Moving to Colorado Checklist: Utilities, DMV, HOA

The Colorado move-in checklist has five deadlines the rest of the country does not: a Colorado driver license within 30 days of becoming a resident, vehicle registration within 90 days, an emissions test for most cars in the Denver metro and North Front Range, utility accounts opened with the right provider for your city (it is not always Xcel), and a sidewalk shoveled within 24 hours of a snowstorm. Everything else is packing. This page runs the timeline from 8 weeks out to 90 days in, with the Colorado agencies, costs and altitude prep at each step.

8 weeks out: the moving date and the movers

• Set the move date from the closing date, not the other way around. Colorado closings happen at a title company, and the deed records with the county clerk and recorder the same day or the next business day. You get keys at recording, so book movers for the day after closing when the lender's funding is not confirmed by noon.
• Book movers 4 to 6 weeks ahead for a spring or summer move; Front Range movers fill up from mid-April through August and on the last weekend of every month. Local Denver metro moves run $130 to $200 per hour for a 3-person crew and truck, so a 3-bedroom house lands between $1,200 and $2,800. Long-distance moves into Colorado from the coasts run $6,000 to $14,000 for a 3-bedroom home.
• Verify the mover's Colorado PUC household goods permit for in-state moves and the USDOT number for interstate. Companies that offer affordable moving services still have to carry both; a quote without a permit number is a red flag.
• Get two more quotes. Ranked companies for cross-country relocations are in 10 best long-distance movers for Colorado relocations.

4 weeks out: utilities by city

Colorado utilities are split by city, and the provider you had in Denver does not follow you to Parker or Pueblo. Open the new accounts 2 weeks before closing with a start date of closing day; the seller closes their account the same day, and a 1-day gap in January means a frozen pipe.

Trash is a city service in Denver (a monthly pay-as-you-throw fee based on cart size) and a private hauler contract in most suburbs, $20 to $35 a month. Internet is Xfinity or Quantum Fiber across most of the metro. Ask the seller for 12 months of bills during the contract; the average Xcel gas-plus-electric bill on a 2,000 sq ft Front Range home runs $150 to $260 a month. Provider details, deposits and typical bills are in our Denver utility providers and costs guide.

2 weeks out: the address change list

• USPS mail forwarding, 12 months for first-class mail. Do it online for $1.10.
• Homeowners insurance bound to start on closing day; Colorado carriers rate on hail history and wildfire zone, so the quote on a Castle Rock or Evergreen home differs from the one in Aurora.
• HOA move-in notice. Condo and townhome associations in Denver, Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree require a move-in reservation, and many charge a $200 to $500 move-in fee or refundable deposit. The rules sit in the association documents you received at the Association Documents Deadline in the contract; the checklist is in our Denver HOA rules and fees guide.
• Employer, bank, pharmacy, vet, subscriptions, and the Colorado Secretary of State if you own a business.
• Street parking for the truck. Denver and Boulder require a temporary right-of-way permit to hold curb space or bag meters; our Denver parking permits guide covers it.

Closing week

1. Final walkthrough 24 hours before closing: run every faucet, flush every toilet, test the furnace and AC, open the garage door, and confirm the items the seller agreed to leave are still there.
2. Wire the closing funds only after a phone call to the title company at a number you looked up yourself. Wire fraud targets Colorado closings every week, and a wire to the wrong account does not come back.
3. Bring a government ID to the title company. Closing takes 45 to 90 minutes.
4. Change the locks and garage code the first night. $150 to $350 for a locksmith to rekey a house.

First 30 days: DMV, voting, dog, and the house

Driver license within 30 days. Colorado law treats you as a resident once you take a job, sign a lease or buy a home here, and gives you 30 days to get a Colorado license through the Colorado DMV (Division of Motor Vehicles). Book the appointment online the week you close; walk-in slots in the Denver metro are rare.

Vehicle registration within 90 days. Register at your county motor vehicle office (the county clerk runs it), not the state driver license office. You need the out-of-state title or lien information, proof of Colorado insurance, a VIN verification for out-of-state cars, and an emissions test if the car is registered in the Denver metro or North Front Range program area (Air Care Colorado stations, $25 for most gasoline cars, with newer cars exempt for the first several model years). Colorado's registration fee includes an ownership tax based on the car's value, so a newer car costs $400 to $900 a year. The full DMV, insurance and emissions walk-through is in When you move to Colorado, the car is the thing that trips people up.

Voter registration. Register online at the Colorado Secretary of State's site with your new Colorado license. Colorado mails a ballot to every active registered voter, and in-person same-day registration is allowed through Election Day.

Dog license. Denver requires a license for every dog over 6 months, renewed yearly, with proof of rabies vaccination. Most suburbs and counties require one too.

The house. Walk it with the inspection report in hand. Finding maintenance issues early is cheaper than finding them in January: locate the main water shutoff, replace the furnace filter, test the sump pump if there is one, test smoke and CO detectors (Colorado requires carbon monoxide alarms in homes with fuel-burning appliances or attached garages), and run a radon test kit ($15 to $30) if the seller did not provide a result.

Altitude and dry air: what a Colorado house needs that your last one did not

• Humidity. Indoor humidity in a heated Front Range home in January drops to 10% to 20%. Wood floors gap, guitars and pianos go out of tune, and everyone gets nosebleeds. A whole-house humidifier on the furnace costs $500 to $900 installed; two room units cost $100.
• Sun. UV at 5,280 feet is about 25% stronger than at sea level. Window film or cellular shades on south and west windows protect floors and furniture, and sunscreen goes in the car.
• Water. Drink twice what you drank at sea level for the first 2 weeks. Headaches in week one are altitude, not the house.
• Cooking. Water boils at 202 degrees in Denver; pasta and rice take longer, and baking recipes need less leavening and more liquid.
• Cars. Winter roads are treated with magnesium chloride, which eats brake lines and undercarriages; wash the car after every storm. Colorado's traction law requires adequate tires (3/16-inch tread, mud-and-snow or all-weather rated) on I-70 in the mountains from September 1 into late spring.

The newcomer's guide covers cost of living, commutes and neighborhoods: Moving to Denver: a newcomer's guide. City pages for the suburbs are on our Colorado relocation services page.

Snow, sprinklers and the seasonal calendar

• Sidewalks. Denver requires homeowners to clear the public sidewalk within 24 hours after snow stops falling; businesses get 4 hours. Most suburbs have the same 24-hour rule. Fines start at $150 in Denver.
• Sprinklers. Blow out the sprinkler system with compressed air before the first hard freeze, mid-October in the metro; $60 to $120 for a service, and a frozen backflow preventer costs $300 to $600 to replace. Turn it back on in late April.
• Hose bibs. Disconnect hoses in October. Frost-free bibs still split when a hose stays on.
• Furnace. Service in September. Xcel Energy pays rebates on some high-efficiency replacements.
• Hail. The season runs from late spring through September; know where the car goes when the alert hits, and read your roof coverage and deductible before the first storm.

First 90 days: property taxes, metro districts, and the paperwork you keep

Colorado property tax bills come from the county treasurer in January for the prior year and are paid in two halves (February and June) or in full by April 30. If your lender escrows, confirm the first escrow analysis. Homes in newer subdivisions in Parker, Castle Rock, Aurora, Erie and Thornton sit inside metro districts that add 10 to 60 mills to the bill; the amount was disclosed during the contract and it shows up in this first statement. Our Denver special district and metro district tax guide explains the line items.

Keep the closing disclosure, the title policy, the inspection report, the seller's property disclosure and every receipt for improvements in one folder. You need them for taxes, for the next sale, and for the insurance claim after the next hailstorm. The fees and trade-offs newcomers miss in this window are in The real cost of living on the Front Range.

Where to go next

• Colorado Front Range relocation checklist
• Moving to Denver
• Denver utility providers and costs guide
• The 10 most common mistakes people make when moving to Colorado
• Homes for sale in Colorado Springs
• Kenna Real Estate Group agents

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC hands every buyer this checklist with the utility providers, HOA contacts and county offices filled in for the home they bought, and stays on the phone through the first 90 days. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Still choosing the home? Search every home for sale in Colorado.