Parade of Homes - 2006 - Colorado Springs (Denver: sale, new house)

[Mike from back east]

Colorado Springs Parade of Homes (POH) is set for 04-20 Aug 2006. We went last year and enjoyed it greatly. It is only NEW homes.

If you haven't been house-hunting for several years, it is a good way to see what's new in styles, designs and decorating. We hadn’t looked at new houses from 1990 to 2003. Once I retired in 2003, we started looking at what was new where we lived (Fairfax County, VA) and wow, things had really changed. We loved all the new features (tiered seating in basement theater rooms, marvelous kitchens, BIG closets, 3-car garages, smart wiring, sun-tubes, in-line water heaters, high efficiency heating/cooling systems, green design, low-e windows, etc).

We visited tons of houses in No VA, plus other areas of the country (PA, WV, FL, NV, AZ, NM, TX and CO). We kept going until we figured out exactly what we wanted in a home.

Just as important, it helps you decide what you do NOT want. We do not want a laundry room unless it's on the same level as the bedroom & bathroom, as this is where 95% of all laundry comes from and returns to. Why carry laundry downstairs to wash and then back up? Put a laundry where it’s needed and if you have to, allocate a bedroom to this - use it for laundry, ironing, sewing, linens and all upstairs storage – and get rid of the stupid hallway “linen closet” and it's ugly door. I hate huge windows above a soaking tub, what am I gonna do, moon my neighbor, 18 feet away? Gimme a break. We took our builder’s option of opaque glass in those 2 slider windows – we get good light, full privacy, and no costly window treatments are needed for privacy's sake.

Take a camera. We did and got hundreds of pix of decorating & landscapes - a great way to get ideas. A few homes restrict picture taking, but only a few. My favorite picture from last year is on photobucket at:
http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...20the%20Woods/

At most places, you will remove shoes before entering to use slip-on booties they provide. This keeps carpets clean and hardwoods un-scratched. Many places offer minor refreshments. On-site reps are fun to talk with.

Your ticket is punched at each location visited, you get 1 visit per property. This prevents people from passing tickets to others to re-use. After the PoH is over, most model homes are still open during normal hours; visit as often as you need to.

For details, visit the Homes Builders Assoc at http://www.cshba.com/. Select Parade of Homes from left hand margin or go directly to the PoH site at:
http://www.cshba.com/hba/index.cfm?ID=68F77888-F209-4A16-85B6342C509F6E48 (broken link)

Discount tickets went on sale today at Safeway stores.

The local paper will have a full printed insert and on-line version, with maps. These aren’t out yet. Check: http://www.gazette.com/index.php

To see data on how homes here have appreciated in value from 1996-2005, click on http://www.gazette.com/display.php?secid=44 and drill down into the various neighborhoods.

Have fun! and let the group know what you think of the tour....

s/Mike fbe

[2bindenver]

Denver's is at Reunion 6 homes on the market for a million or more. Reunion is a Shea community 10 minutes west of DIA. Home range from the mid $170's to well, more than a million.

Discount tickets can be bought at King Soopers, or a Builder Realty Council member.