development opportunities including a possible trade mission to Colorado. Will DIA and its long runways ever land direct flights from Asia? “International flights are a chicken-and-egg proposition — we want more flights to attract companies, but companies will attract flights.” The outlook, however, is positive, says Washington: “DIA is situated in the middle of country; you can get to both east and west coasts in a short period.”

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Ninety minutes west of town, Granby Ranch and SolVista ski area are tracking the best ski-visitor year they’ve ever seen, on pace to beat last year’s record. “Families that live here are up here every weekend,” says Jennifer Colley, sales director.

Builder Ken Ash and Sales Rep Jennifer Colley show the trail layout for the two homes at Granby Ranch; and have ski passes for families that tour.

“People tell me ‘We know our neighbors here; we don’t necessarily know our neighbors in Denver.’” Colley will show you two resort homes that could put you in that mix…at prices that sound more like townhomes than single-family.

No. 325 and 515 Lone Eagle Drive are each new, 3-bedroom/3-bath homes with garages (one is 2-car oversized) … close enough to SolVista’s ‘Home Again’ run that you can ski-in. (They also get a shuttle to the base, twice morning and afternoon). Each is short-sale priced, $340,000 and $370,000…and Colley and her team want them gone now.

Granby Ranch’s Eisenhower Camp, where two short-sale priced homes have ski-in access.

“It’s the best value for a single-family home in Granby Ranch,” she adds – adding that with 55 sales last year, Granby Ranch is fastest seller in the Winter Park/Grand County area. If you come look, Colley will give every one of your family that takes a 35-minute tour a day’s ski pass good anytime this season. That’ll include a look at SolVista’s family–friendly base with its ski school; Seven Trails Grille where parents unbuckle for a glass of wine at day’s end while they watch their kids ski in; and the new pool-and-hot tub (75 residents turned up for its grand opening during Christmas Week activities).

Buyers of those homes will also get keycards that unlock Granby Ranch’s 4-season amenities – the Grange fitness center; private club with bar/grille overlooking the base; Headwaters Golf Course (with two family knock-around holes behind the back-nine) where along with their ski passes, residents get four foursomes/year as part of their HOA dues; the bike trails; and a 4-mile trout lease that winds the Fraser River below.

Speaking of grille, Colley and builder Ken Ash agree that food has something to do with Granby Ranch’s draw. “They serve some fantastic meals at Seven Trails,” says marketing manager Lisa Craig, talking about the supple scallops in the chef’s mixed grill. “Food is another reason when you come in over the hill, you really never need to leave.”

You’ll see that intimacy that sets Granby Ranch apart underscored in those two final Lodgepole homes, she adds. “The value’s greater; if you experience it, you’ll get it.” Take U.S. 40 west from I-70, 43 miles (15 miles past Winter Park) to Village Road, then east two miles, just past the ski base, to the Preview Center.

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IF YOU GO…

WHERE: Lodgepole Homes at Granby Ranch, single-family resort homes at SolVista ski area; 2 remaining 3-bed/3-bath homes w/garage, short-sale prices; ski-in plus shuttle service to base; 1 free ski pass for each family member that tours. 999 Village Rd., Granby; from I-70 take U.S. 40 west 43 mi. (15 mi. past Winter Park) to Village Rd., right 2 mi., just past ski parking to Granby Ranch Mountain Preview Center

PRICE: Two remaining homes, $340,000, $370,000
WHEN: Today & daily 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
PHONE: 970-887-5250 WEB: GranbyRanch.com

Homeowner Lori Gregory (left) and her Realtor Debbie Zucker show off her remodeled home near Golden’s newly popular downtown.

- Niobrara is the oil-gas formation that wraps Colorado along the Wyoming/Nebraska borders, including newer surveys east of Denver. The difference in unemployment between North Dakota (3%) and Colorado (8%) hinges in part on how those prospects pan out, not just geologically, but politically. Shale oil recovery requires lots of water and chemicals to ‘frack’ deep layers, already drawing environmental ire; but the economic impacts are potentially huge.

– Boulder and its Turnpike Corridor linking to Denver and Broomfield are a perfect fit for any technological ventures coming from California, where costs are higher and skilled workers can’t find affordable housing. Will more of those companies relocate to Colorado to take advantage of homes and building sites?

- Inventory of homes around Denver is the lowest in eight years, as condos and lower priced homes disappear with little homebuilding to replace them. Low supply is typically good – but will homeowners follow suit by marketing their older places, overcoming their anxieties in exchange for a more lucrative deal on a move-up?

– Downtown Denver has been a good-news bad-news story in 2011 – condo sales in more expensive ranges sluggish, but dining and entertainment still displaying the renaissance of the past 20 years. Will buyers return to luxury downtown properties and absorb the final condos?…and will new employers and builders move in to take advantage of makeovers on 14th Street and Union Station?

– Mid-priced new-built homes are where builders have shown great creativity during the down market, offering MUCH more space, features, and neighborhood flair than three years ago. Will buyers reach for those $350,000 to $500,000 homes Westminster, Castle Rock and Southeast Aurora to take advantage of that pricing?

– Highlands with its walkable shopping areas, stayed popular as other areas dropped off. Now surrounding areas like Berkeley and Sunnyside show the same phenomenon, but the market for expensive custom-scrapes and pop-tops is still well off the mark.

– Retirement homes have been a bright spot in the housing scene, as some 55-and-older ranch projects showed decent sales. Will swelling ranks of retired baby-boomers reach for those opportunities, or will they stay in their aging 2-stories?

– Infrastructure is a major lure to Denver – likely to be enhanced with Light Rail expansions toward DIA…while the mountains are badly in need of higher speed transportation to serve resort areas and to pull loading off aging tunnels and passes.

– Mountain resort properties show some signs of stronger sales, as prices of ski homes and condos drop well off the mark. Will buyers reach for those opportunities, or will they wait?

– Small towns such as Golden and Littleton took advantage of the bad times to sharpen their downtown appeal with new restaurants and walkable attractions. Will buyers reward those areas by pushing up prices for homes in their historic neighborhoods?

– Master-plans like Stapleton and Lowry were some of the nation’s most creative projects as the boom market came to a close. Will those areas with their ‘new-urban’ lifestyle (and higher prices) retain their appeal to younger families?

– Schools weigh immense in buyers’ decisions, many of whom do internet research before picking neighborhoods. Denver Public Schools has many first-rate elementary schools, but loses out to newer suburban areas that show better performance at middle and high school levels. All schools need to keep the quality high, to attract relocating companies from California and back east.