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This hub covers the part of buying a first home that we know best. That is new construction, our communities, and what happens between your first visit and your keys.
It also explains the costs you should plan for, in plain terms. What it does not do is stand in for your lender, your insurance agent or a tax professional. Where a question belongs to one of them, we say who to ask. The questions page gathers all of those in one place.
What it costs
The lines in a monthly cost beyond the mortgage, including the metro district, what you pay at closing, and why a lender is your first call.
Start here →New vs resale
New home or resale, compared honestly. Where each one wins, and how to decide for your own situation.
Start here →The Cardel process
Contract to closing, stage by stage. The disclosures Colorado gives you, the walkthrough, and what happens after you move in.
Start here →Where to start
Our Colorado communities by area and home type, what is different about living here, and how to narrow it down to two worth visiting.
Start here →Questions & next steps
The questions to ask a lender, an insurance agent, the county and us, with a short checklist for each stage.
Start here →Your monthly cost is more than the mortgage
Most first-time buyers arrive knowing the price and the interest rate. Near Denver, a few more lines belong in the budget from day one.
- Property tax, a yearly county tax based on the value of your home.
- The metro district, which many new Front Range communities use to pay for roads, water lines and parks. Its charge sits inside the property tax bill, and it differs from one community to the next.
- Home insurance, which in the foothills can depend on wildfire exposure.
- HOA dues, paid to the community association for shared amenities and upkeep. A community can have an HOA, a metro district, both or neither.
Two homes at the same price can carry different monthly costs because of these lines. What it costs explains each one and who can give you the number.
A lender can estimate every one of these for a specific home and show you the full monthly picture. That conversation is worth having before you tour, not after.
What we can help you with
Here is what our Colorado team does for a first-time buyer, so you know what to ask us and what to ask someone else.
- Model homes. Walk through finished, furnished homes in each community to see floorplans and finishes in person.
- Quick move-in homes. Homes that are built, or nearly built, if you need to move sooner than a full build allows.
- The design center. If you build from a plan, you choose your finishes with our design team. We explain what is included and what is an option.
- The build process. We walk you through the stages, including the walkthrough before closing and the soils report Colorado buyers receive.
- The metro district and HOA. We can tell you which district and association serve a specific home, and the current charges, so your lender has the full picture.
- The warranty. Every new Cardel home comes with a written warranty. Ask us for the terms. [to confirm: Colorado warranty terms and how to describe them]
What we do not do is set your rate, write your insurance, or advise you on taxes. For those, see who to ask.
Read next on Cardel News
Some topics change too often to live on an evergreen page. Metro district levies, assistance programs for first-time buyers, financing incentives and insurance all move from year to year. We cover them in dated articles on Cardel News, where we can say when each one was last checked.
Our Colorado feed already carries first-time buyer tips, a new-construction-versus-resale piece, and stories about living in the Denver area and its school districts. Read the latest Colorado stories on Cardel News
The first-time buyer article series that replaces the former specialist pages is planned, not yet published. [to confirm: NEWS series titles, publication order and URLs at launch]
Our communities in Colorado
Westminster Station
Townhomes · Westminster, on the rail line
See the community ↗Deer Creek
Paired villas · Ken Caryl, southwest foothills
See the community ↗Three Hills
Single-family homes · Morrison, southwest foothills
See the community ↗Vivant
Details to be confirmed · Listed on the live Colorado page; product and area to confirm with the region
See the community ↗Words used on this page
- mortgage
- The loan you use to buy the home. You pay it back every month, with interest.
- pre-approval
- A letter from a lender that says how much they are willing to lend you. It is not the final loan.
- property tax
- A tax you pay every year to the county or city, based on what your home is worth.
- metro district
- A local district many new Colorado communities use to pay for roads, water lines and parks. Its charge appears as extra mills inside your county property tax bill.
- HOA fee
- A regular fee paid to a homeowners association. It pays for shared things like the pool, gates or landscaping.
- home insurance
- Insurance that pays to repair or rebuild your home if it is damaged, for example by wind or fire.
- closing
- The day you sign the final papers, pay what you owe, and the home becomes yours.
- warranty
- The builder's promise to fix certain problems with the home for a set number of years.
Questions first-time buyers ask
Do I need to be pre-approved before I visit a model home?
No. You are welcome to visit first. That said, a pre-approval tells you what you can borrow, so you tour with a real budget in mind. Many buyers find it easier to decide once they have one. Here is what to ask a lender.
What is a metro district, in one sentence?
A local district that pays for a new community's roads, water lines and parks, and collects its share as extra mills inside your county property tax bill. Ask us which district serves a home you like, and give the figure to your lender.
Is there help with a down payment near Denver?
Programs exist at the metro and state level, and they change often. We do not list them here because the rules, the eligible areas and the funding move. A lender who works with first-time buyers can tell you what is open today and whether a specific address qualifies.
Which Cardel community is the most affordable for a first home?
It depends on the home type and what is selling at the time. We build townhomes, paired villas and single-family homes, and prices change. The live community pages show current homes and starting prices. Where to start explains how to compare them.
Ready to see a home?
Visit a model home, or ask us about quick move-in homes in the community you like.
Internal review notes — what must be confirmed before this page publishes
- [to confirm] Which Colorado communities and home types are actively selling at launch. The community tiles come from the manifest and must match the live site. Vivant is listed on the live page without product details.
- [to confirm] Colorado warranty terms, and how the region wants the warranty described on this page.
- [to confirm] NEWS series titles and URLs for the topics moved off this hub: metro districts, down payment help, financing incentives, insurance and wildfire, radon and soils, closing costs.
- Legal review: confirm the 'costs beyond the mortgage' section and the metro district FAQ stay at the general level set out in the Aug 31, 2026 feedback. No figures, levies, programs or rates are named on this page.
- Oct 2026 rebuild: this hub replaced an 11-page version with calculators and specialist pages. The earlier version is in archive/prototype-backups/colorado-pre-feedback-aug2026/.