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INDUSTRY NEWS:
The Gazette · springshouses.com
Sunday, Mar 15, 2015
Becht Joins CreekStone Homes BY CREEKSTONE HOMES
Locally owned since 1995, CreekStone Homes is pleased to welcome experienced Colorado Springs Realtor, Steve Becht, as the community sales manager for Gold Hill Mesa and Spring Creek. “Steve is a motivated, results-driven new home sales professional with over a dozen years of selling Real Estate in the Pikes Peak Region. We couldn’t be more excited to have this talented individual on our team.” said Jason Rose, Vice President of Sales and Market-
ing for CreekStone Homes. “With over a decade of new home sales experience, including several publicly traded home builders, Steve will handle the day to day sales operations for CreekStone Homes in our TND neighborhoods of Gold Hill Mesa and Springs Creek.” Rose continued. Becht is a graduate of the University of Kansas and enjoys beer brewing and enjoying the great Colorado outdoors. To contact Steve Becht, email him at
SBecht@CreekStone-Homes.com, call (719) 243-1347, or visit him at 1626 Gold Hill Mesa Dr. About CreekStone Homes: Celebrating 20 years as one of the na-tion’s largest female owned home building companies, CreekStone Homes start in the low $200s and are available locally in Cordera, Wolf Ranch, Gold Hill Mesa, Spring Creek and the Greens at Kissing Camels and on individual home sites in the Colorado Springs and Denver areas.
The Journey: Study explores new realities of retirement and homeownership BY JANET KIDD STEWART CHICAGO TRIBUNE (TNS)
Retirees, it turns out, are living large.
Among 50-plus retirees who have already moved in retirement, about half decamped to digs that were the same size or bigger, a new survey by Merrill Lynch and Age Wave reveals. They are making room for adult children and grandchildren who visit, and they’re entertaining more, particularly in the healthy early retirement years that rising longevity has created, the survey found. “More and more people are turning their empty nests into nurturing nests, a place where friends want to come and stay,” said Age Wave chief executive Ken Dychtwald.
Of course, by definition there is the other half of retirees who are downsizing, either by choice or necessity. And then there are those who are shrinking their real estate footprint, but not necessarily spending less. “I have one client who just sold his home and moved to a place with half the square footage, but it cost about 80 percent of what the previous home sold for, and now he’s picking up a vacation condo,” said Ben Jennings, director of financial life planning with SoundView Advisors in Olympia, Wash. He wasn’t involved with the study. The survey of 3,638 U.S. adults seemingly debunks several other bits of conventional wisdom about retirees: ––64 percent of 50-plus retirees said they are likely to move in retirement, including 37 percent who said they already have. The top reason for moving in retirement wasn’t about a change in health or marital status or wanting to cut costs, but about moving closer to family. • 30 percent of the retirees who reported already moving said they upsized to a larger home. • Among 65-plus people who said they moved, 83 percent stayed in the same state. We aren’t all snowbirds, apparently. For those who do have wanderlust, the study stayed pretty true to stereotypes: South Atlantic, Mountain and Pacific states got the most nods for desirability. The study also revealed that older retirees, those 75 and up, have the greatest emotional attachment to their homes,
perhaps suggesting that waiting until old age to downsize for financial reasons could be precisely the most difficult time. “On many levels, this is the most important financial topic advisers can talk about with clients,” said David Tyrie, head of retirement and personal wealth solutions for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He cautioned homeowners to balance the need to keep nesting with future priorities. So how should those approaching retirement think about that? A decade ago, Jennings told middle-class clients at retirement not to tie up more than about 20 percent of their total assets in a home. Today, he uses computer modeling to project actual expenses into the future and can model alternatives to selling a house, such as a reverse mortgage. Another way is to borrow a page from the wealthy, who tend to view second homes as a luxury they can dispense with if it begins to interfere with their core lifestyle, said Tim Noonan, managing director of capital markets insights with Russell Investments. “It comes down to can you afford to live the same way after you’ve retired as before? People don’t explore that question for the same reason they don’t go to the doctor, because they fear they’re going to hear something they don’t want to hear,” Noonan said. “They should understand that where they live is their No. 1 day-to-day financial habit, and their habits interfere with their financial security far more than they are willing to admit.”
INDUSTRY NEWS:
CreekStone Homes Opens New Models In Cordera and Gold Hill Mesa BY CREEKSTONE HOMES
Locally owned since 1995, CreekStone Homes starts 2015 with a bang and two brand new model homes in two phenomenal master planned communities – Cordera and Gold Hill Mesa. Priced from the low $300s and located at 5261 Kenosha Pass, CreekStone Homes in Academy School District 20 Cordera are the ideal solution for your new home in northern El Paso County. With a location that’s highlighted by award-winning amenities and convenience to shopping, dining, entertainment, and I-25, award-winning CreekStone Homes offer their families a simplified lifestyle that includes a home filled with included features that
other builders consider additional expenses and a process that makes the stress of relocating a thing of the past. Located at in the Colorado Springs TND Neighborhood of Gold Hill Mesa, the new CreekStone Homes model is located at 1626 Gold Hill Mesa Drive. With incredible views, a thoughtfully laid out community with walking paths, green spaces, and neighborhood businesses (including Genesis MedSpa), CreekStone Homes in Gold Hill Mesa start in the $200s. This great community offers easy access to I-25 for commuting north or south and easy access to Hwy. 24 for commuting east or west.
Cordera Model Home: 5261 Kenosha Pass Phone: (719) 499-8860 Lori@CreekStone-Homes.com Model Home Open: Monday – Saturday 10-6 Sunday 12-6 Gold Hill Mesa Model Home: 1626 Gold Hill Mesa Dr. Phone: (719) 243-1347 SBecht@CreekStone-Homes.com Model Home Open: Sunday 12-5 p.m. Monday, Thursday – Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday- closed
About CreekStone Homes: Celebrating 20 years in Colorado Springs, Rhonda McDonald established CreekStone Homes in 1995. As a pioneer in a predominately male-driven industry, Rhonda personally designs every home with her award-winning style and sophistication.
CreekStone Homes. Twenty Years Of Homes In The Making. CreekStone-Homes.com