Every week, someone asks me why buyers keep choosing Slater over somewhere with more name recognition. Here’s the honest answer.

It’s a small town with real neighbors — the kind of place where people actually wave at you. It’s twenty to thirty minutes from Ankeny, Ames, or West Des Moines, so you’re never far from where you need to be. Lot prices start in the $120s, with new construction options that are actually move-in ready rather than a year out. There’s a bike trail system and a ballpark and soccer complex on the way.

You’re not settling for Slater when you choose it — you’re choosing it on purpose. There’s a real difference between the two, and the people who already live there know exactly what that difference feels like day to day.

If you haven’t been paying attention to Slater lately, it might be time to start. A brand-new ballpark and soccer complex are already on the way. Multiple developments are taking shape at once. And through all of that growth, Slater still feels like the kind of town where neighbors ride bikes to the park and golf carts head down to the pool, the ballfields, or Main Street on a summer evening.

The people who bought here a few years ago already saw what was coming. The rest of central Iowa is starting to catch on now.

Thinking about the central Iowa area? Let’s talk about what’s available in Slater right now — reach out anytime.

One of the questions I get all the time is: what makes Trailside different?
The easiest answer is to go stand in the middle of one of these lots and just look around. Most new construction right now feels like you could shake hands with your neighbor through the kitchen window. Trailside isn’t that.
What people notice first is the space. Bigger lots. Pond lots. Room for a detached garage or shed, and an actual backyard — not a strip of grass between two driveways. And here’s the part most buyers don’t realize going in: you’re not locked into one builder’s plans. You choose the lot, and you choose who builds your house. That’s rare in new construction right now, and it’s a big reason buyers keep coming back to this development instead of the alternatives.
Then there’s Slater itself. Golf cart to downtown, to dinner, to the pool. Twenty minutes to Ames, thirty to Des Moines. It’s getting more attention right now than it has in years, and there’s a reason for that — it actually feels like a town, in a way that’s getting harder to find in central Iowa.
This isn’t a development promo dressed up as an article. It’s genuinely worth seeing in person before you decide anything. Buyers who looked here once tend to come back.
Comment “HOME” or send me a message and I’ll walk you through exactly what’s available right now.