Just Listed: Mesa Meadows Home Is 50 Yards From Open Space Trailhead

 

1415 Pine View Road, Golden

$685,000

Narrated Video Tour at www.MesaMeadowsHome.com

This home is located in one of Golden’s premier subdivisions, Mesa Meadows. Not only is it close to the North Table Mountain trailhead, it is also close to the Tucker Gulch trail leading to downtown Golden and Clear Creek.  With 2,900 square feet plus a 1,647-sq.-ft. unfinished basement, this home has 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, a main-floor study, a 3-car garage and a beautifully landscaped backyard. A special feature of this home is its 9.9-kW solar PV system, which is owned, not leased. It has a high-efficiency heat pump furnace, too. You can view a narrated video tour of this home, inside and out, including drone footage of the neighborhood, at the website above.  Then come to our open house on Saturday, July 2nd, 1 to 4 p.m., or call me at 303-525-1851 for a private showing.

 Published June 30, 2016, in the YourHub section of the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers.

Price Reduced on Solar-Powered Arvada Home With Main-Floor Master

 

6268 Holman Court, Arvada

$450,000

Take a narrated video tour at www.ArvadaHome.info

This home is unlike most of the homes in the Wildflower Ponds subdivision with its main-floor master suite. At last Saturday’s open house, neighbors who didn’t know such a floor plan existed gave it rave reviews. 

It will be open again this Saturday, June 11, 1-4 pm. 

 

Published June 9, 2016, in the YourHub section of the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers.

 

Just Listed: Solar-Powered Green Mountain Home Backs to Open Space

 

14032 W. Exposition Drive, Lakewood

$820,000

Take a Narrated Video Tour at www.GreenMountainHome.info

If you drive far enough up the north side of Green Mountain, west of Union Boulevard, you’ll find this great home. Located on its own mini cul-de-sac, it backs to the Green Mountain open space. As you’ll experience on the video tour at the website above, you will hear only the sound of singing birds and the wind in the trees. You can neither see nor hear any busy streets or highways!  With 5,713 square feet, it has five bedrooms (including a second master suite on the main floor) and six bathrooms. The fenced yard includes water features and patios on two levels. The great room, living room, family room and other spaces make this a great home for entertaining.  The large gourmet kitchen is open to the great room. Heat is by hot water baseboard (6 zones). The garage is also heated.  After viewing the narrated video tour (which includes drone footage), be sure to come to our open house this Saturday, June 11th, 1-4 pm.

 

Published June 9, 2016, in the YourHub section of the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers.

Home Builders Lead the Way on Solar, But You Might Get it Free on an Existing Home

[Published May 17, 2012 in the Denver Post]

Last week I attended an expo of new home builders and was impressed at the emphasis on sustainability, including solar-equipped or solar ready homes.

Most of the builders were promoting their “green” features and their low HERS scores.

“HERS” stands for Home Energy Rating System, and a HERS score of 100 represents the energy rating of a home built to current building codes.  A home built to “Energy Star” standards (which entails such things as improved insulation, windows and highly efficient appliances) would earn a HERS score of 70.  A “net-zero” home would have a HERS score of zero.

Meritage Homes is clearly the leader in building energy efficient homes, claiming such distinctions as “First Energy Star Production Builder,” “First Net-Zero Production Builder,” and “First Builder with Community HERS Rating Under 40.”  None of the other builders I met at last week’s expo were quoting HERS scores under 60, but all were boasting many “green” features and some were building homes with solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Meritage is not currently building anywhere in Jefferson County, but has a half dozen communities in Denver’s southeast suburbs and another half dozen in the northern suburbs. You can find them online at www.MeritageHomes.com.

It’s great that builders are creating this kind of market consciousness regarding energy efficiency and solar powered homes.  However, I am still finding that energy efficiency and sustainability is the last thing on the minds of the buyers of existing homes.

Most buyers of existing homes are impressed by kitchens, bathrooms, stainless steel appliances (forget Energy Star ratings), hardwood floors, slab granite, etc., and are, for the most part, unimpressed by sales pitches such as for the solar-powered home I have listed at 16488 W. 55th Drive.  (Tour it only at www.JeffcoSolarHomes.com) .

The result of this disinterest, which I’ve complained about before, is that homes with solar systems and other energy features are selling for no more, and sometimes less, than homes without such features.

My solar-powered home mentioned above, for example, is priced competitively with homes which do not provide their owners with free electricity, even though that represents a savings of thousands of dollars per year to the homeowner.

Because of this disinterest, I tell those who are interested in solar, “Don’t install a PV system on your current home — buy an existing home with solar and you’ll get it free!” As a PV booster, I hate to say it, but it’s true. Sellers recoup little, if any, of their investment upon resale. They only recoup their investment by staying put and paying little or nothing for electricity.