Moving to Highlands Ranch? Avoid Choosing the Wrong Area (All Neighborhoods Explained)
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There's a lot to unpack about moving to Highlands Ranch, Colorado- Northridge, Southridge, Eastridge and Westridge... and a ton of sub associations? It's hard to know where you fit! In this complete Highlands Ranch Colorado neighborhood tour, we break down the communities, home prices, amenities, HOA differences, recreation centers, trails, and local insights that people just never explain. If you're researching where to live in Highlands Ranch, this video is designed to help you understand how the different areas compare so you can find the right fit for your lifestyle, budget, and long-term goals. Maybe you are looking for where to live near the Skyridge Medical Center? Or where to live near Lockheed Martin. Maybe you need a good place to commute to both Castle Rock and Denver, or you know you want to be in the Douglas County School System. If any of this is true Highlands Ranch is your match. As local Highlands Ranch Realtors who live, work, and raise our families here, we've helped countless buyers relocate to Highlands Ranch Colorado. One thing we consistently hear is that people don't realize how different the neighborhoods can feel from one another. While many online guides lump everything together, each area offers its own advantages, tradeoffs, housing styles, amenities, and community atmosphere. In this video, we take you through the major areas of Highlands Ranch including Westridge, Southridge, Northridge, and Eastridge. We explore some of the most sought-after neighborhoods and sub-associations including BackCountry, Highlands Ranch Golf Club, Westridge Knolls, Weatherstone, Indigo Hills, Mansion Point, Highwoods, Falcon Hills, Stratton Ridge, Firelight, The Hearth, Gleneagles, and more! You'll learn: • Which neighborhoods offer the best mountain views and open space access • Where you'll find larger lots and luxury homes • How HOA fees vary from community to community • What amenities are included and which neighborhoods have additional pools, tennis courts, and clubhouses • Differences between the four Highlands Ranch recreation centers • Which neighborhoods offer maintenance-free living • Where to find gated communities and 55+ communities in Highlands Ranch • Current home prices, square footage trends, and neighborhood statistics • What local residents actually love about living in these communities • How access to trails, parks, shopping, restaurants, and commuting routes varies across Highlands Ranch One of the biggest highlights is the incredible Highlands Ranch trail system and BackCountry Wilderness Area. With more than 70 miles of trails, multiple recreation centers, thousands of acres of open space, and easy access to both Denver and the foothills, Highlands Ranch has become one of the most popular places to live in Colorado. And of course... The rec centers! Best ammenities in Southern Denver for a low HOA fee. We also discuss important factors that many buyers overlook, including neighborhood character, lot sizes, architectural styles, HOA rules, community culture, and how those factors can impact your daily life long after closing day.
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Chapter 1: Highlands Ranch Colorado Tour | Moving to Highlands Ranch
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Look, Megan. Everything the light touches is our kingdom and will someday be yours.
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Everything the light touches. What about that shadowy part over there? That's Denver, Megan. Never go there.
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It's 45 minutes in good traffic. Think of all the square footage [music] you'll have to sacrifice.
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Hey, today we're taking you through a full neighborhood tour of all of Highlands Ranch. And if you're doing some research cuz you're thinking about
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moving here, I'm going to tell you this video is not riddled with some of the [music] misinformation that you might find when you're looking. We are super
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experienced in this neighborhood [music] and we have lots of clients that we have helped buy and sell. And we got their specific takes on the neighborhoods,
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their pros and cons. So, we're going to give you real life information as well as all of the data to accompany it.
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We're Jake and Megan Fredo, your local Highlands [music] Ranch experts. We live here. We work here. We play here. We sell houses here. Our kids go to school
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here. So, if you're looking [music] for an expert tour of Highlands Ranch, here it is. And whether you're ready to move in 9 days or 900 days, we would love to
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sit down, have a personal strategy session with you, and help you find [music] your perfect neighborhood.
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[music]
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Chapter 2: Highlands Ranch HOA, Rec Centers & Neighborhoods
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So, my motivation for making this video is we were talking with some clients a few weeks ago and she was saying, "I have no idea where I am in Highlands
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Ranch. People are always talking about what [music] neighborhood of Highlands Ranch they're in and I'm just so confused." And that's okay because it's confusing. So, there are there is one
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overarching association of Highlands Ranch, the HRCA. [music] With that, you get access to the four rec centers and all of the amenities of
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Highlands Ranch. It consists of Northridge, Southridge, Eastridge, and Westridge. [music] And within all of those communities, you have some subassociations.
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So, some neighborhoods are really just kind of like your run-of-the-mill neighborhood. [music] It doesn't really have a distinguishing neighborhood uh name. My neighborhood is
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like that. it when you when you drive in, it [music] has this plaque and it has the neighborhood name, but I can tell you right now, no one I know has ever called it that. A lot of the people
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that live in the neighborhood would probably even not even be able to tell you what that plaque says. So, some of those are just your smaller neighborhoods. I would say more often you're just going to say, "Hey, I live
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in Westridge or hey, I live in Northridge." But there are some standout communities that we're going to talk about that do have either subassociations or just some really
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standout features that make them a little bit more notable and neighborhoods that you would say, "Hey, I live in the Highwoods." Or, "Hey, I live in Falcon Hills." [music] So, let's
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dive into those. So, I've lived in Highlands Ranch for a very long time. I moved here when I was 23. And when I first moved here, I was coming from Denver and I remember saying, "I don't
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want to be too far west [music] cuz I don't want to be too far from Denver." And I think that was really just like an emotional thing is I felt like the further west I went into Highlands
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Ranch, like the further away I was getting. But E470 runs right across Highlands Ranch. So it's more about like how quick are you at E470 to start getting to other places. And once you
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let go of that, really the town center of Highlands Ranch is on the west side.
Chapter 3: Highlands Ranch Golf Club & Luxury Homes
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And if you're on the west side of Highlands Ranch, you have access to Littleton a little bit faster. So around that town center, there are several neighborhoods that are worth talking
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about. [music] The biggest one, the most notable one is going to be the Highlands Ranch Golf Club. And that's because this has incredible views. The neighborhood
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surrounds the University of Denver Golf Course. And so because of this, almost all of the homes have really expansive views. If you're on the east side of it,
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then you have really gorgeous mountain views in addition to the golf course.
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But really, no matter where you are, you've got some really beautiful views.
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For being such a luxurious community, you might be surprised to find that the HOA fee is just 45 bucks a month.
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[music] Now, I'm always going to put these in monthly just so that it's consistent across the board, even though some of them are maybe build annually.
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[music]
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And these are always going to be on top of your regular HRCA association fee.
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But here, you do get access immediate access to the golf club. But it's not like being a part of this community gives you exclusive access. It's a
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semi-private course, [music] so other people do have access. But as a member, you get first tea time pick um whenever you log onto the site. You [music] get
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that first access. Now, this additional HOA fee doesn't get you really access to super extra special amenities. You don't have an extra pool or tennis courts. So,
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I mean, I guess you're just stuck with the four recreation centers that are already given to you with HRCA, which I find pretty doable. The typical home
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that you're going to find in the Highlands Ranch Golf Course is going to be big and new. The medians for the last [music] year look like a 5- bedroomedroom 4b 3,57 [music]
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ft above ground home with a basement bringing it to about 4,500 total square ft. And they sold quick. They had a
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median days on market of 11 days before they went under contract. And they [music] were all built as a median of about 2001.
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So, within Westridge, south of that town center area, there's lots of other neighborhoods that we could talk to you about, but they don't have a ton of
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distinguishing [music] features, such as like an additional HOA or additional amenities or really anything that really strikes out about them. So, know that
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there's a lot of neighborhoods that are those smaller plaqueless areas that we're not going to dive in that are really [music] fantastic communities,
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but we do want to touch on a few of the other sub associations like Indigo Hills. That's another one where you have another small reasonable HOA fee.
Chapter 4: BackCountry Highlands Ranch Lifestyle
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[music] It's 27.50 a month. Now again, that's paid out not monthly, so that's why it's so funky. But with that, you do get an additional pool in the tennis
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courts. [music] And this neighborhood, my clients tell me they love the community feel. It has a regular food truck that comes during the summer and
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into the early fall. And everybody kind of gathers around and eats at the food truck and gets to chat a little bit. So that's one standout feature of that
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community. And then you'll hit the back country. This is Highlands Range premier community. It has a lot of luxury amenities and feel to it. [music] For
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that, you're going to go 360 a month for the additional HOA fee. Now, that's not for all the homes. Let me talk [music] to you really quickly about the differences of what makes some of these
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a little different. Some of the homes within the back country [music] have maintenance-free exterior. The HOA comes and take care of everything, so you
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[music] don't have to worry about doing any of your landscaping, mowing, shuffling. Other neighborhoods in the back country still have just kind of the standardized
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um you take care of your own plot of land structure and for those they have a little bit lower HOA fee of the [music] 360. There are also some paired homes
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within the back country. So those are going to have their own separate HOA.
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For today's video we're really focusing on single family homes. In another buyer review I just asked this morning, "Hey, what do you love about your
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neighborhood?" She lives in the back country and she [music] said, "We have driveway happy hours all the time. And kids are everywhere. There's so many trail, mountain, and water views for
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morning runs, summer concerts, the pools, walking to Lost Coffee, Halloween hotspots, and incredible library events.
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[music]
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In the back country, we're looking at above ground square footage about 3,400 square ft. Total [music] square ft,
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5,000, and a median price of $1.54 million.
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One of the biggest perks of living in the back country is the outdoor access.
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Highlands Ranch is known for its incredible [music] 8,000 acre backcountry wilderness area open to the entire community. But if you live here,
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you get access to an additional 500 acres of private wilderness reserved just for the residents.
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That means fewer crowds and [music] more spaces to hike, bike, or just escape into nature. And it's not just about recreation, it's about conservation,
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too. This incredible wildlife habitat is a sanctuary for various species, including elk, turkeys, golden [music] eagles. It's a place where nature
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thrives and residents can enjoy easy access to outdoor adventures right in their backyard.
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The Sundow [music] House sits at the edge of the Wilderness Center and it offers breathtaking views from downtown Denver to Longs Peak and [music] Pikes
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Peak. You can enjoy a meal at the campus lounge or grab a drink at Pikees Pub.
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The outdoor terrace is perfect for soaking in the views and relaxing by the fire [music] pit. The Backcountry Fitness Center includes a weight room, a
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movement studio, and locker rooms designed to help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.
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Then directly to the left of the back country is Weatherstone. This is another subassociation community. So, your secondary HOA [music] here is 102 bucks
Chapter 5: Westridge, Weatherstone & Town Center Homes
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a month. For that, you get your own pool, a clubhouse, they take care of your trash, they take care of the community. Um, but not really a strong
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amenity pool for $102 a month. Um, [music] the lots are a little bit bigger here than your standard lots in Highlands Range and it does have a
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really beautiful fuel driving to it. I think all of these communities, Back Country and Weatherstone are kind of tumbed away [music] and they have really beautiful um, views of the foothills.
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In Weatherstone, we're looking at about 3,200 square ft above ground and a total square footage about 4,700, median price of $1.385 [music] million.
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There's also the Westridge Nles. This is another small HOA fee. Um, you know, it also covers your trash, has a little bit of a pool, and no other super
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distinguishing [music] features. And then we've also got the villages at Highlands Ranch. The special thing to mention about this community, it's either going to be a slam dunk for you
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or a heck no. The heckno part of it might be that these homes are pretty pretty close together because they have shared driveways. [music] So, they're yes, single family detached homes.
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They're not sharing a wall with their neighbor, but you are sharing a driveway with kind of your community. The big pro of that, you are never going to have to
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shovel again. So, if you are moving from somewhere where you're not used to snow and that's a big detractor for you, you [music] don't have to do that. They also take care of your front yard
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maintenance. The backyard is still going to be up to you, but you still get the beauty of the single family home backyard without some of that
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maintenance. And Westridge Null's HOA is $70 a year. So, a little subset of Westridge is the area that's really close to town. We're just going to call
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that area town center. Um, we have a lot of smaller single family homes. So, your above grade square footage is going to be about 1,700 ft. Total square footage
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about 2,200 ft² and your medium price about $665,000.
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We're focusing on those single family homes today, but if you're looking for an attached home like a condo or a townhouse, there's a lot more of them in
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the town center area. And we've got 1,400 ft² above ground average, 1,600 total, and a $462,000 [music]
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median price. So, if you've ever driven by the Highlands Orange mansion or seen pictures of it, it's a really cool place to be. I was just speaking with one of
Chapter 6: Mansion Point, Highwoods & Westridge Rec Center
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my clients this morning who lives in Mansion Point. I said, "Hey, I'm doing a video. I'm talking about neighborhoods.
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Tell me a little bit about what you love about your neighborhood." And she said, "Being so [music] close to the mansion, number one, fantastic place to walk around." Now, take this with a grain of
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salt. I think all of Highlands Ranch is a beautiful place to walk around, but she said right over here, walking to the mansion is such a fun thing to do. And
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they have yearround community events that she absolutely loves. So, Mansion Point is right over by here. And there's no additional HOA to be here. You just
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get all of the beautiful views and all the beautiful homes for no extra cost.
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And then just south of there is Highwoods. Now, this has a really similar feel where, you know, have all this proximity to lots of trails and the
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mansion right there, but [music] this is a really long stretch, kind of like an island of homes because on both the
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north and the south side, it has vast open space. And so, just being this really thin stretch of homes means almost [music] all the homes here back
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to immaculate views. But, this one does come with an extra cost. [music] The Highwoods HOA is a little bit higher.
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It's 300 bucks a month and that's of course separate to the HRCA additional association fee. [music] And this one does have its own tennis court and
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pools. And with it being such a small little community, you're pretty much always walking distance from it as well.
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[music] And another neighborhood right in the area that I feel is worth mentioning is because it's gated. So if you're looking for that little bit of extra seclusion and privacy, [music]
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Mansion Hills is your bet. It doesn't have security, so you just need to know that is not one of the features. If you're looking for that, you're not going to have that. It is an additional HOA, so you have an a little extra cost.
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And with it, you also get another pool and a set of tennis courts.
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I'm just about to jump into South Ridge, but before we leave West Ridge, we got to hit up the [music] rec center. West Ridge is one of my favorite rec centers.
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It has by far the best weight room. It's huge. It's wide open. [music] It has really good equipment. Uh tons of squat
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racks. So, if you're hitting the gym, Westridge is my recommendation. [music] Other features, we've got a golf simulator. It's got an indoor turf field where people play indoor uh soccer.
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[music]
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Um you can play baseball in there. It's a great place for kids to play when it's like a rainy day. Uh sometimes when
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they're off of school during [music] Christmas break, lots of stuff to do there. We've also got a onemile a tenth of a mile indoor running track around
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[music] the turf, uh which is my favorite indoor running track for winter running. We've got an awesome lap [music] pool and a nice outdoor pool.
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It's a it's it's a really maybe [music] one of my favorite outdoor pools for kids in the summer. Um so overall really great rec center and that's what's
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special about that one. All right, so as we travel to the east side of the Highlands Ranch Mansion, we run into the South Ridge community. Uh interestingly,
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it's not [music] any farther south than West Ridge, but it's kind of central and so they labeled it this way anyway. Um,
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but we've got communities like Cantley Hills, Fire Light, The Hearth. [music] Uh, and it's a really nice area. This is really kind of the town's east side
Chapter 7: Firelight Highlands Ranch & Hearth Highlands Ranch
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access to the back country. So, a lot of these neighborhoods on the south side will give you direct access to all of the open space and the stuff [music] down there.
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If you make the heart your neighborhood, then this is going to be your local park. There's tons nearby that you could walk to, [music] but this one is going to be your central one.
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Like I said, these neighborhoods are really close together. Here at the hearth, we're just a little bit further east. The big difference here is your high school is going to be Rock Canyon.
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You're a little close to Daniel's [music] Park here. And you still have the same great access in both communities to 470 [music] and of course the South Rec Center.
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So, to be honest, the subtle architectural designs here of these two neighborhoods really kind of go over my [music] head. But some people take note.
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The hearth takes on a slightly different route. Someone told me, "Think modern tutor revival." [music] Now we're talking steep gables, darker trim, stone accents, craftsman porches.
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Whereas [music] the fire light is more Italy. The hearts is Colorado meets storybook cottage. So, a little more structured, buttoned up, still super
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charming. Some people say it feels [music] like a warm cup of coffee or something like that. There are about 1,600 homes built here, and they're all built by the same builder, Shea Holmes.
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So, there's a lot of architectural consistency.
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[music]
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The layouts here are really familyfriendly, welldesigned, and as you can tell, there's tons [music] of pride of ownership here. Now, next door calls
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the hearth one of the friendliest neighborhoods to live in, and I've got to say, I can attest to that. [music] Just a few weeks ago, I helped one of my close friends buy here, and she told me
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that a ton of her neighbors came by, introduced themselves. [music] She even told me that they brought cookies and toys for her little one.
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Now, let's dive into Firelight. [music] Just because we put it second in the video doesn't mean we're giving it any less love or attention unlike that
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secondborn kid. So there's just over 1,500 houses [music] here. So very similar size to the heart. Uh a difference here though is that we have a
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variety of builders. [music] Shea still the major developer but they let a few other folks build some houses in here which keeps a little variety from house
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to [music] house which I really appreciate. We got lots of big houses with large finished basement and decks and backyards pointing directly at those
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mountains over there for a nice view at sunset. Speaking of architecture, even if you're not a design nerd, you will feel [music] the difference. Firelight brings those warm Mediterranean vibes.
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Stucco exteriors, [music] arched windows, the occasional turret, like your house should come with a bottle of Cabernet and a cheeseboard. There's a
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softness to it. romantic, warm, [music] like your porch should be strung with lights and playing acoustic guitar in the background. So, those two are the main subassociations in Southridge.
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There's not a ton more. Everything else is just kind of generic Southridge.
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[music]
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Uh, something special about this part of town. It's kind of a central part of town. You have access to Highlands Ranch Parkway, [music] which turns into
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Colorado Boulevard, and you've got access to Lincoln, which turns into University going north. So, you have great access to get up north, especially if you're avoiding E470 from this area.
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[music] Uh, lots of ways to get out of town. Another special thing is you're close to the Whole Foods in town, which is really nice for me. Um, one of my
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favorite grocery stores. There's awesome grocery stores all over Highlands Ranch.
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[music] Um, but not a lot of access to restaurants. There are a few [music]
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little pockets of restaurants, but it's super strip mall in here. uh not unlike most of Hound's Ranch, but a little worse in this area. So, if you're
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looking for the restauranty part of town, more on the west [music] side as a whole, the stats for the average uh
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single family home in Highlands Ranch are [music] pretty similar. You're going to find above ground square footage to be right around 2,000, [music] the total
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square footage right around 3,000, and your median price somewhere in the neighborhood of 700,000, maybe slightly
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more. Where it gets interesting is that South Ridge is quite a bit bigger and [music] this is one of the newer communities. So overall median above grade square footage you've got 2500.
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Median total square footage is about 3600 and the median price is $850,000.
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[music]
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So quite a bit more space and a little more uh little more expensive in [music] Southridge.
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And you'll find a couple of those key neighborhoods that we've talked about with Southridge like you know the hearth or fire lake. They have smaller lots than typically what you see in Highlands Ranch.
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All right, the South Ridge rec center.
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[music]
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By far the prettiest rec center, although Westridge did just do a huge renovation, so they're catching up. The South Ridge has a better architecture,
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so you have tons of natural light. You do have a nice weight room. I would say it's the second best weight room after West Ridge on [music] that one. Um,
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great outdoor pool and it's got a really good indoor pool for [music] the kids.
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There's a whole lazy river inside of this pool. It's fantastic. There's like a fun house [music] that sprays water everywhere. So, if you have older kids, this is maybe your best indoor pool.
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Another great outdoor pool. [music] Um, what else we have? We've got, of course, a lap pool at every single one. And then this one is a great place to play pickle
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ball. We've got indoor pickle ball and outdoor pickle ball on the tennis courts. [music] Uh, a nice giant field.
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And then if you're up for it after your workout, you can also hit the trail and jog yourself right into the [music] back country from South Ridge. All right, so
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moving on to Northridge. Uh this is a large community that has only a couple of sub [music] associations. So in it
Chapter 8: Falcon Hills Highlands Ranch & Stratton Ridge
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we've got Falcon Hills, Stratton Ridge, and [music] Tana. Uh so we're going to focus on those things. But something
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special to me about Northridge is [music] that it actually parts of it on the west side are kind of older areas and they actually have the most dirt
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trails of any of the areas of Highlands Ranch. Most of the Highlands Ranch, you know, we talk about this 70 mi of trails and most of it is concrete paved, which
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is nice for bicycles and honestly nice for walking. But if [music] you're an outdoor runner like myself and you want to get yourself on some dirt trails
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without going up a huge mountain, Northridge is [music] the place to be.
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And you can use those dirt trails to jog yourself right on over to Northridge Rec Center. [music] Uh another great rec center. I know they're all great, but here's what's special about Northridge.
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It's got a gigantic tennis center. Uh it's it's a whole separate building, and this is enormous. They built it just a few years ago. So if you're into tennis,
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this is the place for you. If you're into pickle [music] ball, this is another great place for you. They let you play some pickle ball on the tennis courts. Uh it's got [music] honestly one
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of the weaker weight rooms. You can definitely get some good work done here, but if you're super into it or if you're [music] really trying to get a great
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workout in, I prefer Westridge. All right, so our three main sub association, Northridge, like I said, we're going to start with Straten Ridge.
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Uh Straten Ridge on the north side, closest to the highway. This is a really nice community. Um, it's a little older, but the houses are [music] beautiful.
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So, if you catch a remodeled one, you're going to be super stoked about this community. Uh, you don't get a whole lot for the homeowners association. It's
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mostly just a little more oversight and maintenance of some of the uh main areas. There's a little extra open space
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in this neighborhood. Um, [music] so you're paying for that. But beautiful neighborhood despite the lack of service for the association. [music]
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Right across the street from Stratton Stratton Ridge is Falcon Hills. Now, you get a lot more for this one. [music]
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There's not any extra amenities, but you have 24/7 security and a gated entry to this [music] area. You've got tons of
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open space in the outdoors. And this is a really special community. It's got much bigger houses, huge [music] lots,
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the average lot being 16,000 square ft in this area. So, if you're looking for a little extra space, [music] Falcon Hills could be the one for you.
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Last but not least, Tana. This is a community of town homes. [music] Um, we mention it, it's it's a beautiful
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association. It's not quite a retirement area, but a lot of retired folks do live there. It's not intended for this
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necessarily. [music] Uh the association dues in this are pretty hefty because they're taking care of all of your maintenance [music] uh of all the
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grounds and the building itself. Uh depending on which unit and what size, you're looking at somewhere between 400 and $550 [music]
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extra dollars a month on top of the regular HRCA dues. Missed it, but the HOA uh fee on [music] Straten Ridge is
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$151 per month. So, in Straten Ridge, we've got a median lot size of about 9,700 square ft. Above grade square
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footage about 3,300. Total square footage 4,800. Median price $1.1 [music] million. For Falcon Hills, we've got a
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median lot size of 16,335 ft. [music] Gated entry 247 security and
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above grade square footage. Median 3,700.
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Total square foot 6,100 and a median price of $1.5 million. [music] Over in East Ridge here, you're going to
Chapter 9: East Ridge Highlands Ranch & Lone Tree Access
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23 minutes, 4 seconds
be the closest access to I25. Also, closest access to Lone Tree, which we frequent for date nights and things to
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do over there. Um, the Park Meadows Mall is a great resource. Lots of things for [music] you to do. Really high-end shopping. Then you have the Eastridge Rec Center, which is definitely notable.
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This is the Eastridge Rec Center, which is a another great one. We've got an outdoor sand volleyball court. We've got an indoor climbing wall, a really great
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workout center, and my favorite indoor [music] pool for kids, open year round with a zero entry, and an awesome slide.
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And one notable community to touch on here is the Glen Eagles community. Now, this is one that I find funny. [music] If you're talking to your buddy Chat GBT, it's just going to tell you that
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this is a nice gated uh community [music] with some amenity features.
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That's true. It's also a 55 and up community, which is definitely worth knowing. Here you have the additional HOA fee of 475 [music] and you also have
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an actually decreased HRCA um fee and there's a reason for that because you [music] actually in the Glen Eagles community don't have your
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standardized access to all four of HRC rec centers in the community itself.
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You've got your own little clubhouse pool um and a little bit of amenities there but you don't have the full access to all four communities which I find
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[music] very interesting. And those amenities in addition to the pool and clubhouse are banquet centers, event centers, [music] and of course, like you'll see in a lot of [clears throat]
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55 and up communities, they have a lot of rotating events that they change seasonally and get the whole community involved in. It's of course also going
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to be surrounding the Lynx golf course, which is one of its prominent features.
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[music]
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It also surrounds the Link Golf Course, which is one of its prominent features.
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And in addition to it being a gated community, it's also a [music] maintenance-free lifestyle. So all of your front backyard care, exterior maintenance is all going to be on the association.
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Do you know that in Highland's Ranch twice a year the geese come through flying south in the winter and flying
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north in the summer and the parks are just full of geese poop. Our local ornithologist himself.
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And hey, look, we just ran into a local Eastridge resident. Did you tell us your name, sir? I'm Scott [music] Fredel. Oh, the managing broker of this company.
Chapter 10: Highlands Ranch Trails, HOA Fees & Community
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That's right. Dad, uh, can you tell us about Eastridge? What's your neighborhood called? [music] You know, that's funny because I've been there for at least 12 years and it's [music]
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Highland's Ranch, but there are a couple, uh, subdivisions within the ranch that have their own special name,
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but yours doesn't, right? Like, this is what we're talking about with [music] all these neighborhoods. Like, sometimes there's not really an official name, but uh, so you're right next to the
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Eastridge [music] Rec Center. So, we notice at least you're in Eastridge.
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What do you like about your part of town?
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Wow. I think the most important thing is we're about half a block from some amazing trails. So, I've got my
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beautiful pup, a beautiful German Shepherd that needs tons of uh exercise.
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So, those trails are amazing. I can walk for five or 10 miles [music] without even blinking an eye. Yeah. uh the five
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or 10 of the 70 plus total miles all throughout Hound's Ranch. Pretty sweet spot. Anything else that's special about your part [music] of town?
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Well, you know, real interesting lot of uh thought and discussion about how the HOA works and [music] how strict they
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are. And Holland's Ranch is kind of middle of the road. They have a nice association set of rules, but they're
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not overbearing. [music] And that's real important to me. I don't prefer a really strong HOA um like some
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communities [music] have. So, I'm really enjoying that. They don't harass you, but they keep your homeowners your values up within the neighborhood. And
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that's real important, too. Yeah. So, you wouldn't be a great fit for Back [music] Country or Fire Light or one of these slightly more strict uh sub
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associations? Personally, no. I really wouldn't. Um I like a few rules. I like the the value proposition, keeping up
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the homes around me, but I don't want a strict [music] HOA. I don't want to have to enter a gate to get in my community.
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That's real important. So, for those of you who are afraid of a homeowners association, this is a man who has been wild and free his whole life and has
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been tamed down to a pretty reasonable association. [music] You know, lots of great service, not too much of a pain in your butt. We love
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living here. Well, I don't know if you knew this, but all of Colorado is governed by CCIOA. That's the Colorado
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Community Interest Association, and it helps bind and control [music] HOAs so they don't get out of control.
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That's a really cool thing. So, we have a [music] ton of information and a ton of experience dealing with that document. [music] It's about a 100 pages
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long and how it affects and controls and kind of subdues some HOAs. So, a great example of the protection of this
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document is that one of the sub associations in Highlands Ranch recently uh they were trying to change the perimeter color of the fencing and one
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of our clients showed up to the board meeting and said, "Hey, you can't do this." [music] And the board was like, "What do you mean we can't do this?" And then they read the document and the
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document stated that they had to have a vote and enough people to do this. So if you ever need a copy [music] of this document, we're happy to provide it for
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you and help you translate it and help you show up to your association meetings to be like, "No, no, no. We got you."
Chapter 11: Highlands Ranch Real Estate | Colorado Relocation Guide
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So I've had clients tell me, "Hey, I've looked in the Highlands Ranch and I have figured out the neighborhood I want to be in. I want to be in West Rich and you
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know that's really important to me." Then we get in the car, we go out, we look at neighborhoods, we look at [music] homes, and they figure out, I shouldn't really care about West Reginals. I care about these key
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features in a home. I care about backing open space or I care about being really close to XYZ. That's when we figure out
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what you really want in a neighborhood and then [music] we go from there. And that's what we help people do. We help people discern the difference between checking boxes [music] and finding something that really feels like home.
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You know, some of these communities don't have tons of houses and so there's not going to be a lot of things that come for sale. So, we're here to help guide you into finding out maybe a
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number of different areas that actually fit your needs and [music] help create long-term satisfaction and just joy in living at your home. So, whenever you're
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ready, give us a call, shoot us a text, and we'd love to start the strategy process with you.
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All of our information is in the description below. So, that's [music] it. That is absolutely everything there is to possibly know about living in
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Highlands Ranch. Well, maybe not everything, but some things you have to get here and hop in a [music] car and take some neighborhood tours and see the
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insides of these beautiful homes. So, whenever you're ready for that, please reach out, shoot us a call, send us a text message, and we will help you find your perfect spot in Highlands Ranch.
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[music]
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Absolutely. It is never too early to start a call and get you on your home buying journey. So, reach out [music] and we look forward to hearing from you.
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Q: What is the main homeowners association in Highlands Ranch?
A: The overarching association is the HRCA (Highlands Ranch Community Association). Living in the HRCA gives residents access to the area's four main recreation centers—Northridge, Southridge, Eastridge, and Westridge—along with all general community amenities [01:39].
Q: Do all neighborhoods in Highlands Ranch have the same HOA fees?
A: No. While all residents pay the standard HRCA fee, many specific communities have sub-associations with additional monthly costs. For instance, neighborhoods like Weatherstone have secondary HOAs that cover extra perks like private community pools, trash collection, and localized maintenance [08:19].
Q: What is considered the premier luxury neighborhood in Highlands Ranch?
A: BackCountry is considered the premier luxury community in the area [05:53]. It features high-end amenities like the Sundial House, a private fitness center, and exclusive access to 500 acres of private wilderness reserved solely for residents.
Q: Are there any 55+ communities in Highlands Ranch?
A: Yes, Glen Eagles is a gated 55-and-up community located in Eastridge [23:43]. It offers a maintenance-free lifestyle and features its own private clubhouse and pool. This setup uniquely results in residents paying a decreased standard HRCA fee since they don't have standard access to the four main rec centers.
Q: Which recreation center is best for lifting weights and fitness?
A: Westridge is highly recommended as having the best, most spacious weight room with plenty of equipment and squat racks [12:31]. It also features an indoor running track, a golf simulator, and an indoor turf field.
