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Builders along the Front Range have suddenly cracked the code on what aging baby boomers are after in their next home purchase. “We’re now getting people who are looking for exactly what we build,” says builder Greg Fulton at Verona in west Highlands Ranch – luxury low-maintenance designs for 55-and-olders that’s sailed through its townhomes; and is roaring through a new series of condos. “Everybody who walks in the door seems to understand what we’re doing; they get it.”

This weekend and next, you’ll have a chance to walk into new models at 18 neighborhoods scattered from Loveland south to Lone Tree; some of them enclaves, others tucked into master-planned communities that sell well to younger families, too. At all of them you’ll see homes that are tightly designed around buyers who want less maintenance and more lifestyle – something it appears that Denver builders are getting very good at delivering.

In Louisville, Boulder Creek Builders flew through 58 sales of sharp-looking patio-ranches – each with finished basement space included – at Steel Ranch off 95th north of Baseline. The models won the MAME Award for Active Adult Home of the Year; but more to the point, they’re winning over an older buyer who as little as a year ago, was acting very skittish about similar moves.

“Lots of builders are turning their attention to it now,” says Boulder Creek’s president David Sinkey, who glanced at the program for 2013’s NAHB Builders’ Show in Las Vegas and found practically a third of the sessions devoted to age-50-plus housing. “We feel we have a head start,” he adds. “When builders come to look at our models, there are some things they don’t understand.”

The obvious thing buyers want is a ranch: primary living on a single level. But buyers are savvy to other nuances, too: “universal design” with wider doors/hallways to make it easier to get around; and zero-steps from garage or entry. “Finished basements have a real impact on how we use space,” Sinkey adds. “When you open up that stairway to the lower level, a 1,500-foot home feels dramatically larger.”

Oakwood Homes – creator of Fairway Villas at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club – flipped the equation around, offering three basic ranches, but adding upstairs space included at the price, for visiting kids and grandkids. “We did research and knew that there weren’t many active adult communities with their own clubhouse,” says Oakwood’s Kristen White. “Last year this market sat on the sidelines; it just wasn’t the time. But now that it is, they want all the bells and whistles.”

Oakwood raced through 40 sales since its models opened in March; showing island kitchens, spa master baths, and other goodies with extra appeal for buyers coming out of older homes. You’ll see similar age-qualified enclaves (housing rules allow a percentage of younger buyers in if kids are not permanent residents); as well as some that are open to younger families, too.

You’ll hear about ways to finance a low-maintenance move that are as novel as the models, such as a new FHA-backed Home Equity Conversion Mortgage for Purchase (HECM) from Security 1 Lending that lets a 62-year-old buy their next home without a monthly mortgage; and fast-turnaround FHA and jumbo loans from W.J. Bradley, timed to keep up with the faster-paced market that buyers find when they sell the old place.

To plan your tour (starts today and runs this weekend and next, view the map; or visit Bestof50PlusTour.com. And watch for more about the Fifty Plus Tour in Post Real Estate tomorrow and next Friday.

WHERE: The Best of 50+ Housing Tour, tour of 18 locations offering ranch & other homes designed for a 50-and-over lifestyle; sponsored by 50+ Housing Council of the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, W.J. Bradley & Security 1 Lending. Locations all over the Denver-Boulder-Loveland area; see map and listings in sidebar

PRICE: From $150s to $700s

WHEN: Friday-thru-Sunday, this weekend & next; 11 a.m.-6 p.m..

PHONE: 303-861-0707

WEB: Bestof50PlusTour.com

Mark Samuelson writes on real estate and business; you can email him at mark@samuelsonassoc.com. You can see all of Mark Samuelson’s columns at DenverPost.com/RealEstate.

MAP KEY
Sponsor Lenders specializing in 50-Plus mortgages

Security 1 Lending/HECM for Purchase

303-861-0707
www.LarryDArmstrong.com
www.hecmprogram.com

W. J. Bradley Mortgage Capital

720-279-7240
http://mywjb.com/joseph-blake/

1. Villas at Great Plains Parkfrom low $200s

1986 S. Espana Ct., Aurora
I-225 to Iliff, east past Tower to Dunkirk
303-696-6000 www.VillasAtGreatPlainsPark.com

2. Villas at Pleasant Valley from mid-$200s

2463 Santa Fe Dr., Longmont
East of U.S. 287 on Hwy 66 to Pace
303-772-7600 www.VillasAtPleasantValley.com

3. Parkwood Homes at Stapleton

from high $400s, townhomes low $400s
8176 E. 35th Ave. Denver
East of Quebec on E. 35th
303-320-4938 www.ParkwoodHomes.com

4. Country Club Highlands from $399,950

12106 N. Alcott St., Westminster
Mile west of I-25 on 120th to Zuni, north
303-469-0700 www.CenturyCommunities.com

5. Avalon at Inverness from low $200s

307 Inverness Way South, Englewood
East on County Line 0.3 mi. to Inveness Wy, left
303-799-4559 www.CenturyCommunities.com

6. ParkSide at RidgeGate, from high $400s
9065 E. Prairie Sky Lane, Lone Tree
I-25 west on RidgeGate Pkwy, left on Crossington
303-340-3333 www.LiveBerkeley.com

7. Foxridge Place from low $400s

6708 E. Phillips Place, Centennial
West on County Line Rd. from Quebec to Niagra
303-779-7777 www.LiveBerkeley.com

8. Clocktower Condominiums from mid-$100s
Highlands Ranch Town Center
1044 Rockhurst Dr., Highlands Ranch
Highlands Ranch Pkwy to Ridgline, south
303-683-5001 www.CardelHomes.com/Denver/Clocktower

9. Steel Ranch, Boulder Creek Builders from $380s

1156 Paschal Dr., Louisville
North on 96th from Northwest Pkwy past Baseline
303-745-1091 www.livebouldercreek.com

10. Kingsbridge by Boulder Creekfrom low $200s

1656 Venice Ln, Longmont
Diagonal to Airport Rd., then north to Venice
303-502-5338 www.livebouldercreek.com

11. Quarry Lake by Boulder Creekfrom $350s

848 Split Rock Dr., Loveland
West from I-25 on US 34/Eisenhwr to Taft, south
970-458-4440 www.livebouldercreek.com

12. Anthem Ranch by Del Webb from high $200s

16583 Las Brisas Dr., Broomfield
From I-25 west on Hwy 7 3 mi. to Lowell
1-866-426-8436 www.DelWebb.com/Colorado

13. Whisper Creek in Arvadafrom $296,990

Taylor Morrison Homes
from $296,990
Indiana Street at 87th, Arvada
From W. 64th take Indiana north to W. 87th
303-423-1243 www.TaylorMorrison.com

14. Courtyard Traditions at Stapleton from low $300s

3280 Spruce St., Denver
From Quebec east on E. 35th Ave.
303-393-9099 www.WonderlandHomes.com

15. Heritage Todd Creek by Lennar from $250s

8585 E. 152nd Ln, Thornton
East of I-25 on Hwy 7, 5 mi. to Yosemite
720-685-0873 www.HeritageToddCreekLifestyle.com

16. Rocking Horse by Lennar from $350s

23532 E. Eads Dr., Aurora
South of 470 on Gartrell 1 mi. to Rockinghorse
720-870-2274 www.Lennar.com/Denver

17. Verona from $280s

2429 Primo Rd, Highlands Ranch
North from 470 on Lucent to County Line, west
720-524-6674 www.LiveVerona.com

18. Fairway Villas by Oakwood from mid-$200s

At Green Valley Ranch Golf Club
19394 E. 54th Place, Denver
From DIA Fwy east on E. 56th to Dunkirk, south
303-486-8713 www.OakwoodHomesCO.com