One of the best part of building homes that build community is taking part in our community at large.  EFAA (Emergency Family Assistance Association) is a non-profit that shares our vision.  Since 1918, EFAA has acted as a community safety net to families who have nowhere else to turn when they can’t meet their basic needs.  EFAA provides basic needs, shelter, and support to families and elderly and disabled Boulder and Broomfield County residents and relies on local and individual donations rather than federal or state funds.

That’s where Boulder Creek comes in.  We tied attendance at our successful My First Home Expo to donations to EFAA along with our local sponsors Advantage Bank, County Line Lumber and Taylor Movers…and thanks to their support and the support of our attendees, our Kingsbridge Sales Associate, Brent Patterson, was able to present checks totaling $2,040 to EFAA’s Development Director, Karla Rikansrud, in the EFAA Food Bank.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped us donate to this worthy local cause!  To learn more about EFAA, visit efaa.org.

Our My First Home Expo at the Kingsbridge townhome community in South Longmont was a wonderful weekend of informative workshops and realtor events…including some fabulous prizes.

Congratulations to Carol Schack with Prudential Rocky Mountain Realtors and Ed, our lucky iPod Nano winners!

Our My First Home Expo at the Kingsbridge community of townhomes in South Longmont has been a huge success!  In fact, we were able to donate over $2000 to EFAA (Emergency Family Assistance Association) with the help of our sponsors Advantage Bank, County Line Lumber and Taylor Movers.

Thanks to our sponsors and to our presenters:

• National Association of Professional Organizers / Liz Canavan – Alchemy of Order
• Connor Morganti – JoMo Financial
• Tristan Samuels – Wealth Strategies Group
• Brandon Dwight - Boulder Cycle Sport
• Home Performance Solutions
• Lonny Jenkins - Cherry Creek Mortgage

…and all who attended!

Want to find out more about a community perfect for first-time buyers?  Kingsbridge Townhomes are built with efficient green building techniques, are close to recreation and shopping, and start at just $205k!  Drop in or visit us online at http://livekingsbridge.com.

This week has been rife with news on green building techniques finally, finally! hitting the mainstream.  The New York Times reports that several significant commercial real estate investors have decided to “green” their portfolios, green building expos are on the rise, and some of the country’s largest builders are finally jumping on the green bandwagon.  Of course this news makes us smile…because at Boulder Creek Life and Home, green building practices have been a part of our business as long as we’ve been in business.

So what does green building mean here at Boulder Creek?  Are we bowing to popular trends when we tell our homebuyers about our energy-efficient techniques and Earth-friendly building materials and construction practices?  No way.  Here’s a quick rundown on our green commitment…one that, like our commitment to building quality homes that combine the best in life and home, has never wavered.

• Green building techniques save money:  There’s a common misconception that a green home is an expensive one.  But we find that using green building practices and installing eco-friendly components actually saves money, increasing a building’s longevity and efficiency without a backbreaking up-front cost.  And once a homebuyer moves into their new green home, the costs of living are significantly smaller than the costs associated with inefficient, poorly insulated and energy-wasting structures of a similar size.
• Green building techniques create homes for the long haul:  Not many people realize that many of the very techniques that make a home eco-friendly also increase its durability and “shelf life.”  Properly sealed homes resist degradation from air and water; tough, energy-efficient exteriors require less maintenance and last longer; quality roofing and outdoor components will endure for decades.  This long-haul approach means that your Boulder Creek home is a good investment…not a cheaply-built liability.
• Green building techniques add life to home:  When a home is efficiently lit, properly heated and cooled, well-sealed and decorated with safe, eco-friendly materials, it just feels better.  So you can focus on the things that count.

Learn more about Boulder Creek Life and Home’s commitment to green building techniques (and learn more about the eco-friendly features of our unique communities) by clicking this link.

Boulder Creek Life and Home – More Than a Generation of Green Building in Boulder County

Homebuilder announces My First Home Expo, Saturday, Feb. 27

With roots that go back more than 30 years in Boulder County, Boulder Creek Life and Home was building homes before “green” practices were widely considered in the housing industry.

“A long time ago, we made a commitment to build all of our homes to Built Green standards,” recalls company principal David Gregg, who guides the architecture, project development and community planning. “As we analyzed the requirements, we discovered that in many instances, we were already building to those standards. We tweaked some of our construction specifications, and created some new efficiencies in our methods. Overall, going green was a pretty easy transition for us.”

To understand the full impact of Boulder Creek Life and Home’s commitment to green building, consider this: every home it builds meets or exceeds Built Green standards. And the builder is doing this in six different Front Range communities, every day, across every price point.

“What we do is utilize proven and practical green building techniques and materials, bringing them into the mainstream to create homes that deliver high value and lower energy costs,” explains David Sinkey, vice president and co-owner. “This allows us to do more with each home, and to do more of them.”

Gregg says it all comes down to the details. “The insulation we use, the type of windows, the framing techniques and the way we seal the homes to prevent air leakage, it all requires strong field coordination and the willingness to follow through, to make sure that all the steps are done right.”

Low-E glazed windows and blown-in cellulose insulation make your home easy to heat and a breeze to cool, lowering your annual cost for heating and cooling your home year in and year out. Two-by-six framing is standard instead of the two-by-fours you’ll find elsewhere, creating sturdier, deeper walls that hold more insulation and are more soundproof.

At two points during each home’s construction, an independent third-party construction observation company inspects each home to ensure it is being built to code and to Boulder Creek Life and Home standards, Gregg says. “They conduct a pre-drywall inspection, checking the ducts, caulking and sealing.”

This dedication to quality construction and design earned Boulder Creek Life and Home nationwide recognition in 2008 when the National Association of Home Builders recognized the Blue Vista community in Longmont with a Development of the Year Award for “excellence in green residential design and construction practices, and outstanding green advocacy efforts.”

Me? Buy a home? Don’t miss the My First Home Expo on Saturday, Feb. 27.

Are you considering your first home purchase? Boulder Creek Life and Home invites you to an exciting and informative event, designed to help you get the information you need to make an informed home buying decision. Attend free seminars on financial planning, lending practices, tax credits  and organizing your first home – each presented by professionals who are recognized experts in their field.

Enjoy a free barbecue lunch and refreshments, and watch the home energy efficiency demonstrations by Home Performance Solutions (complete with a blower door test and thermal imaging). Register to win one of several iPod Nanos. And you’ll be helping a good cause just by attending, since the event sponsors will donate $20 to the Emergency Family Assistance Association for every registered attendee.

Expo sponsors include Boulder Creek Life and Home, Taylor Moving Company, County Line Lumber Company and Advantage Bank.

My First Home Expo will be held at Kingsbridge Townhomes, 1656 Venice Lane, Longmont. For more information and directions, call 303.502.5338 or e-mail info@LiveKingsbridge.com.

MY FIRST HOME EXPO ON FEBRUARY 27th BRINGS TOGETHER INDUSTRY EXPERTS AND TAKES THE GUESSWORK OUT OF FIRST TIME HOME BUYING
Boulder Creek Life and Home to provide free expert advice on lending, tax incentive, greening a home, financial planning and more

Boulder Creek Life & Home www.livebouldercreek.com announced today that it will host the first ever My First Home Expo at their West Longmont townhome community of Kingsbridge on Saturday, February 27th from 10:00am to 2:00pm. This FREE event will bring together industry professionals from all walks of life to conduct short presentations and question and answer sessions about topics relevant to the first time buyer. Information will pertain to all aspects of home buying and ownership from financial planning to lending options to organizing and greening a home.

“It’s clearly a great time for the first time home buyer to get into the real estate game,” said David Sinkey, Principal of Boulder Creek Life & Home. “But many first time buyers have a ton of questions and concerns about the process and they don’t know where to go to get their questions answered. This expo is a one-stop shop to get all the information they need to move forward and take advantage of both the tax incentive and the buyer’s market.”

Kingsbridge Townhomes were selected for the expo because they are a short ten minute drive from Boulder and offer a price point starting at $200K, which is rarely seen in the area and appeals to first time home buyers eager to take advantage of the current tax incentive. Each of the sessions, all focused on different topics, will take place within one of the model homes on property.

For every registered attendee, a $20 donation will be made to Boulder’s Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA) by Boulder Creek Builders and it’s sponsors Advantage Bank, County Line Lumber and Taylor Movers, and all attendees will have four chances to win an iPOD Nano during two separate drawings.

The expo will be made up of two different sessions taking place at 11:00 am and 1:00pm with speakers from the following areas:

* Financial Planning
* Home Performance Solutions – Home energy efficiency presentation
* Lending Practices
* New Homebuyer Tax Credit and Tax Breaks on Your First Home
* Organizing Your First Home
* iPod Nano Giveaway!

“We are excited to bring the My First Home Expo to Kingsbridge, our newest community in Longmont,” said Sinkey. “We hope this event will get us acquainted with the local community, raise money for a great charity and offer a valuable resource to first time home buyers.”

About Kingsbridge Townhomes

Each Kingsbridge home offers two to three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a private, attached two-car garage, wonderful storage space and a myriad of features that can be personalized, all starting at $200,000. There will be four different two story plans available, ranging in size from 1,400 to 1,800 square feet. There will be one plan that features a bedroom on the first floor. Kingsbridge currently has 22 homes built and occupied. Boulder Creek will build and sell a total of 109 homes in the Kingsbridge community with construction starting immediately and the first homes likely to be completed in Spring 2010. There are currently three model Homes onsite. Marketing efforts for the new community has begun and Kingsbridge has enjoyed wonderful early reviews with 5 homes under contract.

About Boulder Creek Life & Home

Boulder Creek Life & Home www.livebouldercreek.com is an award winning, Boulder-based homebuilder that creates innovative communities across the Front Range of Colorado that embrace green building practices, energy efficiency and a true sense of place. The company’s mission is to build homes that are more than just bricks and mortar, but are actually modeled around how people aspire to live, thus appealing to the active lifestyle. Each of Boulder Creek’s six current communities Kingsbridge, Calmante, Heritage at Vista Ridge, Erie Village, Blue Vista and Shadow Grass Park, vary in size, price and concept, but have one common thread: they embrace quality craftsmanship and green building techniques and provide an unmatched lifestyle.

The past year has seen a virtual reshuffling of the deck in the world of business. Brand-name companies have gone through cycles of downsizing or simply ceased to exist. The housing industry has been no exception, as major homebuilders have scaled back developments or left the marketplace entirely.

Amidst the turmoil, however, local homebuilder and community developer Boulder Creek Life and Home has stayed the course, focused on creating vibrant neighborhoods with innovative, Built Green® homes and low-maintenance living. And more than merely surviving, the builder has actually found this to be a time of growth and innovation.

“I actually like how this market has challenged the traditional ways we manage our business,” says sales and marketing manager Paul Gortzig. “We have remained focused on our core principles, and more so, we have stayed focused on our homebuyers. The challenges we experienced led us to innovative solutions to not only manage our business, but also to find ways to grow our business. In a time when other companies have been downsizing their staff, we have steadily grown our team with talented professionals.” The National Homebuilding industry has taken notice as well, bestowing the company with a Development of the Year Award from the National Association of Home Builders.

Gortzig reports that the local home market is turning around, evidenced by sustained interest and sales at each of the homebuilder’s neighborhoods. “People are acting with confidence on plans that they had put aside for a while,” says Gortzig. “The activity Boulder Creek has experienced in the fourth quarter of last year supports the confidence and optimism we have moving into 2010. It’s an exciting time.”

Founded more than three decades ago, Boulder Creek Life and Home’s active lifestyle communities now include The Heritage at Vista Ridge in Erie, Erie Village, Blue Vista and Shadow Grass Park in Longmont, and Calmante in Superior.

Announcing a New Active Lifestyle Community in Longmont
Adding to its already impressive portfolio, Boulder Creek Life and Home now announces Kingsbridge, a community in the Renaissance neighborhood in Longmont, which will include 134 townhomes at build-out. Four floor plans offer two or three bedrooms with 1,400 to nearly 1,800 finished square feet. Each residence also includes a private two-car attached garage. Unlike condominiums, homeowners own both the townhome and the land it sits on.

“This location in southwest Longmont is ideal for people working in Boulder, at IBM or other tech jobs along the Diagonal Highway corridor,” says Brent Patterson, sales manager for Kingsbridge. “And it’s just minutes from retail centers and community amenities.

“We are offering these homes at very attractive introductory prices to the first 10 homebuyers. We have created undeniable value with the intention of making a big splash in the market. When people see this incredible value at Kingsbridge, we are very confident they will respond.”

Like every home Boulder Creek Life and Home builds, each will be constructed to Built Green standards, with 2×6 framing, low-e windows, composite sidings and decks, Energy Star® appliances, centrally located, high-efficiency furnaces and water heaters, and air-sealed building envelopes to ensure maximum insulation value.

The company has taken the standard of green building far beyond “concept” and “experimental” homes. “We can build a well-designed, energy-efficient home without having to add 15 or 20 percent to the cost,” says company co-owner David Sinkey. “We know it’s not about living with less – it’s about living better.”

Visit the models at Kingsbridge

Kingsbridge is located in West Longmont just off Airport Road in Boulder County. Three models are now open for your visit.

From Boulder: Head northeast on CO-119 (Diagonal Highway). Turn left (north) on Airport Road. After 1 mile turn left (west) onto Venice Lane. Look for the blue flags. The Sales Center is on the north side of Venice Lane.
From Longmont: Head southwest on CO-119 (Diagonal Highway). Turn right (north) on Airport Road. After 1 mile turn left (west) onto Venice Lane.
From Denver: Head north on I-25 to Exit 240. Turn left (west) on CO-119. Head west through Longmont for 10 miles. Turn right (north) on Airport Road. After 1 mile turn left (west) onto Venice Lane.

The Sales Center is open Monday noon to 5 p.m.; Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesday and Wednesday by appointment.

For more information, call 303.502.5338 or visit www.LiveBoulderCreek.com.

At Home Article provided by the Daily Camera

What’s your New Year’s Resolution? If you want your home to reflect your lifestyle, your commitment to the environment, all without breaking the bank, you’re in luck!  Boulder Creek Life and Home is pleased to present the Kingsbridge Townhomes in Longmont, Colorado.  Think:  All the amazing amenities Boulder County has to offer, with all of the perks of low-maintenance, lock-and-leave living…constructed with green building methods designed to save you money!

Choose from four energy-efficient floor plans ranging from 1,400 to just under 1,800 square feet.  Every Kingsbridge townhome features flexible design elements, plenty of storage, and an attached garage.  And with prices starting around $200,000, it’s an opportunity you can’t afford to miss in 2010.  With 22 buildings currently occupied, there are only 109 spots left in this exclusive development in South Longmont.  Now’s your chance to resolve never to shovel snow again…to live near hiking, winter sports, and great dining and shopping…to own a gorgeous home in the perfect location.  Intrigued?  Contact us to arrange for a homesite visit today!

Read more about Kingsbridge in the news:

• Boulder County Business Report
• Denver Business Journal
• Longmont Times-Call
• YourHub.com

Great news:  the first-time homebuyer credit has been extended! Here’s what you need to know about taking advantage of this credit to purchase your new home:

• Deadlines:  In order to take advantage of the credit, your home must be under contract by April 30, 2010 and must be closed upon by June 30, 2010.
• Restrictions:  The home must be used as the purchaser’s primary residence and is fully refundable.  Income limits are $125,000 for single persons, $225,000 for couples.  The credit is only valid on residences purchased for less than $800,000.  Primary residences including condos, townhomes, and single-family homes are eligible for the tax credit.
• First-time buyers:  Under the rules, “first-time buyer” is defined as a person who has not owned a home in the last three years.
• Repayment:  Beneficiaries of the credit need not repay itif they live in their new home for three years or more.

What this means for you:  Now is the time to buy!  Boulder Creek Life and Home has plenty of great options for an energy-efficient first home.  Visit our web site for more information our our low-maintenance communities.