Under Contract to Closing in Colorado: Settlement Steps

In Colorado, settlement means closing: the day the buyer's money and the seller's deed change hands at a title company and the deed is recorded with the county clerk and recorder. From the day your offer is accepted to that day takes 30 to 45 days on a financed purchase, and every step in between is governed by one document, the Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate.

This guide walks a first-time buyer through that stretch in order: earnest money, the Dates and Deadlines table, inspection, appraisal, loan conditions, the title commitment, the final walk-through, the closing table and recording. It assumes you already hold a Colorado mortgage pre-approval.

What settlement means in Colorado

Readers who learned the word from Australian guides, where solicitors Cairns buyers hire run the conveyance, will expect a lawyer-run process. Colorado does not work that way. A licensed title company runs the closing, holds the earnest money, prepares the settlement statement, collects the funds and records the deed. Buyers are free to hire a Colorado real estate attorney to review the contract, but the closing itself does not require one.

The Colorado Real Estate Commission publishes the contract every licensed broker uses. When the Kenna Real Estate Group writes your offer, that form is the offer. Once both sides sign, the contract calls that moment MEC, mutual execution of contract, and every deadline counts from it.

Step 1: earnest money goes to the title company

Earnest money on the Front Range runs 1% to 2% of the purchase price, so $6,000 to $13,000 on a $650,000 home. It is delivered to the earnest money holder named in the contract, in nearly every Denver metro deal the title company, by the deadline printed in the table, commonly 1 to 3 days after MEC. It is wired or paid by check, never handed to the seller.

Earnest money is not a fee. It is credited to you at closing and reduces the cash you bring. The contract lists the exact conditions under which it is returned if you terminate, and every one of them is tied to a deadline in the next section.

Step 2: read the Dates and Deadlines table before you sign

Section 3 of the Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell is a table of dates. It is the single most important page a Colorado buyer signs, because each line is a right that expires. The ones that matter most on a financed purchase:

Two rules govern the table. First, a deadline you miss is a right you lose: pass the Inspection Objection Deadline without writing an objection and you have accepted the house as it is. Second, the contract states whether a deadline that lands on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday extends to the next business day; read that box, because in a tight deal the answer changes whether you have a weekend to think.

The Kenna Real Estate Group puts every date in the table on a shared calendar the day the contract goes MEC and reviews it with the buyer at the start of each week, so nothing expires unnoticed.

Step 3: inspection week

Order the general inspection the day after MEC. On a Front Range home the inspection runs $400 to $700, plus a 48-hour radon test at $125 to $200 and a sewer scope at $150 to $300. Colorado sits in EPA radon Zone 1, and most Denver homes built before 1980 have clay or Orangeburg sewer lines, so the two add-ons are not optional in the group's process.

You then have three choices before the Inspection Objection Deadline, and each is a written form:

• Terminate. A Notice to Terminate delivered before the Inspection Termination Deadline ends the contract and returns your earnest money.
• Object. An Inspection Objection asks for repairs, a price cut or a seller credit at closing. A radon mitigation system ($1,200 to $2,500) and a sewer line repair are the two most common asks in the Denver metro.
• Accept. Do nothing by the deadline and the contract moves on with the home as inspected.

The seller answers with an Inspection Resolution before its deadline. No signed resolution by that date and the contract terminates on its own. Read the Denver radon guide for inspection week before you order tests.

Step 4: appraisal

Your lender orders the appraisal after inspection resolution, and you pay $600 to $900 for it up front or at closing. The appraiser confirms the home is worth at least the contract price. If it appraises low, the Appraisal Objection Deadline gives you the right to ask the seller to lower the price, to make up the gap yourself, to split it, or to terminate and keep your earnest money.

Step 5: loan conditions

Between MEC and closing the lender's underwriter issues a conditional approval with a list of items still needed: updated pay stubs, a letter explaining a deposit, the signed inspection resolution, proof of homeowners insurance. Answer each request the same day. The New Loan Terms Deadline and the New Loan Availability Deadline are your protection: if the rate, the payment or the approval itself is not what you agreed to accept, you terminate before those dates with your earnest money intact. After them, a loan that falls through puts the deposit at risk.

Three habits keep a Colorado loan on schedule: no new credit or car payments until the deed records, no large unexplained deposits, and no job changes. Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate, NMLS 261003, Equal Housing Lender, writes the loans for many of the group's buyers and clears conditions in days rather than weeks. You are free to use any lender. The Colorado home financing guide explains the loan types Front Range buyers use.

Step 6: title commitment and HOA documents

The title company delivers a title commitment by the Record Title Deadline. It lists who owns the home, every lien that must be paid at closing, and every easement, covenant and plat note that stays with the land after you own it. Read Schedule B, the exceptions page, with your agent. In Colorado the seller customarily pays for the owner's title insurance policy and the buyer pays for the lender's policy, $500 to $1,200 on a Front Range loan.

In an HOA or a metro district, the Association Documents Deadline is your chance to read the budget, the reserve study and the last year of board minutes, and to terminate if a special assessment or a lawsuit is on the way. The Denver condo special assessment guide shows what to look for. On a lot with a fence, a shed or an addition, the New ILC or New Survey Deadline is when to order an improvement location certificate; the Colorado ILC versus survey guide explains the difference.

Step 7: the Closing Disclosure and the wire

Federal rules require the lender to deliver the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before closing. Compare it line by line with the Loan Estimate you received at application. Buyer closing costs on a Front Range purchase run 2% to 3% of the price; the Colorado closing costs guide lists each line. Property taxes in Colorado are paid a year in arrears, so the seller credits you for the days they owned the home this year, and the title company escrows the rest. Colorado has no state transfer tax; the county documentary fee is one cent per $100 of the price.

Your cash to close goes by wire to the title company, never to an email address. Wire fraud targets Colorado closings every week. Call the title company on the number printed on the title commitment, confirm the account digits by voice, and send the wire one business day early. No title company changes wiring instructions by email.

Step 8: final walk-through

Walk the home 24 to 48 hours before closing, after the seller has moved out. Confirm every repair in the inspection resolution is finished and documented with receipts, every included item in the contract (appliances, window coverings, the garage door openers) is still there, the utilities are on, and nothing was damaged in the move. A problem found now is fixed with a closing credit or a holdback in escrow; a problem found after recording is yours.

Step 9: closing day at the title company

Bring a government photo ID and the confirmation of your wire. The closer walks you through the deed of trust, the promissory note, the settlement statement and the Colorado disclosures; a financed closing takes 45 to 90 minutes.

Step 10: recording and keys

Once both sides have signed and the lender releases funds, the title company sends the deed to the county clerk and recorder. In Arapahoe, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties recording is electronic and comes back within hours. Recording is the legal moment you own the home. Keys change hands at the Possession Date and Time in the contract, on the Front Range in most cases the same day as recording, with a post-closing occupancy agreement if the seller stays longer. The Colorado closing checklist covers the paperwork in more detail.

Where to go next

• First-time home buyer guide for Colorado
• What happens after your offer is accepted
• The Colorado home buyer's guide
• How the Kenna Real Estate Group helps buyers
• Search homes for sale in Denver
• Meet the Kenna Real Estate Group agents

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC tracks every deadline in the Colorado contract for its buyers, orders the right inspections, negotiates the resolution and the appraisal gap, and sits with you at the title company on closing day. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Or start today and search every home for sale in Colorado.