Colorado real estate: buy or sell with a local AXEN agent
Colorado writes its own contract. The state Real Estate Commission publishes the form every broker uses, and it runs on a table of dates where a missed deadline ends the deal. Water, radon and wildfire insurance are the three things that surprise buyers here. Here is what is the same everywhere in Colorado, and where to search homes.
Colorado cities we cover
Each guide covers the local neighborhoods, costs and rules for that city.
What every Colorado buyer and seller should know
The state writes the contract, and a title company closes
Colorado brokers use contracts written by the Colorado Real Estate Commission. Your broker fills in the blanks. A broker does not draft the deal terms. Closings are normally handled by a title insurance company or its agent, because closing and settlement services are part of the title business here. No lawyer is required, but either side can hire one.
A tiny documentary fee, and a few towns add a transfer tax
The county clerk collects a documentary fee of one cent per $100 of what you pay, rounded up, when the price is over $500. There is no other statewide transfer tax. TABOR bans any new or increased real estate transfer tax anywhere in Colorado, state or local, since 1992. A small number of towns that already had one kept it, but they cannot raise it. Vail's is 1%. If you are buying in a resort town, ask the town for its current rate and who pays.
The seller fills out a disclosure form
By the Seller's Property Disclosure Deadline the seller has to give you the current Commission form. Separately, the seller has to disclose in writing any known adverse material fact about the property, its title or the neighborhood, even if the form never asks about it.
Radon notice is required
Every Colorado residential contract carries a bold radon warning from the state health department. The seller has to share past radon tests, records and any mitigation system, and give you the state's radon brochure. Testing is still your choice and your cost.
Water does not always come with the land
Deeded water rights, well rights and water stock are listed and conveyed separately in the contract. Water rights are real estate in Colorado and pass only by a written instrument. The seller has to disclose the drinking water source and give you a copy of the well permit, and you file a Change in Ownership form with the Division of Water Resources at or before closing.
HOA papers have their own clock
In a common interest community the seller has to deliver the association documents or authorize their release. You read them, and by the Association Documents Termination Deadline you can only do one thing: terminate. There is no objection-and-negotiate step here. The association's status letter binds the association on what is owed.
Wildfire and insurance can end a deal
Much of Colorado sits in the wildland-urban interface, so coverage can be hard to get. The contract gives you a Property Insurance Termination Deadline, and you can walk for any insurance reason you do not like, price included. But the seller has to receive your written notice on or before that date. Miss it and you have waived it. For policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2026, insurers using wildfire models have to tell the policyholder their wildfire risk score, explain why it was assigned, list the mitigation discounts available, and tell them how to appeal it.
Object, resolve, or it ends
Most review rights work the same way here. There is a deadline to object in writing, then a Resolution Deadline. If there is no written agreement by that Resolution Deadline, the contract simply ends. Terminating takes the Commission's Notice to Terminate form. And a deadline left blank or marked N/A deletes that right entirely, so read the date table before you sign.
Closing costs in Colorado: who pays what
Who pays what in Colorado. Most of these are checkboxes in the state contract, which means they are negotiated, not fixed. Here is where the boxes usually land.
| Buyer pays | How it works |
|---|---|
| Documentary fee | One cent per $100 of price over $500, paid to the county clerk. State law puts it on whoever presents the deed for recording, which in practice is the buyer's title company. |
| Recording the deed and deed of trust | A flat fee per document set by your county. |
| Inspections | Your choice and your cost: general, radon, sewer scope and well water. |
| Well Change in Ownership filing | You complete the form and pay any registration cost. |
| Association record change fee | A checkbox in the contract, usually the buyer. |
| HOA reserves or working capital at closing | A checkbox in the contract. |
| Lender's title policy and loan fees | Set by your lender and by title rates filed with the state. |
| Closing services fee | A checkbox: buyer, seller or split. |
| Local transfer tax in a mountain town | A percent of the price set by the town. A checkbox picks who pays. |
| Seller pays | How it works |
|---|---|
| Owner's title policy | The contract's default box: the seller picks the title company and pays for the owner's policy. It is still negotiable. |
| Extra premium for extended coverage | A checkbox: buyer, seller or split. |
| HOA status letter fee | The contract puts this one on the seller. |
| Septic use permit, where the county requires one at sale | The seller pays for it and furnishes it. |
| Property tax proration through closing | Based on last year's taxes, or the most recent mill levy and value. |
| Special assessment charged before closing | A checkbox: buyer or seller. |
| Loan payoffs and liens | Paid before or at closing out of the proceeds. |
| New ILC or new survey | A checkbox picks who orders it and who pays. |
Almost every cost line in Colorado is a checkbox in the state contract, so it is negotiated deal by deal. Recording fees are county-set, and septic transfer inspections are a county rule, not a single state rule. Ask your AXEN agent what applies in your county before you sign.
How a Colorado home purchase runs
Colorado runs on the contract's Dates and Deadlines table. Miss a date and the right disappears. Here is the order most sales follow.
Get pre-approved →-
Both sides sign. That date is the MEC, and every deadline counts from it. Your earnest money goes to the holder by the deadline in the table.
-
Seller's papers. The Seller's Property Disclosure arrives, plus the lead-based paint disclosure on any home built before 1978. The radon notice and brochure ride along with it.
-
Title. The title commitment and tax certificate arrive. You object by your deadline, off-record items follow, and anything unresolved has to be worked out by the Title Resolution Deadline.
-
HOA documents. The association documents arrive. Read them fast, because your only move by that deadline is to terminate.
-
Inspections. Terminate by the Inspection Termination Deadline, or object by the objection date and resolve by the resolution date. Your insurance walk-away right sits here too.
-
Survey and rights. A new ILC or survey if you ordered one, with its own object and resolve dates. Water rights and mineral rights have separate deadlines.
-
Loan and appraisal. Loan application, loan terms and new loan availability each have a date. The appraisal has its own object and resolve dates.
-
Before closing. The seller asks the association for the status letter at least 14 days out, and you do your walkthrough.
-
Closing and recording. The deed is signed, the title company records it with the county clerk, and the documentary fee is paid. Possession has its own date and time in the contract.
Colorado by region
Colorado's two big metros sit an hour apart on the Front Range, and everything west of them plays by extra rules. Tap a city for homes for sale there.
Denver metro and the North Front Range
The state's largest job center, with older brick bungalows, newer infill, and a lot of HOA condos and townhomes. Boulder, Fort Collins and Greeley sit in the same corridor.
Pikes Peak region and the Southern Front Range
Military bases, foothills neighborhoods and a lot of newer subdivisions. Pueblo, Canon City and the Arkansas Valley are close by.
Mountain towns and the Western Slope
Vail, Breckenridge, Aspen, Telluride, Grand Junction and Durango all use the same state contract, but they usually add well, septic and local transfer tax steps on top of it.
AXEN Realty in Colorado
Every AXEN agent in Colorado works under a licensed managing broker: Kevin Risen (AXEN Realty, LLC, firm license EC.100109510). See every state on the state brokers page.
Buying? Start with the home buying guide and get pre-approved.
Selling? Read the home selling guide and get your home value.
Moving here? Read buying in a new state.
Real estate agent? Changing brokerages in Colorado: you file it from your own eLicense account; state fee: $5. See how to transfer a Colorado license, the switching checklist, advice for new agents and how keeping 100% works.
Colorado real estate questions
Do I need a lawyer to buy a home in Colorado?
No. A title insurance company or its agent normally runs the closing, and the contract itself is written by the Real Estate Commission. Closing and settlement services are part of the title business under state law. You can still hire a lawyer if you want one.
Who writes the contract?
The Colorado Real Estate Commission does. Your broker fills in the blanks: price, dates and boxes, on the current state form. Brokers can complete those forms but cannot draft their own legal language. That keeps the paperwork the same across the state.
What is the documentary fee?
C.R.S. 39-13-102 sets a small county recording charge on deeds: one cent for every $100 of price, when the price is over $500. The county clerk collects it. It is not a sales tax, and Colorado has no other statewide transfer tax.
Does my town charge a transfer tax?
Most do not. A small number of mountain towns had one before TABOR passed in 1992 and got to keep it. New ones are banned. Vail's is 1%. If you are buying in a resort town, ask the town for its current rate and rules before you write the offer.
Why is radon in my contract?
State law puts a radon warning in every residential contract and makes the seller share past test results, reports and any mitigation system, plus the state health department's radon brochure. Testing is still your choice and your cost.
We are on a well. What do I have to do?
Get the well permit number and the seller's well information. Water rights, well rights and water stock only transfer if the contract says they do. At or before closing, file a Change in Ownership form with the Division of Water Resources.
How are property taxes figured?
Voters repealed the Gallagher Amendment in 2020, so the legislature now sets assessment rates by statute instead. Homes currently run two rates: 7.05% for the school part of your bill, and 6.80% for the local government part. The local government side also knocks 10% off the first $700,000 of actual value before the rate is applied. The rate is applied to your home's actual value to get the assessed value, and your local mill levies are applied to that. Colorado has changed these rates several times since 2020, so ask your county assessor for the current numbers before you rely on them.
What happens if the inspection turns up problems?
You can terminate by the Inspection Termination Deadline, or send a written Inspection Objection by the objection date. If you and the seller do not agree in writing by the Inspection Resolution Deadline, the contract ends on that date automatically.