Buying a Luxury Home in Colorado: 11 Checks Before You Offer

Buying a luxury home in Colorado means a purchase of $1 million or more, and the checks that matter most here are the ones a national checklist never mentions: the roof after hail season, the soil under the foundation, radon, the metro district on the tax bill, and the water rights on an acreage estate. This guide covers the 11 things the Kenna Real Estate Group verifies on every high-end purchase across the Denver metro, the Front Range and the foothills.

1. What does a luxury home cost in the Denver metro?

The Denver Metro Association of Realtors (DMAR) reports the luxury segment as $1 million and up. Prices run in wide bands by area.

Set the budget before touring. Add annual property tax, insurance, HOA or metro district dues and maintenance to the purchase price. On a $2 million home in Arapahoe or Douglas County, those four items add $20,000 to $45,000 a year. See the Colorado luxury homes for sale by area page for current inventory in every band, and the Denver metro luxury snapshot for what is on the market this week.

2. Which Colorado neighborhoods hold luxury value?

Value in the luxury segment follows three things in Colorado: lot size, view corridor and commute.

• Cherry Hills Village: the metro's highest price per square foot for land. Lots of one acre and more, the High Line Canal trail, and a 20-minute commute to downtown or the DTC. Start at homes for sale in Cherry Hills Village.
• Greenwood Village: newer estates near Cherry Creek State Park with a low city mill levy. Browse Greenwood Village listings.
• Castle Pines: two gated golf communities on Daniels Park ridge lines with a Douglas County tax base. Search Castle Rock and Castle Pines homes.
• Lone Tree: RidgeGate and Heritage Hills, the last stop on the light rail E line, and the Bluffs Regional Park trail system. See Lone Tree homes for sale.

For the full ranking, read Denver's premier luxury neighborhoods.

3. Check the roof against Colorado hail before you write the offer

The Front Range sits in Hail Alley. Hail season runs May to September, and a single storm drops 2-inch stones on Parker, Castle Rock and Aurora in most years. A tile, slate or standing-seam metal roof on a 6,000 square foot home runs $60,000 to $150,000 to replace.

Ask for the roof's install date and the last insurance claim. Colorado insurers now decline coverage or add a cosmetic-damage exclusion on many roofs older than 15 years, and premiums on a $2 million home run $4,000 to $10,000 a year. A Class 4 impact-resistant roof earns a premium discount with every major carrier writing in Colorado. Details are in Colorado hail and roof costs.

4. What is under the foundation: bentonite clay and structural engineering

Expansive bentonite clay underlies most of the Denver metro south of I-70 and along the Front Range foothills. It swells when wet and shrinks when dry, and it moves foundations.

On any purchase over $1 million, the Kenna Real Estate Group orders a structural engineer's review in addition to the general inspection. The engineer's report costs $500 to $900. Foundation pier repair runs $25,000 to $80,000 on a large custom home, so the report pays for itself the first time it finds a problem.

5. Radon, sewer scope and water: the three tests every Colorado inspection needs

• Radon: the EPA maps every Front Range county as Zone 1, its highest radon potential. A 48-hour test costs $150 to $250 during the inspection period. Mitigation on a large home with multiple foundation zones runs $2,000 to $4,500. Read radon and the Denver home purchase before inspection week.
• Sewer scope: $150 to $300 to run a camera through the main line. Older Cherry Hills Village lines are clay tile, and a replacement under a long driveway costs $15,000 to $40,000.
• Well and septic: acreage estates in Elbert County, eastern Douglas County and the foothills draw from private wells permitted through the Colorado Division of Water Resources. Order a flow test and a water-quality panel, and confirm the well permit's allowed uses. Jefferson and Boulder counties require a septic use permit at transfer.

6. Does the home sit in a wildfire zone?

Evergreen, Genesee, Conifer, the Boulder foothills and parts of Castle Pines sit in the wildland-urban interface. The Marshall Fire in December 2021 destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Louisville and Superior, and Colorado insurers repriced foothill coverage afterward. Before you make an offer on a foothills estate, get an insurance quote in writing, pull the Colorado State Forest Service wildfire risk rating for the parcel, and budget for defensible space work: $3,000 to $15,000 to thin trees within 100 feet of the house.

7. Property taxes, metro districts and HOA dues on a Colorado luxury home

Colorado's residential property tax is low by national standards, but the mill levy varies by district. A $2 million home pays roughly $8,000 to $16,000 a year depending on the county and whether the home sits inside a metro district. Metro districts in Castle Pines, Parker, Lone Tree's RidgeGate and southeast Aurora add 20 to 70 mills to fund the roads and water lines the developer built, and that debt runs for 30 to 40 years.

Read the district's service plan and its current debt before closing. The Denver metro district and special district tax guide explains how to look one up. Gated golf communities add HOA dues of $300 to $700 a month; club memberships are separate initiation fees.

8. How do you finance a home over $1 million in Colorado?

Any loan above the conforming limit (just over $800,000 in the Denver metro) is a jumbo loan. Jumbo lenders ask for 10% to 20% down, 6 to 12 months of reserves, and a full appraisal by an appraiser with luxury comps; in the $3 million and up segment, two appraisals are common. A buyer who finances competes best with a fully underwritten pre-approval, not a pre-qualification letter.

For jumbo pre-approval, the Kenna Real Estate Group works with Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate. Start with the Colorado home financing guide and the Colorado mortgage pre-approval guide. Closing costs on a jumbo purchase run 1% to 2% of the price in Colorado because the state has no transfer tax; the numbers are in closing costs for Colorado home buyers.

Many of our buyers use Mike Oswald at Rate and trust him. You are free to use any lender you choose, and the Kenna Real Estate Group receives nothing for the introduction. Mike Oswald, NMLS 261003 · Rate, Inc., NMLS 2611 · Equal Housing Lender.

9. Verify the finishes, the systems and the smart home

Ask for the appliance model numbers, the builder's specification sheet, and service records for the boiler, generator, elevator, pool equipment and irrigation system.

Home automation is a transfer item, not a fixture. Control4, Savant, Lutron and Crestron systems need the seller's dealer contact, the account credentials and the programming files handed over at closing, or the new owner pays $5,000 to $20,000 to re-program. Write the transfer into the Additional Provisions of the Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell.

UV at 5,280 feet fades exterior stain in 3 to 5 years and chalks stucco. Look at the south and west faces of the house, not the north.

10. Paperwork specific to a Colorado luxury purchase

• Improvement Location Certificate or survey: on any lot over a half acre, order a full survey ($1,500 to $4,000) instead of an ILC.
• Title commitment and the exceptions: read every recorded easement, ditch right-of-way and covenant.
• Water rights: ditch shares and augmentation plans transfer by separate deed. Confirm they are in the contract.
• Seller's Property Disclosure and the HOA documents: Colorado requires the HOA to deliver governing documents, financials and any pending special assessments before the buyer's HOA documents deadline.
• Permits: pull the county's permit history for the pool, the finished basement, the accessory dwelling and the roof.

The Colorado luxury home evaluation guide walks through each of these deadlines in the state-approved contract.

11. Negotiate on facts, then plan the resale from day one

Homes above $2 million commonly sit 60 to 120 days in the Denver metro. That time works for the buyer. The Kenna Real Estate Group negotiates from the inspection findings, the days on market and the closed comps, with contractor bids attached.

Plan the exit at the purchase. Homes with a main-floor primary suite, a three-car or larger garage, a view and a lot over a half acre are the ones the next buyer pays up for in Colorado; a ninth bedroom is not. Moving in from out of state? Read the moving to Denver guide and Colorado relocation services.

The Kenna Real Estate Group's dedicated luxury division lists and tours the top of the market at Kenna Luxury Real Estate, with private showings and off-market introductions across the Front Range.

Where to go next

• Colorado luxury homes for sale by area
• How to evaluate luxury homes in Colorado
• How to evaluate mountain view homes in Colorado
• Colorado horse property buying guide
• Luxury homes in Denver: Cherry Creek to mountain-view estates
• Buying luxury real estate in Colorado: read this first
• Meet the Kenna Real Estate Group agents

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

The Kenna Real Estate Group, Keller Williams DTC, tours, inspects and negotiates luxury purchases across the Denver metro and the Front Range, and brings a structural engineer, a roofer and a jumbo lender to every one. The Colorado home buyer's guide, the first-time buyer guide and the how we help buyers page explain each step. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Start now and search every home for sale in Colorado.