Affordable Homes in Lakewood: Where the Cheap Condos Are, What They Cost a Month, and How to Buy One for About $1,000

The short answer

Where are the cheapest homes in Lakewood?

Lakewood's affordable homes sit in the 1970s and 1980s condo complexes on the Green Mountain side of the city, in the newer condos around the Federal Center and Union Square W Line stations, and in the older buildings around Belmar and along Colfax. A detached house under $400,000 inside Lakewood is a rare fixer.

• 80227, Green Mountain and Lakewood Estates: 52 homes under $400,000 this week, median $275,000, from $162,500; nearly all condos and townhomes (100 percent carry an HOA), 13 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 998 square feet at the median. The biggest pocket: 1970s and 1980s two-bedroom condos off Jewell, Yale and Kipling at the foot of Green Mountain, dues $300 to $450, Bear Creek Lake Park and the trails up the mountain at the door.
• 80228, Green Mountain Village and Union Square: 35 homes under $400,000 this week, median $290,000, from $185,000; nearly all condos and townhomes (100 percent carry an HOA), 11 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 988 square feet at the median. Condos within walking distance of the Federal Center and Red Rocks College W Line stations, plus the 1980s complexes along Alameda Parkway; the quickest train ride downtown of any affordable Lakewood pocket.
• 80226, Belmar and Lakewood Heights: 20 homes under $400,000 this week, median $225,000, from $52,000; nearly all condos and townhomes (90 percent carry an HOA), 5 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 938 square feet at the median. The cheapest Lakewood condos: 1960s and 1970s buildings along Alameda and Wadsworth near Belmar, from the low $100,000s for a one-bedroom, and two manufactured homes in parks that set the floor at $52,000.
• 80214, Two Creeks and the Edgewater side: 17 homes under $400,000 this week, median $255,000, from $163,500; nearly all condos and townhomes (88 percent carry an HOA), 6 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 882 square feet at the median. Older condos along Colfax and Sheridan on the Denver line, the smallest units on this list (880 square feet at the median) and the closest to Sloan's Lake and Edgewater's restaurant row.
• 80232, Westland and Lasley: 16 homes under $400,000 this week, median $305,000, from $150,000; nearly all condos and townhomes (100 percent carry an HOA), 19 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 984 square feet at the median. 1970s and 1980s condos and a few townhomes between Wadsworth and Kipling south of Mississippi, a notch dearer than Belmar and a notch quieter.
• 80215, Applewood and Daniels Garden: 6 homes under $400,000 this week, median $255,000, from $200,000; nearly all condos and townhomes (100 percent carry an HOA), 33 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 1,149 square feet at the median. A handful of condos near Colorado Mills and the Applewood golf course, the north edge of the city; townhomes here start above $400,000.
• 80235, Bear Creek and Pinehurst: 3 homes under $400,000 this week, median $274,900, from $139,000; nearly all condos and townhomes (100 percent carry an HOA), 33 percent with three bedrooms or more, about 1,128 square feet at the median. Two or three condos at a time near Bear Creek and the Pinehurst golf course on the Denver line, the quietest corner under $400,000.

What does $225,000, $275,000 and $400,000 buy in Lakewood?

What does an affordable Lakewood home cost a month?

Lakewood is the most HOA-heavy market on this list: 98 percent of homes under $400,000 carry dues, median $380. On a $275,000 condo at 7 percent the HOA is a fifth of the payment, and it is the line that differs most from building to building.

Jefferson County taxes are lower than Denver's, which is why a Lakewood condo pencils about $30 a month under the same condo across Sheridan. Run your own numbers on can I afford a home now.

Which programs cut the cash, and what is the catch?

How many bedrooms do cheap Lakewood homes have?

Two bedrooms is the Lakewood affordable home, more so than anywhere else on the Front Range: about 17 three-bedroom homes under $400,000 this week, all of them townhomes on the Green Mountain side or fixers on the Denver line. The bedroom-count pages: 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, 4-bedroom Lakewood homes.

What to check before you buy a cheap home in Lakewood

• The HOA budget and reserves. Two years of financials and the reserve study; the 1970s pool complexes on Green Mountain have carried $5,000 to $20,000 special assessments for roofs, asphalt and boilers.
• What the dues include. Water, sewer, trash and heat in many Belmar and Two Creeks buildings; exterior only in the Green Mountain townhomes. Subtract the utilities before you compare a $450 HOA with a $250 one.
• FHA approval and owner-occupancy. Several 1960s buildings along Alameda and Colfax are off the FHA list or over half rented; your lender checks before you write.
• Insurance after the hail years. Master-policy deductibles in Jefferson County jumped in 2024 and 2025; ask what the unit owner pays when the roof is replaced.
• Manufactured homes along Colfax. The $52,000 to $120,000 listings are homes in parks on leased land: chattel loan plus lot rent, no land.
• Parking and the train. One reserved space is normal; a second car parks on the street. Union Square and the Federal Center stations are a 15-minute ride to Union Station.
• Age restrictions. Two Green Mountain complexes are 55-plus; the listing says so, the price does not. Read the guide to Lakewood HOA rules and fees.

The 60-day plan to buy an affordable home in Lakewood

1. Day 1: call or text 303-955-4220. We set up the under-$400,000 search with the HOA shown on every tile and send the lender introduction the same day.
2. Days 1 to 7: pre-approval with CHFA or metroDPA priced side by side with plain FHA; the two-hour homebuyer class online. Mortgage pre-approval.
3. Days 7 to 30: tour the pockets above, two or three a day, with the HOA financials pulled before each showing.
4. Days 30 to 35: the offer, written with seller-paid closing costs and the earnest money sized to come back to you.
5. Days 35 to 60: inspection, appraisal, condo questionnaire, clear to close. You bring about $1,000.

Quick answers

Where are the cheapest homes in Lakewood?

Belmar and Lakewood Heights (80226) for the lowest prices (one-bedrooms from the low $100,000s), Green Mountain and Lakewood Estates (80227) for the most two-bedroom condos under $300,000, and Union Square (80228) for the train. Those three ZIPs hold three quarters of Lakewood's 146 homes under $400,000. All of them are on affordable homes for sale in Lakewood.

Can I buy a house, not a condo, in Lakewood for under $400,000?

Rarely. 98 percent of Lakewood homes under $400,000 carry an HOA, which means condos and townhomes; the detached exceptions are fixers on the Denver line and manufactured homes in parks along Colfax. For a house with a yard at this price look at west Denver (Westwood and Barnum) or Arvada.

How much is the payment on a $275,000 Lakewood condo?

About $2,475 a month with an FHA loan at 7 percent and 3.5 percent down, including the $380 HOA, Jefferson County taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance; a lender approves that at about $99,000 a year of income.

Does metroDPA work in Lakewood?

Yes. Jefferson County is a member, so a Lakewood buyer with a 620 score and household income under $210,150 gets a 0 percent second mortgage with no payments to cover the down payment, repeat buyers included. The first-mortgage rate runs higher than market and the second is forgiven after year three.

Is $250,000 enough in Lakewood?

For a one-bedroom or a small two-bedroom condo, yes: 93 Lakewood homes are listed under $300,000 this week and about 53 under $250,000, in Belmar, Two Creeks and the older Green Mountain complexes, with dues of $300 to $450.

Which Lakewood pocket is closest to the light rail?

Union Square and Green Mountain Village (80228): condos within a walk of the Federal Center and Red Rocks College W Line stations, 15 minutes to Union Station. Lakewood-Wadsworth and Garrison stations serve the Belmar and Westland condos. The light rail page: homes near light rail in Colorado.

Should I rent to own in Lakewood?

Only when no loan works today. A lease-option on a $275,000 condo takes about $8,250 up front plus a rent premium with no title until the end; metroDPA or CHFA puts a 620-score buyer on title now for about $1,000. Lakewood rent-to-own homes.

Keep going

Every Lakewood home under $400,000, updated daily · Affordable homes across Colorado · The Denver affordable homes guide · $1,000 cash to close · CHFA assistance · Lakewood starter homes · Lakewood condos · Lakewood townhomes · Lakewood HUD homes · Lakewood rent-to-own · Credit care · All Lakewood homes. Nearby: Denver, Arvada, Golden, Englewood.