Closing to Move-In: The Colorado Buyer's Moving Timeline

On a Colorado purchase the keys change hands at closing or on the possession date written in the contract, and the buyer then has 30 days to get a Colorado driver license, 90 days to register the car, and one first week to set up utilities, change addresses and check the systems that matter at 5,280 feet. This guide is the timeline from closing day to the end of the first month, with the providers named city by city.

The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC hands buyers this list at closing. It assumes the purchase is done; how the purchase works is on how the group helps buyers and what happens under contract is on escrow: what happens after your offer is accepted.

Closing day: keys, possession and the walk-through

• Possession is a contract date. The Colorado contract has a separate possession date and time. Most buyers take possession at closing once the deed records; a seller who negotiated post-closing occupancy stays 2 to 5 days and pays a daily rate.
• Walk through within 24 hours before closing. Confirm negotiated repairs are done, the seller's items are out, and the furnace, water heater and appliances run. Problems found before signing get fixed with a credit; problems found after are the buyer's.
• Ask the seller for three things at the table: garage door openers, every key and code, and the location of the water main shut-off and the sprinkler control box.
• Change the locks and reset the garage code the first day. Prior owners, contractors and neighbors hold keys the seller forgot.

Utilities by city: who to call before moving day

Set up electric and gas to start on the closing date so the furnace runs the first night. Water and trash differ from city to city on the Front Range:

Internet across the metro is Xfinity or Quantum Fiber, with fiber providers in newer subdivisions. Ask the seller for the last 12 months of Xcel bills; winter gas on a 2,000 square foot home runs $100 to $250 a month and summer electric with central air runs $120 to $220. The Denver providers, deposits and average bills are on the Denver utility providers and costs guide.

The Colorado clocks: license, registration, emissions, voting

• Driver license: 30 days from establishing Colorado residency, at a Colorado DMV office by appointment. Bring the out-of-state license, proof of identity and two proofs of the new address; the closing statement and a utility bill work.
• Vehicle registration: 90 days. Colorado charges a specific ownership tax that scales with the vehicle's value, so a newer car registers at $400 to $900 the first year. A VIN verification is required on vehicles titled out of state.
• Emissions testing applies in the Front Range program area: Denver, Boulder, Broomfield, Douglas and Jefferson counties and parts of Adams, Arapahoe, Larimer and Weld. Gasoline vehicles under 7 model years old are exempt; older ones test every two years at an Air Care Colorado station.
• Voter registration moves to the new address online through the Colorado Secretary of State. Colorado mails ballots to every active registered voter, so the address has to be right before the next election.

Address changes in the first week

1. USPS mail forwarding, filed online, for 12 months.
2. Employer payroll and benefits.
3. Banks, credit cards and any brokerage, so statements and proof-of-funds documents carry the Colorado address.
4. Auto insurance, which reprices in Colorado because of hail; then homeowners insurance, which was bound before closing.
5. The county assessor and treasurer, if the mailing address differs from the property.
6. Doctors, pharmacies, subscriptions and the IRS (Form 8822).

The first mortgage payment and the first tax bill

The first mortgage payment is due on the first of the month after the first full month of ownership; a closing on September 24 puts the first payment on November 1. Interest for the closing month was prepaid at the table. The escrow account collects property tax and insurance monthly. The group's lender partner, Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate, NMLS 261003, Equal Housing Lender, walks buyers through the first statement and the servicer transfer letter that arrives within 60 days. You are free to use any lender. The escrow math is on the Colorado home financing guide.

Colorado property taxes are paid a year in arrears. The county treasurer mails the bill in January; pay it in two halves (last day of February and June 15) or in full by April 30. With an escrow account the servicer pays it, but the buyer still reads the bill for the special district line. The Denver property taxes guide explains the assessment cycle and the protest window.

Moving in Colorado weather

• Snow season runs October to April. Book movers with a weather clause. A north-facing driveway holds ice for days after a storm; have ice melt on hand and salt the path before the truck arrives.
• Hail season runs May to September, with afternoon storms. Unload in the morning and get cars into the garage first, not last.
• Altitude and dry air. Movers and the buyer both tire faster at 5,280 feet; drink water and plan two shorter days over one long one. Wood furniture and instruments shrink in Colorado's dry air, so run a humidifier the first winter.
• Mag chloride on winter roads coats a moving truck and a car; wash the undercarriage after a mountain or I-25 drive.

A local Front Range move runs $1,500 to $4,000 for a 3-bedroom home; a long-distance move into Colorado runs $5,000 to $15,000 by weight and distance. The moving costs buyers miss and the mover rankings are in the 10 best long-distance movers for Colorado relocations and the most common mistakes people make when moving to Colorado.

The first-week list for a Colorado home

1. Furnace filter and a service call if the inspection noted the unit is over 12 years old. The furnace is the one system that cannot wait in a Colorado November.
2. Carbon monoxide and smoke alarms. Colorado law requires a carbon monoxide alarm near sleeping areas in homes with fuel-burning appliances or an attached garage. Test both and replace any unit over 10 years old.
3. Water heater and main shut-off: know where both are before a pipe freezes.
4. Sprinkler blowout before the first hard freeze, which arrives mid-October on the Front Range. A blowout costs $60 to $120; a burst backflow preventer costs $300 to $800.
5. Radon mitigation fan running, if the home has a system; the manometer on the pipe shows suction.
6. Gutters and downspouts pointed 5 feet from the foundation. Expansive clay soils across the metro move when water pools at the wall.
7. HOA registration within the first two weeks; the management company needs the new owner on file for gate codes, pool keys and trash schedules.
8. The nearest park or trail, walked in the first week, because it is the fastest way to meet the block.

The longer maintenance calendar for year one is in homeownership 101: what to do after buying your first home and essential tips for new homeowners in Colorado. Newcomers to the city start with the moving to Denver guide.

Where to go next

• The Colorado home buyer's guide
• Colorado relocation services
• Colorado Front Range relocation checklist
• Moving to Denver: a newcomer's guide
• Search every home for sale in Colorado
• Kenna Real Estate Group agents

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC stays on the file after closing: the utility list for the exact address, the possession handoff, the walk-through, and referrals for movers, sprinkler blowouts and furnace service on the Front Range. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Still looking for the home? Search every home for sale in Colorado.