If you are someone thatap waited for the moment to build that custom ranch you’ve imagined—everything done your way, on a big home site with some real privacy—the pandemic is sending a message thatap clear as a bell: You’re running out of time to make that happen.
“Everything necessary to carry out a custom home project is getting more expensive,” says Trent Getsch at Timbers at the Pinery just south of Parker, who has some pretty custom lots to show you within 25 minutes of the Denver Tech Center; along with six homes underway by real custom builders on some of those same, large sites.
Two years ago, the minimum price to create a roomy 4-bedroom ranch in the pines—with big entertaining areas looking into the forest, plus a finished walkout with a deck overhead, and a 4-car garage—was $1.2 million. Now, 24 months later, that threshold is $1.5 million—with every indicator suggesting that prices will keep climbing.
Chief factor, says Getsch, is the cost of lumber—with futures trading 50% above 2018 levels despite a major ramping up by mills to meet Covid demands for home remodel projects. His builders, Getsch says, report their typical lumber pack is running double what it did before the outbreak; and that other construction materials, from concrete to OSB board, are keeping pace.
Meanwhile, nobody is making new land—particularly around Denver, where production builders gobble up any available sites. “You can’t build a custom home and be as close to town as we are here,” Getsch says, showing off six lots he has available for new-builds, with settings in trees; all-around a half-to-three-quarter acre, served by high-speed internet, natural gas lines, and city water and sewer services.
At The Timbers a buyer can pick a site and get involved with one of The Timbers’ participating builders on a home designed from scratch.
Or, Getsch can show you six homes now underway by Sterling Custom Homes, Gladstone Custom Homes, and Summerwood Homes, set to deliver late this year or early next. The one furthest along is a custom ranch by Summerwood Homes—around 4,900 sq. feet of finished space, four bedrooms/ five baths, with some finished basement space and a 3-car oversized garage. Itap on track for early summer move-in and is priced at $1.585 million—still leaving a little time for you to choose the important finish and trim options.
Several of those post-pandemic homes show a contemporary drift in their architecture and interior design, Getsch says. “Buyers tastes are headed more contemporary; itap what they see in urban loft areas and on HGTV.” However, others still like more of a mountain-contemporary look, and you can find those, too.
Meanwhile, just demand from people who have been waiting to move up from older homes around Parker is fueling enough interest to absorb this—including a sale this month at $1.525 million. Both the locals and those wanting into the area all mention working from home, Getsch says.
Other builders here include Kopasz Custom Homes, Ashbur Construction, JW Luxury Homes and Stately Custom Homes. The Timbers’ sales center is three miles east of Parker Road on Pinery Parkway South.
The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this postap preparation.