Getting your player ready...
Making any kind of move in this market requires planning – but if you’re looking for a low-maintenance ranch lifestyle and you want to be living in the south metro area, you need to be out looking and weighing your options. “It’s hard finding a 55-and-older ranch community,” says Pat Havener, who found herself a well-appointed, roomy ranch condo at Verona, the Tuscan-styled enclave wrapped by the Highline Canal Trail in Highlands Ranch.
This weekend at Verona (west of Lucent on County Line Road) you can tour a furnished model that shows exactly what she ended up getting – but that only hints at how far ahead somebody needs to be planning this kind of 55-and-older move. Havener knows quite a bit about the subject: She’s an RN who spent most of her career as an exec with a national retirement living developer. When it came time for her to plan her own move into a single-level living, she scoured metro Denver – finding more opportunities waiting up in the north area than south. “That wasn’t the part of town where I wanted to be,” Havener recalls. “I wanted the easy access to Park Meadows and particularly to downtown.” Through the years of the real estate downturn she kept noticing a pretty parcel north of 470 near McLellan Reservoir where Verona’s plan was taking shape. She made a first visit 18 months ago when you could see how close the homes would be to the Highline trail, but couldn’t yet tour any completed models. “But I’m pretty good at visualizing,” she says, “and the quality was pretty evident.” The 1,653-square-foot Porto model you’ll tour – two bedrooms/two baths plus a study and a spacious 2-car garage – is the exact plan Havener chose. “It’s a great place to live,” she adds, noting that she likes the ‘lock-n-go’ aspect of Verona that allow her to leave to visit out-of-town friends, and kids in Seattle and New Orleans. But if you want your own version, you need to be talking with Mark Lifpitz and Sue Camara, sales reps for Verona. They’ll show you one Porto that can deliver in October (price, $397,291); however, although Verona has already broken ground on two more buildings of its fast-selling Manor condos from $311,900, the nearest deliveries are in 2014 – and seven of the ten available homes in each building are already under contract. “Buyers are always telling us that ‘we’re not in a hurry,’ and the truth is, neither are we,” Lifpitz says. “You not only need time to plan this kind of move, but purchasers looking at a 55-and-older lifestyle practically always want things completed with highly personalized features. This isn’t like getting a home from a builder that gives you just three options on things and that’s it.” The Porto that’s near-ready to go already has hardwood floors throughout its great-room/dining/kitchen area, along with slab granite tops and stainless appliances. Lifpitz and Camara will also show where a very few Villa townhomes overlooking the canal will deliver in 2014 from $499,900. And they’ll tell you about the planned pool center that’ll be a centerpiece of Verona’s highly active community life – one that Havener says matches her own preferences: participating only as much as you want to, while knowing your neighbors and feeling the security of being part of a tight community.To visit Verona’s models (cookies and coffee this weekend), take C-470 to Lucent, turn north to County Line Road, and left a half mile.
Follow Mark Samuelson on Twitter:
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