CREJ - Land and Development - July 2016
Over the past 14 years, home sites for custom homebuyers have dwindled. Fewer developers are offering these home sites within their existing and new communities in favor of selling home sites to national and local merchant homebuilders. The strategy has paid off for the real estate development community. Developers are able to sell and close more sites more quickly and move on to the next project. The offsetting opportunity has been missed by the developer to sell the best sites to custom homebuilders and/or their buyers at premium prices that merchant builders are not paying. Additionally, a community with custom home sites makes it easier for lower-priced new home product to sell faster due to the pricing elasticity that introduces new product into the community that enhances all price points. Homebuyers are reassured with their purchases when they witness higher-priced homes selling in the community in which they are buying their home. Finding custom home sites. The principal remaining new home communities in south metro Denver are: • The Preserve (Greenwood Village) • Back Country at Highlands Ranch (northwestern Douglas County) • Ravenna (northwestern Douglas County) • Castle Pines (Castle Rock) • Colorado Golf Club (Parker) • Pradera (Parker) • The Timbers at the Pinery (Parker) • The Keep (Sedalia) • Banbury Cross (Louviers/Sedalia) The above communities have dedicated sales teams to help builders and homebuyers with their home site and home purchases. There are scattered home sites available throughout the Denver metro area. Real estate brokers can facilitate the process of selecting the best home site(s) and working through due diligence to determine acceptable utilities, metropolitan district/homeowner associations, design guidelines and permitting issues. Not every community, city or county has standard approval processes. Each jurisdiction must be evaluated for interpretation of their approval process and permit issuance. You may receive the approval process but may be delayed by six months or more to a receive building permit. Remember: lost time is lost money. Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley and Windsor all have ample areas for homebuyers to consider choosing custom home sites. If you are willing to look beyond the Denver metro area, there are many choices with outstanding pricing values. Other choices. You can also consider buying an existing home within the city, suburbs or in the countryside, and remodeling or scraping the home from the home site. Should you choose to buy and scrape a home, make sure the home you want to build will meet the requirements of its jurisdiction. The further away you find a home site from the core of the market, the more affordable home sites become. An exception is Douglas County, where some of the most beautiful land is available at higher price points. Elbert County, just east of Douglas County and south of Arapahoe County, has become an affordable choice for many new homebuyers. A concern here is the cost of utilities, which are higher. Existing industrial, commercial and retail sites. Developers and homebuilders have begun exploring and researching existing industrial, commercial, retail, institutional and even government sites. These sites are usually near major transportation corridors and have excellent utilities and infrastructure already in place. With land prices at a premium in some of the outlying areas, these sites are and will become more appealing to developers, builders, real estate brokers and their homebuyers. Cities, counties, metropolitan districts and homeowners’ associations. Home sites are occasionally overlooked in existing communities. Take the time to contact the city and county officials in the planning department and recorder offices, and metropolitan district and homeowners’ associations to determine available home sites. There are thousands of home sites on the market with many more coming soon. Take the time to explore the existing land listings and the shared tips and you will become an asset to your developers, builders, real estate brokers and homebuyers.