There’s no better time to move to Wind Crest than the present

When Judy Brookhart visited Breckenridge, Colorado to help plan her daughter's wedding, she ended up loving the mountains so much that she bought a condo in Highlands Ranch and relocated there from Long Beach, California. With her daughter and family nearby, she retired from a career in interior design to care for her two young granddaughters. Fifteen years later and with the grandkids grown and in school (14 and 11) she began to consider moving to Wind Crest, the area's premier retirement community developed and managed by Erickson Living.

"I started looking into Wind Crest with the idea that I would move in about three years," Brookhart said.

She first expected to move to a brand new apartment in Mt. Rosa Court, which was slated to open in 2018. But when her ideal floor plan became available in an existing building, Parry Landing—with a beautiful view from the fourth floor, to boot—she realized three years was too long to wait.

With the Denver area's booming real estate market, she knew it was a good time to list her condo and move. "I sold at the right time to get a good profit. The timing was perfect," she says.

Having help from Erickson Realty and Moving Services, a program designed to assist new residents with all aspects of moving to an Erickson Living community like Wind Crest, made Brookhart's decision that much easier—and not just because Wind Crest's Personal Moving Consultant Beth Brandenburg was her neighbor in Highlands Ranch.

At Wind Crest, Brandenburg provides complimentary coordination of all realty and moving needs, including downsizing, home staging, packing, and selection of a real estate professional. She starts by meeting with prospective residents in their home, armed with a magnetic floor plan of their apartment.

In Brookhart's case, the two would get together at Judy's condo to plan her move and choose what to keep, sell or donate. For those items that would be moved to the new apartment at Wind Crest, Brandenburg measured each one out and placed the to-scale pieces on the magnetic floor plan to create an accurate visual of the space.

With Brandenburg's help, Brookhart downsized from a two-bedroom, two-bath condo with an attached garage—which amounted to extra space for extra stuff—to a one-bedroom, one-bath Brecken-style apartment in Wind Crest's Parry Landing residence building.

"I like living in this well-designed apartment. Everything has its place, and it is easier to keep it neat and tidy," Brookhart says. Plus, now, "I have time to do other things besides clean and care for unused space."

In addition to loving her apartment home, she thrives on the pulse of the community.

"It's a very positive, vibrant place," she says, "People are always out and about here. You're living with these wonderfully active, vibrant peers."

Amenities and activities like book club, art classes, movies, and barbeques all appeal to her. She also enjoys walking the High Line Canal Trail, which bisects the property.

"Move when you're young enough that you can join things, meet people, and take part in all the activities available here," she says. "And take advantage of the fact that in the middle of a snow storm, you can still go to a movie or meet someone for dinner."

Wind Crest Sales Director Krista Wagner says Brookhart is an excellent example of someone who is truly embracing the lifestyle at Wind Crest. "She moved in with the idea of living a more worry-free, active life, and she's able to do that here," Wagner says.