Brighton East Farms Community (Denver, Lakewood: real estate, HOA fees, new home)

[kbradfie]

My family and I will be moving to Colorado in a couple of weeks. We will be staying with family until we purchase a home in the coming months. In our online search we came across Richmond American homes and some of their models that are available to be built in the Brighton East Farms community. I was just wondering if anyone could offer any input on this community. Likes, dislikes? Also, what is Richmond's reputation like in the area in terms of home quality and build times? Does anyone know the average HOA fees for the area? Any information would be appreciated.

Katelyn

[wankel7]

Just out of curiosity....why do you want to live that far away from Denver/Mountains?

[kbradfie]

The main reason we are looking out that way is because its what we can afford right now.

[cowboyxjon]

If you are OK with a new but not brand new home, there are plenty of homes across the metro area that fall within that price range. (I just looked at the Richmond American Homes site) I'm not trying to discourage you from Brighton, but you might find something closer to Denver that could possibly work out to be even better for you and your family.

[2bindenver]

There is a lot of houses to be had right now. Where is work? There is nothing wrong with Richmond (bought one myself) nothing wrong with Brighton Farms - but it's out there.

[kbradfie]

My husband will be working in Arvada, with the possibility of eventually working in Denver. Both are about a 30 minute commute according to mapquest, which we are fine with. We also have family in Broomfield, which is about a 20-30 minute drive from our experience.

Both my husband and I are definitely open to other housing options, but in most of my real estate searches, there are a TON of nice options in the Brighton area. If we are going to end up out there anyway, we both kind of like the idea of having a new home.

[2bindenver]

There is nothing wrong with Arvada, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Broomfield, Northglenn & Thornton or Westminster either.

[Jerry Bckr]

I worked for Richmond for almost 11 years doing on site sales, and was with them when they were just getting started. It's now a big corporation and they build homes that have solid bones. They use the lowest cost materials when ever they can, just like other production builders. The biggest knock on them is they don't have a good reputation for doing the warranty work. If you're buying an existing home than that's not an issue anymore as the warranty stuff is the work covered during the first year. Big builders generally carry a 10 year warranty on the structure, which will give you some piece of mind. You after purchase inspection should alert you to any potential problems. Before you think I've got a biased opinion, I want you to know I've owned a Richmond for 24 years, and it's my personal residence.

You can get more home for the money in Brighton, but that savings may evaporate in the future when the price of gas goes back up and you're spending a fortune on commuting cost.

PS: don't buy new if you don't have to. It's like buying a new car, and driving it off the lot. It takes longer to build up any equity. People frequently look at a builder's price increases as instant equity, but as many people found out, that's not the case. Purchase one that's a few years old, you'll get a better deal.

[TexaCo Mom]

Originally Posted by kbradfie

My family and I will be moving to Colorado in a couple of weeks. We will be staying with family until we purchase a home in the coming months. In our online search we came across Richmond American homes and some of their models that are available to be built in the Brighton East Farms community. I was just wondering if anyone could offer any input on this community. Likes, dislikes? Also, what is Richmond's reputation like in the area in terms of home quality and build times? Does anyone know the average HOA fees for the area? Any information would be appreciated.

Katelyn

For what it's worth, I've lived in Brighton since 2001. No, Brighton is not the hub of Denver, but it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It's a small but growing town - still a little bit of a rural feel to it. My husband worked in Denver for 6 years and the commute is not as bad as everyone "in Denver" makes it out to be. A drive to Arvada may be a stretch I will admit, but I can be in Westminster/Broomfield in 20-30 minutes and Boulder in 45. I don't know much about the neighborhood of Brighton East Farms. It is a relatively newer area - maybe 2 years old? I've got 2 kids that have gone/going through the public school system here and have/will graduate with honors. No it's not "Cherry Creek" but there are decent schools here. I will add that caution is warranted if the charter school here is a consideration. The downtown is being revitalized - a brand new library is being built and a historic armory is being rennovated into the town civic center. Lot's of new shopping/restaurants have/are being built too. You'll find (at least in this forum) that Brighton appears to be Denver's "ugly red-headed stepchild". There's very few who will actually promote living here.

[wankel7]

If you work in Arvada then why not live in Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood, or Golden?

You can find a nice 2 car garage home for 180k in Arvada, WR, Lakewood.

I just don't see the point of living all the way up in Brighton. I am sure it has all of the schools, shopping, and night life you need. But you can get that in any city in a America.

Live as close to the mountains as you can afford to. If that is important to you though.

www.cohomefinder.com is a good website