The 4 People You Need to Buy a Home in Colorado

Buying a home in Colorado takes four people: a licensed Colorado real estate broker working as your buyer's agent, a mortgage lender, a home inspector and a title company closer. Colorado does not require a real estate attorney at closing, so the attorney is an optional fifth for trusts, divorce, probate and non-standard terms. This guide explains what each of the four does in a Denver metro purchase, what each costs, and when to bring them in.

The order matters. Lender first, then agent, then inspector once you are under contract, then the title company for the closing. Buyers who reverse the first two steps tour homes they cannot finance and lose the one they wanted to a buyer who had the pre-approval letter ready.

Why does Colorado not need a real estate attorney at closing?

Colorado is a title-company closing state. The Colorado Real Estate Commission publishes the Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate and every addendum, and licensed brokers complete those forms for their clients. The title company holds the earnest money, issues the title commitment, prepares the settlement statement and records the deed. In New York or Georgia, an attorney does that work; in Colorado, a title closer does.

Bring in an attorney ($300 to $500 an hour on the Front Range) for a purchase through a trust or LLC, a sale tied to a divorce decree or a probate estate, a seller carry-back, a lease-option or any clause the state forms do not cover. The Kenna Real Estate Group refers to Colorado real estate attorneys for those cases and stays on the file.

1. The buyer's agent: a Colorado licensed broker on your side

Colorado licenses brokers, not "salespeople". Every agent is a broker associate under an employing broker, and Colorado law requires the broker to disclose the working relationship in writing before you sign anything. Choose buyer's agent (the broker owes you loyalty and advocacy) over transaction broker (the broker assists both sides and advocates for neither). The Kenna Real Estate Group works as a buyer's agent under an Exclusive Right-to-Buy contract, and the buyer agency agreement states the compensation in writing before the first showing, as Colorado has required since 2024.

What the agent does in a Denver metro purchase:

• Search and tour: REcolorado access, saved searches with the right filters (main-floor primary, no metro district, no HOA), and showings scheduled the day a listing goes live.
• Pricing: closed comps from the past 90 days so the offer sits at market, not at list price.
• The offer: the contract deadlines, earnest money (1% to 2% of price in the Denver metro), appraisal gap language, seller concessions and the inspection window. See making an offer on a Colorado home.
• Local checks: metro district mill levies in Douglas County, HOA documents, hail roof age, bentonite soils, radon, flood plain along Cherry Creek and the South Platte. The Denver home buyer verification checklist lists all of them.
• Negotiation: the inspection objection, the appraisal shortfall and the final walk-through.

The buyer pays nothing out of pocket in most Colorado transactions because seller-paid buyer agent compensation is written into the offer. Read why a great buyer's agent matters in Colorado and the how we help buyers page.

2. The mortgage lender: pre-approval before the first showing

A pre-approval in Colorado needs to be fully underwritten: pay stubs, two years of W-2s or tax returns, bank statements and a credit pull, reviewed by an underwriter and not just a loan officer. Listing agents in the Denver metro call the lender on every offer, and a pre-qualification letter without underwriting loses to a real pre-approval every time.

The group's lending partner is Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate, NMLS 261003, Equal Housing Lender. You are free to use any lender. What the lender settles before you tour:

• Loan type: conventional at 3% to 5% down, FHA at 3.5%, VA at 0% for eligible veterans (Buckley, Fort Carson and Peterson transfers use this daily), or jumbo above the conforming limit, which is just over $800,000 in the Denver metro.
• Payment at Colorado costs: property tax (low by national standards, but 20 to 70 mills higher inside a metro district), homeowner's insurance ($2,000 to $4,000 a year on a $600,000 Front Range home because of hail) and HOA dues.
• Down payment help: CHFA (Colorado Housing and Finance Authority) programs and the metroDPA program for Denver metro buyers.
• Rate locks: 30 to 60 days, matched to the closing date in the contract.

Do not change jobs, open credit cards, buy a car or move money between accounts between pre-approval and closing. Start at the Colorado mortgage pre-approval guide, the Colorado home financing guide and, for a first purchase, mortgage options for first-time homebuyers in Colorado.

3. The home inspector: hired once you are under contract

Colorado does not license home inspectors, so the group refers inspectors with InterNACHI or ASHI certification and errors-and-omissions insurance. The inspection happens inside the objection window in the contract, 7 to 10 days on most Denver metro purchases.

The inspector reports; the agent negotiates. Roof, sewer and radon findings turn into seller credits in most Denver metro transactions, and cosmetic items do not. Read how to find a good home inspector in Denver before you book one.

4. The title company and closer

The title company is the fourth person, and in Colorado it does the work an attorney does elsewhere. Within days of going under contract it issues the title commitment: the legal description, the current owner, every lien, easement, covenant and ditch right-of-way on record, and the requirements to clear them. The buyer's title objection deadline in the contract is the window to question anything in it.

At closing the title closer prepares the settlement statement, collects the buyer's funds by wire, pays off the seller's loan, records the deed with the county clerk and issues the owner's title policy. In the Denver metro the seller pays for the owner's policy by custom and the buyer pays for the lender's policy ($800 to $1,500) plus a closing fee of $300 to $600. Colorado has no transfer tax, which keeps buyer closing costs at 2% to 3% of the price; the full list is on closing costs for Colorado home buyers.

Wire fraud is the one thing to verify with a phone call to a number you already have, never from a number in an email. Colorado title companies will confirm wiring instructions by phone before any buyer sends funds.

When each person enters a Colorado purchase

1. Weeks 1 to 2: lender pre-approval; buyer agency agreement signed with the Kenna Real Estate Group.
2. Weeks 2 to 8: showings across the Denver metro; offer written with the contract deadlines.
3. Days 1 to 10 under contract: earnest money to the title company; inspection, sewer scope and radon test; title commitment reviewed.
4. Days 10 to 25: appraisal ordered by the lender; loan conditions cleared; HOA and metro district documents reviewed.
5. Days 25 to 35: final walk-through, closing disclosure three business days before closing, signing at the title company, keys.

Where to go next

• The Colorado home buyer's guide
• First-time home buyer guide for Colorado
• First-time homebuyer programs in Denver: grants and assistance
• Homes for sale in Denver, Littleton and Centennial
• Moving to Denver guide and Colorado relocation services
• Meet the Kenna Real Estate Group agents

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

The Kenna Real Estate Group, Keller Williams DTC, assembles all four for every buyer: the buyer's agent from the group, a fully underwritten pre-approval, certified inspectors booked inside the objection window and a Front Range title company that confirms every wire by phone. 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.