Buying a Home in Denver
Buying in Denver means working inside Colorado's Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate, with its own specific deadline structure (Inspection Objection, Inspection Resolution, and Due Diligence Documents deadlines), and -- distinctively -- Colorado is NOT an attorney-closing state: licensed and bonded escrow agents and title companies handle Colorado closings, a real structural contrast to attorney-mandatory states covered elsewhere in this project.
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Learn moreColorado's Contract Deadline Structure
The standard Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate sets several sequential deadlines: an Inspection Objection Deadline, typically 7 to 14 days after contract acceptance, by which a buyer must raise objections found during inspection; an Inspection Resolution Deadline, usually 3 to 5 days after that, by which buyer and seller must reach agreement or the contract automatically terminates with the buyer's earnest money refunded; and a separate Due Diligence Documents Deadline covering HOA documents, title commitments, surveys, and property disclosures, standard at 10 business days from acceptance as of 2026 (negotiable shorter in competitive conditions).
Earnest Money: No State-Mandated Amount, and It Never Goes to the Seller
Colorado sets no state-mandated minimum or maximum earnest money amount -- it's negotiated between buyer and seller, typically due with the contract unless an alternative deadline is set. Earnest money must be held by a neutral third party -- a licensed escrow agent, attorney, or broker -- and never paid directly to the seller. If a buyer terminates within their contractual rights (before the relevant deadline), earnest money is returned; if a buyer walks away after all deadlines have passed without a valid contractual basis, the seller can claim the earnest money as damages.
Colorado Is a Title-Company (Not Attorney) Closing State
Attorney involvement is not legally required for any part of a Colorado real estate closing -- Colorado is an escrow state, where a licensed and bonded escrow agent or title insurance company handles the closing, per the Colorado Division of Real Estate. This is a real, structural contrast to "attorney states" like Georgia, covered elsewhere in this project, where only a licensed attorney can conduct a residential closing. A buyer or seller can still choose to involve an attorney for a complex deal, but it is not a legal requirement in Colorado the way it is in some other states.
Confirm the Property's Assessment-Rate and Senior-Exemption Details Before Closing
Colorado's residential property tax assessment system is genuinely complex following the 2020 repeal of the Gallagher Amendment (detailed fully on the property-taxes topic page) -- for 2026, the legislature set a 6.8% assessment rate for local-government levies (after a 10%-of-value reduction capped at $70,000) and a separate 7.05% rate for school-district levies. Buyers 65 or older who have owned and occupied a home for 10+ consecutive years may also qualify for Colorado's Senior Property Tax Homestead Exemption (50% of the first $200,000 of actual value), with a 2026 application deadline of July 15 -- confirm current eligibility and deadlines directly with the Denver County Assessor.
Confirm Whether an Address Is Actually Inside the City and County of Denver
As noted on the moving topic page, the broader Denver metro spans many separate suburban cities and counties with different school districts and tax structures. Because Denver County is a consolidated city-county government, buying inside the actual City and County of Denver is more administratively straightforward than in some multi-jurisdiction metros -- but a "Denver-area" address outside the formal city-county boundary (in Aurora, Lakewood, or Douglas County communities, for instance) means different rules apply. Confirm the specific jurisdiction for any address under consideration.
Key takeaways
- Colorado's standard purchase contract runs on a sequential deadline structure: Inspection Objection (7-14 days), Inspection Resolution (3-5 days after that), and a separate Due Diligence Documents Deadline (10 business days standard as of 2026).
- Earnest money has no state-mandated amount, must be held by a neutral third party (never the seller directly), and is refunded if the buyer terminates within contractual deadlines -- but can be claimed by the seller as damages if the buyer walks away after all deadlines pass without valid cause.
- Colorado is a title-company/escrow-agent closing state, not an attorney-mandatory state -- a real structural contrast to attorney states like Georgia covered elsewhere in this project.
- Colorado's 2026 residential property assessment rates are split -- 6.8% for local-government levies (after a value reduction capped at $70,000) and 7.05% for school-district levies -- following the 2020 repeal of the Gallagher Amendment; see the property-taxes topic page for the full history.
- Confirm whether an address sits inside the actual City and County of Denver (a consolidated city-county) versus a separate suburban jurisdiction in the broader metro -- rules differ meaningfully across that line.
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