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Insights
Writing on building, land, and selling homes
Thirty years of Colorado projects, written up by the people who worked on them. Organized into 12 subjects.
In short
Gourmet Real Estate publishes practical writing on custom home building, land selection and acquisition, working with architects and builders, wellness and universal design, energy and water efficiency, homebuilding business operations, development finance, and new home sales, all grounded in Colorado conditions and projects.
Written by practising brokers rather than by a content team. Where an article rests on an outside authority we link to it, most often theColorado Division of Real Estate, theColorado Division of Water Resources, theColorado Energy Office, or theNational Association of Home Builders.
Subjects
- The custom home building processHow a custom home gets built in Colorado, phase by phase0 articles
- Choosing and working with a custom home builderHow to evaluate, hire, and work with a Colorado custom home builder0 articles
- Land selection and acquisitionHow to evaluate a parcel before you buy it4 articles
- Working with architects and designersHow to select an architect and run the design process0 articles
- Wellness in the built environmentAir, light, water, sound, and thermal comfort in the home0 articles
- Universal design and aging in placeDesigning homes that work across a lifetime0 articles
- Energy efficiency and electrificationBuilding envelopes, heat pumps, and Colorado energy code4 articles
- Water efficiency and Colorado waterWater rights, tap fees, xeriscape, and indoor conservation0 articles
- Designing homes for the 2030s and beyondBuilding for conditions that have not arrived yet0 articles
- Scaling a homebuilding businessGoing from a few homes a year to a real operation0 articles
- Financing land development and constructionAcquisition, horizontal, and vertical capital0 articles
- New home sales and marketing for buildersAbsorption, pricing, conversion, and the sales center4 articles
Latest
- Energy efficiency and electrification·The envelope decides everythingAir sealing, continuous insulation, and thermal bridging determine a Colorado home's comfort and energy use. Why equipment cannot compensate for a leaky shell.
- New home sales and marketing for builders·Your community does not have a traffic problemCommunities behind their absorption plan are usually converting badly. How to diagnose the four stages of the new home sales funnel.
- Energy efficiency and electrification·Do heat pumps work in Colorado wintersCold-climate heat pumps, backup heat strategy, and what altitude and dry air do to performance in Colorado homes, plus where they fit.
- Land selection and acquisition·How to choose land for a custom home in ColoradoWhat to check before buying a Colorado home site, from water and access to grading, slope, and the season you visit. Written from 41 community engagements.
- New home sales and marketing for builders·How to price lot premiumsLot premiums are the most underused pricing instrument in new home sales. How to set them, when to move them, and why the last lots are the hard part.
- Energy efficiency and electrification·Windows, and what to specify at altitudeU-factor, solar heat gain, capillary tubes, and why one window package for the whole home is the wrong answer in Colorado. A practical specification guide.
- Land selection and acquisition·What water costs on a Colorado parcelTap fees, well permits, and augmentation plans explained for Colorado land buyers. Water usually decides what a parcel can support.
- New home sales and marketing for builders·What a model home is forA model home is not a showpiece, it is an objection-removal device. When one pays for itself, when a merchandised spec does the same job, and how to furnish it.
- Energy efficiency and electrification·What Colorado's energy code requiresHow energy code is adopted locally in Colorado, what the prescriptive and performance paths mean, and why code is a floor rather than a target.
- Land selection and acquisition·The site work budget nobody shows youGrading, soils, utilities, driveways, and drainage are where Colorado land budgets break. What to price before you buy, and who should price it.
- New home sales and marketing for builders·Hiring an on-site sales agentWhat predicts performance in a new home sales center, how resale experience can work against you, and how compensation shapes cancellation rates.
- Land selection and acquisition·Why you should look at land in FebruarySnow load, plow routes, sun angle, wind, and access all reveal themselves in winter and hide in summer. How to evaluate a Colorado parcel in the hard season.
Written and reviewed by Jason August, President and Employing Broker, Colorado license ER.040029060.·