September 1–30, 2026 sales · What sold fast, and what to check
Lakewood 80228: Two Look-Alike Pairs. 1–2 Days vs. 30–94 Days.
In two pairs of similar Green Mountain and Solterra homes, the fast one sold near its first price in 1 or 2 days. The slow one cut its price and waited.
First coverage · Lakewood · 80228. We have not written about this ZIP before.
Fast, even at higher prices
Across the five-county metro, resale houses averaged 43.2 days to find a buyer in September.
Lakewood's 80228 averaged 20.2 days across 26 resales. Half sold in 10.5 days or less. The typical home closed at 98.6% of its first asking price. That was the third-fastest ZIP in the metro by our rule.
This is not a cheap ZIP. Half the homes here sold for more than $832,500. So "hot" here is about speed, not a low entry price.
DOM is the MLS days-on-market count. It roughly tracks time listed before a buyer signed a contract, but for some homes the MLS counts fewer days than the calendar shows. It does not count closing or your repair time.
Where to look and what was inside
Where: Green Mountain, with 1960s and 1970s ranches and bi-levels, and Solterra, with 2012–2013 two-stories.
Inside: Three of the four sales to buyers with standard home loans had stained wood cabinets, from espresso to cherry. The fourth had sage-green painted cabinets. None had the gray shaker look of the slower Vassar home. The fifth fast sale went to a buyer using a private-money loan, covered below.
| Home | Where | Days | Kitchen (photos show) | Floors and baths (photos show) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13685 W Alaska Pl, 1964 brick ranch, 5 bd / 3 ba (buyer used a private-money loan) | Green Mountain | 1 | Dated brown cabinets, white laminate-look counters | Golden wood-look plank; small white-tile tub |
| 15268 W Baker Ave, 2013 two-story, 4 bd / 4 ba, 3-car tandem | Solterra | 1 | Espresso cabinets, tan speckled counters, big island | Dark wood-look floors; tan tile primary bath |
| 2293 S Coors St, 1979 bi-level, 2 bd / 2 ba | Green Mountain Village | 2 | Wood-grain arched cabinets, dark green-black speckled counters, mosaic backsplash | Brown wood-look floors; tan tile shower |
| 14904 W Evans Pl, 2012 custom two-story, 3 bd / 3 ba | Solterra | 2 | Stained wood cabinets (listing: cherry), cream speckled counters (listing: granite) | Dark wood-look floors; tile soaking tub |
| 1868 S Alkire Ct, 1972 walk-out ranch, 5 bd / 3 ba | Green Mountain | 2 | Sage-green shaker cabinets, speckled counters, white subway tile | Light plank-look kitchen, dark wood-look living; white subway shower |
Photos show the look, not the material. Where a listing names a material, we say so.
Where the fast homes were
All five fastest sales we checked sat in two areas:
- Green Mountain (including Green Mountain Village): 1964–1979 ranches and bi-levels near open space.
- Solterra: newer two-story homes; the two fast ones were built in 2012 and 2013.
A sixth home, 2175 S Poppy St, also sold in 2 days. We did not check its listing.
Pair one: two Green Mountain ranches
| Address | DOM | Original ask → close | Seller credit | Home details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1868 S Alkire Ct | 2 | $875,000 → $875,000 | $2,902 | Walk-out ranch, 5 beds, 3 baths, 1,673 sq. ft. up + 1,473 finished below |
| 13090 W Warren Ave | 30 | $770,000 → $715,000 | $15,000 | Walk-out ranch, 5 beds, 3 baths, 1,486 sq. ft. up + 1,209 finished below |
These houses are close cousins. Both are 1970s Green Mountain ranches with walk-out basements and two-car garages. Both had updated kitchens in the photos.
Alkire went all the way. Photos show sage-green shaker cabinets, speckled counters, white subway tile, a new deck and an epoxy-look garage floor. The listing reports new windows, new siding, and a permitted shed with power. It asked $875,000, got $875,000, and paid a small credit. Listing
Warren had a new white kitchen and a new deck too. But its baths mixed new tile with older-looking wood vanities. It started at $770,000, dropped to $699,950, and closed at $715,000 with a $15,000 credit. Listing
Warren was a little smaller above ground. Its baths also mixed new tile with older-looking vanities. We can't say which mattered more. Its first price was $55,000 above where it closed.
Pair two: two Solterra two-stories
| Address | DOM | Original ask → close | Seller credit | Home details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15268 W Baker Ave | 1 | $1,050,000 → $1,040,000 | $8,000 | 2013, 4 beds, 4 baths, 2,876 finished sq. ft., 3-car tandem garage |
| 15513 W Vassar Ave | 94 | $920,000 → $872,000 | none | 2019, 4 beds, 4 baths, 3,198 finished sq. ft., 2-car garage |
Here is the puzzle. Vassar was newer, bigger and cheaper. It still took 94 days.
Baker's photos show dark espresso cabinets, tan speckled counters and a two-story stone fireplace. That is not a trendy kitchen. It found a buyer in one day. Listing
Vassar's photos show gray shaker cabinets, white counters and plank floors. It had solar panels (ownership not stated). It cut its price more than once, from $920,000 to $890,000. Listing
What else differed? Vassar sits on a 0.10-acre lot, the smallest in our set. Baker has a bigger lot and a three-car tandem garage. Vassar's market may also have been different when it first listed. We don't know which of these explains the gap.
Newer isn't the same as quicker to sell.
The dated ranch that sold in one day
One more house matters for flippers. 13685 W Alaska Pl is a 1964 brick ranch in Green Mountain. Photos show dated brown cabinets, white laminate-look counters and a wallpaper border. The listing said "tons of potential."
It asked $520,000, sold in one day, and closed at $550,000. That is $30,000 over asking with no seller credit. Listing
That's well under what most homes in this ZIP sold for. And here's the catch: this was not a homeowner purchase. The MLS called it a cash sale. County deed records show the buyer took a $657,000 private-money loan the same day, due in June 2027. That's a short-term loan bigger than the price, the kind used to buy and renovate.
So Alaska tells you what a buyer using a short-term private-money loan paid, not what a homeowner will accept. Don't use it as a sold comp for a finished flip.
Who bought these homes
Besides Alaska, the other four fast homes went to people using conventional home loans. So both look-alike pairs compare homeowner purchases. Warren's buyers used a conventional loan. Vassar's buyers paid without a recorded loan.
What this means for your next 80228 flip
- Expect competition for Green Mountain project houses. A dated 1964 ranch went in one day, over asking, to a buyer using a short-term private-money loan. If you want one, be ready to move fast.
- Set the first price from nearby sales. In both pairs, the slower house cut its price before it sold. The fast houses closed close to their first ask. We can't prove the price is why, but it's the pattern.
- Look at the baths, not just the kitchen. Warren's baths didn't match its new kitchen, and it waited 30 days. Alkire's kitchen, baths, deck and garage all looked done.
- Check lot size and garage in Solterra. The 94-day home had the smallest lot and fewer garage bays than its fast neighbor.
- Don't count on a trendy kitchen. Espresso cabinets sold in a day, and a sage-green kitchen in two. A gray shaker kitchen waited 94.
Sources and method: We used every September 1–30, 2026 closed single-family resale in REcolorado for ZIP 80228, leaving out new construction. Average means the arithmetic mean. We checked listing photos and descriptions for these homes on October 14, 2026. County deed records (pulled through Elementix on October 14, 2026) show who took title and any purchase loan. "Photos show" is what we saw. "Listing says" is the agent's claim. Some listings label these homes Denver; the subdivisions are in Lakewood.