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Selling a Colorado home and relocating takes 10 to 14 weeks when the eight steps below run in order: two to four weeks of prep, 14 to 30 days on the market, 30 to 45 days from contract to closing, and a move booked the day the contract goes under way. The steps that stretch that timeline are pricing above sold comps and waiting until closing to book the mover.
The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC runs this schedule for sellers leaving the Denver metro for another state, moving across the Front Range, and moving from Fort Collins or Colorado Springs to be closer to work. The eight steps, with Colorado costs and deadlines, are below. The Colorado Home Seller's Guide has the full paperwork list.
Step 1: Read the Denver metro market before you set a date
The Denver Metro Association of Realtors (DMAR) publishes the market numbers every month: median price, active listings, months of inventory and median days in MLS. A metro with under three months of inventory is a seller's market where a priced-right home draws offers in the first two weekends. A metro with four to six months of inventory is balanced, and a listing sits 30 to 50 days. Read the number for your city and price range, not the headline; Littleton and Lakewood run tighter than Aurora and Thornton in most months.
Timing matters in Colorado. Listings that go live from the second week of March through mid-June draw the most showings; the week after Labor Day is the second window; Thanksgiving through New Year's has the fewest buyers and the least competition. The best times to sell a house in Colorado post has the month-by-month numbers, and the market reports page has the current DMAR figures.
Step 2: Sell first or buy first?
Sell first when the equity in the Colorado home is the down payment on the next one, which is the case for 7 out of 10 relocating sellers. Buy first when the next home is in a tighter market than the one you are leaving and you have the cash or credit to carry two payments for 60 to 90 days. Three tools close the gap:
- Post-closing occupancy (rent-back): the Colorado contract lets you stay in the sold home after closing, and the buyer's lender caps it at 60 days on most owner-occupied loans. Rent is set at the buyer's daily principal, interest, taxes and insurance, or at $0 as a negotiated concession.
- A contingent offer on the next home, which works in a balanced market and gets passed over in a seller's market.
- A bridge loan or home equity line against the Colorado home, paid off at its closing.
Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate, NMLS 261003, Equal Housing Lender, runs the numbers on carrying two homes versus a rent-back before a seller picks the order. You are free to use any lender. The Colorado home financing guide and the how to buy and sell a home at the same time in Colorado post cover the mechanics.
Step 3: Choose a Colorado broker and know which kind you have
Colorado brokers work in one of two relationships, and the listing agreement names it. A seller's agent owes you loyalty and advocates for your price. A transaction broker assists both sides without advocating for either. Ask which one the listing agreement creates before you sign it, and ask for the written marketing plan, the pricing method and the showing schedule in the same meeting. The how the Kenna Real Estate Group helps sellers page lists what a listing includes.
Step 4: Prepare the home for Front Range buyers
Buyers in the Denver metro flag the same four inspection items on every report: sewer line, radon, roof and furnace. Handle them before photos and the contract holds its price.
- Sewer scope: $150 to $300. Clay and Orangeburg lines in pre-1980 Denver, Englewood, Arvada and Wheat Ridge homes are the most common repair demand, at $8,000 to $20,000 to replace.
- Radon test: $150 to $250, and a mitigation system at $1,200 to $2,500 when the reading is 4.0 pCi/L or higher.
- Roof: a roofer's written condition report after the last hail season. Insurers write shorter terms on Colorado roofs past 15 years.
- Furnace and water heater service: $120 to $200 each, with the receipt in the showing binder.
- Declutter, clean, paint and stage: $300 to $800 for a crew clean, $2,000 to $5,000 for interior paint, $200 to $500 for an occupied staging consult.
The preparing and adding value before selling page ranks the projects by return.
Step 5: Price from sold comps, not from the move budget
The list price comes from the last three to five sold homes within a half mile, the same age and size, closed in the last 90 days, adjusted for condition. It does not come from the price of the home you are buying in Phoenix or Raleigh, and it does not come from the Zestimate. A home priced within 2 percent of those comps gets an offer in the first two weekends in the Denver metro; a home priced 5 percent above them sits 45 days and sells for less than the comps after a price cut. The Smart Pricing Report is the Kenna Real Estate Group's version of that math, delivered before the listing agreement.
Step 6: Market the home to buyers who are already looking
Professional photos, a measured floor plan and a video walk-through are the minimum on a Denver metro listing, at $250 to $700 combined. The listing goes to REcolorado (and IRES for Northern Colorado), then to every portal, on a Thursday, with showings starting Friday and an open house the first weekend. Relocation buyers coming into Colorado tour on video first, so the floor plan and the video do the first showing for them. The marketing your Colorado home page lists the full plan.
Step 7: Offers, the Colorado contract, and closing
Every Denver metro offer arrives on the Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate, which runs on a dated deadline table. The dates that decide whether the sale closes on time:
| Contract deadline | Typical timing | What the seller watches |
|---|---|---|
| Earnest money | 1 to 3 days after acceptance | 1 to 2 percent of price deposited with the title company |
| Inspection objection and resolution | Days 7 to 12 | Repair requests, credits, or termination with earnest money returned |
| Appraisal deadline | Days 14 to 21 | Value at or above the contract price, or a gap negotiation |
| Loan availability | Days 21 to 30 | The buyer's financing is confirmed or the buyer terminates |
| Closing | Days 30 to 45 (10 to 14 with cash) | Signing at the title company; keys at recording |
Colorado closes at a title company, not an attorney's office, and the seller customarily pays for the buyer's owner's title insurance policy. Property taxes in Colorado are paid a year in arrears, so the seller credits the buyer for the months owned in the current year. The closing statement also carries the commission, the HOA transfer and status letter fees ($150 to $400 in most metro districts and HOAs), recording fees, and the final water bill from Denver Water or the local district. Plan on 6 to 8 percent of the sale price in total selling costs. The home equity and net proceeds guide turns the list price into the wire you receive.
On taxes: a seller who lived in the home two of the last five years excludes $250,000 of gain ($500,000 filing jointly) from federal tax, and Colorado follows the federal figure for its flat income tax. Gain above the exclusion is taxed at both levels, so a Denver owner who bought in 2012 and sells in 2026 asks a CPA before closing.
Step 8: Plan the move the day the contract is signed
Book the mover when the inspection resolution is signed, not when the closing statement arrives. Front Range movers book out 3 to 5 weeks from May through September, and interstate carriers run 7 to 21 days of transit to the coasts.
- Local move, 3-bedroom home: $1,500 to $4,000 in the Denver metro.
- Interstate move, 3-bedroom home: $6,000 to $15,000 depending on distance and weight; a container service runs $3,000 to $8,000 with your own labor.
- Storage between homes: $150 to $400 a month for a 10 by 15 unit.
Two weeks before closing: schedule the final reads with Xcel Energy and Denver Water (or your metro district), cancel trash and internet for the day after closing, file the USPS forwarding order, and notify the HOA of the move-out date so the elevator or move-in rules do not stall the buyer. Colorado does not require anything from a departing resident at the DMV, but the state you are moving to sets its own deadline for a new license and registration, and most run 30 to 90 days. The 10 most common moving mistakes post and the long-distance movers ranked for Colorado relocations post cover the rest.
Moving for work: relocation packages
Employer relocation packages in the Denver metro pay for the move, cover part or all of the selling costs, and in some cases buy the home outright through a relocation company at an appraised price. Read the package for the deadline to list, the required broker referral, and the home-sale bonus, and hand it to your listing broker before pricing, because a relocation-company buyout offer sets a floor under the list price. The relocation packages and employer assistance in Denver post explains the common structures, and the Colorado relocation services page covers the incoming side.
Where to go next
- How to sell a house in Colorado
- Pricing your Colorado home to sell (Smart Pricing Report)
- Colorado Front Range relocation checklist
- Sell first or buy first on the Colorado Front Range
- Kenna Real Estate Group agents
- Search every home for sale in Colorado
Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group
The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC runs the listing and the move on one calendar: a Smart Pricing Report from sold comps, the four inspection items handled before photos, the Colorado contract deadlines tracked to the day, and a closing date that matches the mover and the next home. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. When the next home is in Colorado, search every home for sale in Colorado.