Buying a One-Level Home in Aurora: 4 Tips

Buying a one-level home in Aurora: 4 tips

Aurora has more one-level homes for sale than most Denver suburbs. On October 25, 2026 the MLS showed 700 one-level homes and condos listed in Aurora, 372 of them detached houses, plus 879 homes with a main-floor primary bedroom and 131 homes in 55+ communities. These four tips from REALTOR® Brian Lee Burke and our team of real estate agents at The Kenna Group at Keller Williams DTC help you narrow that list to the right one. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers.

Aurora homes for sale · Aurora Realtors & real estate agents · Aurora 55+ homes

1. Price the whole monthly cost, not the list price

Aurora spans Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties, so the property tax rate changes with the address. Newer neighborhoods on the east side often carry a metro district on top of the HOA. Before you tour, add the taxes, the HOA dues, any metro district and insurance to the mortgage payment. Run it with the Colorado mortgage calculator, or pay cash from your current home’s equity: a free Smart Pricing Report tells you that number first.

Colorado senior property tax exemption. An owner who is 65 or older on January 1 and has owned and lived in the home as a primary residence for at least 10 straight years can have 50% of the first $200,000 of actual value exempted, filed with the county assessor by July 15. A 2024 law (SB24-111) let a senior who already had the exemption move it to a new home for tax years 2025 and 2026; SB26-116 ends that portability starting with tax year 2027. If you are selling a long-held home to buy in a 55+ community, ask the county assessor how the exemption applies before you close.

2. Search for the features, not just the word ranch

A listing called a ranch can still have steps at the entry and the laundry in the basement. On Oct 25, 2026, 206 one-level detached Aurora houses were listed at $500,000 or less. Check each one for:

• a step-free entry from the garage or the front walk;
• the primary bedroom, a full bathroom and the laundry on the main floor;
• doorways and halls wide enough for the furniture you are bringing;
• a walk-in shower, or room to add one;
• a yard the HOA maintains, if you want the snow and lawn handled.

Brian Lee Burke spent 25 years in construction, so on a tour he tells you what a change will cost and what the house will not allow. See the one-level home checklist and how to adapt a house.

3. Compare Aurora’s 55+ communities with all-age neighborhoods

Aurora has two of the best-known 55+ communities in the metro. Heather Gardens is mostly condos around its own golf course (74 listed on Oct 25, 2026); Heritage Eagle Bend is detached homes on a golf course in southeast Aurora (18 listed). A 55+ community can include a clubhouse, exterior maintenance and an activity calendar in the dues; an all-age neighborhood gives you more homes to choose from. Read the age rules before you offer:

Federal fair housing rules let a community limit sales or rentals by age only if it qualifies as housing for older persons. For a 55+ community that means at least 80% of occupied homes have at least one resident 55 or older, the community publishes and follows policies showing it is meant for people 55 and older, and it verifies ages, updating those records by survey at least once every two years (24 CFR 100.305 to 100.307). Housing for people 62 and older is stricter: every occupant must be 62 or older. So a 55+ label does not mean every resident is 55; the community’s own rules set who else may live in the home.

4. Hire a Realtor who plans the sale and the purchase together

Most buyers of a one-level Aurora home also have a house to sell. Ask every agent you interview for closings with addresses, a written price for your current home, a plan for the order (sell first, buy first or a bridge loan) and a move date in the contract. Our proof and services are on the best Realtor for seniors and 55+ buyers and sellers in Colorado.

Aurora and one-level home pages

• Aurora 55+ homes
• Heather Gardens
• Heritage Eagle Bend
• Aurora Realtors & real estate agents
• Ranch homes by area
• Downsizing in the Denver metro
• Best Realtor for seniors and 55+ moves
• One-level home checklist

Tour Aurora one-level homes with us

Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers.

The Kenna Group is a real estate group with Keller Williams Realty DTC, LLC (Keller Williams DTC), 6300 S Syracuse Way, Suite 150, Centennial, CO 80111, formerly known as Kenna Real Estate Group, serving Denver metro home buyers and sellers.

Disclaimer: We are real estate agents, not tax advisers or loan officers; confirm tax exemptions with the county assessor and loan terms with a lender. Review count and rating from our Google Business Profile, last checked October 2026; BBB rating from bbb.org; closings from the MLS record on Brian Lee Burke's sold-homes page. Listing counts come from the MLS (Active and Coming Soon) on October 25, 2026 and change daily. Equal Housing Opportunity.