Ken Caryl - Roxborough - Castle Pines Compare (Denver, Parker: for sale, 2009)

[steve-sd]

Hello. I hope to be moving to the Denver area from San Diego in 2009, and am looking at communities south of Denver. I am interested in learning the pros and cons of Ken Caryl, Roxborough, and Castle Pines areas (or any other areas you think I should consider nearby). Here are a few stats about what is important to me:
- I will be working from home so commute is not a consideration
- I have two dogs so I will need a dog friendly area that has fully fenced yards
- I prefer houses with large yards and great views
- I prefer foothills instead of flat land
- My housing budget will be $350-400k
- I would prefer low HOA fees, although, I imagine this could vary greatly within each community.
- I am single with no kids.
- I play golf, tennis, and volleyball, and enjoy hiking and skiing.

Any information, tips, and advice you have is greatly appreciated!

[Nav]

You price level is a bit low for the areas you've mentioned. What you can find for 400k in those areas will be tract housing with little to no yard. Large Yard, close to the mountains with great views and you start in the 500-600k range (low end) for those areas. Since you are not tied to commuting, you could go into the mountains say like Conifer and Evergreen. There you can find housing that more fits your wants. The downside is the snow in the winter. It can get deep. But if you are alright with staying put when its really bad you may be OK... There are Golf Courses in Evergreen and you are only a 45 minutes commute into Denver during the non-rush hour. You could also look out in Franktown, Elizabeth and Parker areas southeast of Denver. Here you can find the rolling hills and possibly the views, although you will be 30-40 minutes to the mountains. The Franktown and ELizabeth areas have a lot of heavily wooded (ponderosa pine) properties and you shouild be able to find something in your range. Parker is more "treeless" but it has a lot of rolling hills with good views. The Town of Castle Rock, just south of Castle Pines can put you closer to the hills, but you will be in tract housing.
You may also want to try Golden northwest of Denver. If you go a bit into the mountains you can also find things that may fit your bill.


As for the areas you mentioned, Roxborough Park has some pretty hefty HOA fees, as does CastlePines and Ken Caryl. These are the "yuppie suburbia" areas of the south so prices and fees are substantially higher than other areas. The Pros: scenic areas, relatively close to Denver as far as commuting. The Cons: Pricey. Restrictive HOA's with higher fees (some will not allow fences period), tract house size yards. Housing in your price range will be hard to find, unless you are thinking of a Condo or townhouse.

I would recommend hitting Realtor.com or other sites and get a feel for the areas. All the areas mentioned above are nice areas with little crime and a good quality of life. Good luck in your search.

Nav

[Jerry Bckr]

I can give you some insight into the areas you've zeroed in on. I'll start with Ken-Caryl because I live there. I've been living here since 1985 and was elected to two terms on the HOA. It's one community but there are actually two different areas; the plains and the valley. The plains part is the older section built mostly in the 70's and 80's, and sits on the east side of C-470. Some homes there are in need of up-dating and some have been already. You'll get more home there for your money. Presently there are 18 homes listed for sale there in your price range. The valley is newer and is located west of C-470 behind the first wrinkle of the mountains called "the hogback". It has a great location for getting a head start to the mountians. You're basically at I-70 and C-470 in about 13 minutes. The homes were mostly built in the mid 80's to early 90's. Currently, there are 9 homes for sale in the valley section. At your price range, you would be on the bottom part of the pricing scale. I sold many homes here for a large local builder, and live here myself. The HOA's for Ken-Caryl are $40 per month and do include trash. The actual cost for running the place are higher than what the HOA fees are, so we also have a recreation district that collects funds through our taxes. That way we can deduct the expenses. My home is about $400K and my taxes are about $2,800 per year. You can get community information by going to www.ken-carylranch.org.
All the areas you mentioned will have adequate sized yards for your dogs and most will have fencing. You mentioned large yards, and that's something you just won't find. Of course, the word large is very subjective. Most of the counties have lease laws, so if you're expecting to just let your dogs run free, you're going to have some problems. You could get away with it at a dog park, going to the mountains or way out in the county. Be advised you could be on private land.

I disagree with a lot of what the first person had to say about all the areas you identified. As a Realtor, I run into people that just want to get away by going to the hills or out to the east. That's perfectly OK. If you work out of your home and are single, you might find yourself isolated in some of these areas. He also had an aversion to "yuppies", and they exist everywhere, but so do plenty of down to earth normal people. I sold a home in West Evergreen to a Southern California transplant in the fall of 2005. I got an email from him on Tuesday wanting me to help him sell his home. He's tired of the snow and commute, but unfortunately this is not the time to be putting a home in the mountains on the market. We're shooting for sping.
Back to your other areas, Castle Pines North has 17 homes on the market in your price range. Homes there were built in the 80's right up to the present time. It has good proxcimity to I-25 and Santa Fe Drive (US -85). Castle Pines North continues to the north and then just blends in with more suburban houseing. Just a little bit farther to the south and west of Santa Fe is a community called The Meadows. It's much newer and will have many homes in your price range.
As far as Roxborough goes, that's my least favorite of the three you asked about. The taxes are higher and the cost of water is sky high. If you found a large yard, your water bill would shock you. When you compare houses in Roxborough to other homes, look at the taxes relative to the square footage and you'll see what I mean. It's closer to the Denver city center than Castle Pines but it takes a little longer to get to a free way. I didnt do a Roxborough search because I know there are homes there in your price range. All of the areas you mentioned will have views, it's just a matter of if there's a veiw from each particular home. Some will have great views, some limited views, and some no views.
The other respondent was correct in that all the homes will be track housing, but what's wrong with that. It just means these are market tested floor plans that people desire. They hold their values well as compared to something that some individual dreamed up that he thought was the ultimate floor plan. I've shown many of these and my buyers and I leave scratching our heads wondering "what were they thinking". Don't get me wrong, I've seen some nice custom homes but you aren't going to be finding them in your price range. The mountains are pretty much 98% custom but in your range, you are going to see some pretty strange floor plans and finish.
The other respondent mentioned Golden, but I think he was talking about the foothills to the west. Golden is expensive unless you're willing to settle for a much older home. It's still worth a look but the pickings are scarce.
Bottom line is what do you want in a home and what are your interests. Right now gas is getting cheap again, but everyone expects it to rise in the future, so location is something to take into consideration. I know you work out or your home at the present time, but what if that changes? I have a neighbor down the street that relocated from S. California that telecommutes back to where he lived. If you want, I'll see if I can connect you two so you can ask him questions. Moderator cut: no advertising please

[steve-sd]

Thank you both for your replies. Both are very helpful, as is this website. I should have been more specific about "Large Yard". I guess I meant "large" compared to other tract style homes. My current yard is about 2500 sq ft which is more than enough to keep the dogs happy, and large for my neighborhood. Thanks again.