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Sep 15, 2026 • 6 min read

What Front Range Investors Should Verify Before Investing in Property

Property can look convincing from a distance. Clean listing photographs, updated flooring, a tidy rent estimate, and maybe a spreadsheet showing comfortable monthly income are all positives. Still, an investment succeeds or fails somewhere below that polished surface. The real questions concern recurring costs, physical condition, tenant demand, legal limitations, and how the property behaves aft

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Dec 3, 2020 6 min read

Renovating an Old House in Colorado: Where to Start

Start an old-house renovation in Colorado with the foundation, the roof and the electrical panel, not the kitchen. Expansive clay soil, decades of freeze-thaw cycles and outdated wiring cause the problems that turn a cosmetic remodel into a structural one, so a Front Range fixer-upper needs an inspection-first order of operations.Get a full inspection, foundation, roof, electrical panel, plumbing

Dec 3, 2020 8 min read

Radon Mitigation in Colorado: Cost and Testing

Colorado sits inside the Environmental Protection Agency's Zone 1, the highest radon-potential zone in the country. The granite and uranium-bearing soils under the Front Range release radon gas into basements and crawlspaces, and a test result above 4.0 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) means the home needs a mitigation system. The fix is a defined, priced job with a known timeline, not a mystery.Rado

Dec 2, 2020 7 min read

12 Factors That Set Colorado Home Insurance Rates

Twelve factors set a Colorado homeowners insurance premium, and the state's hail season and wildfire risk push several of them higher here than in most of the country. A roof under 10 years old, a wildfire mitigation clearance, and a clean claims history do more to lower a Front Range premium than any other single choice a homeowner makes.The Denver-Boulder-Colorado Springs corridor sits inside w

Nov 29, 2020 7 min read

Types of Contractors to Hire in Colorado

Colorado has no statewide license for general contractors. Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Colorado Springs and most Front Range cities license contractors locally, and the state licenses two trades directly through the Division of Professions and Occupations: plumbing and electrical. Before you hire anyone for a repair or a remodel, know which type of contractor the job calls for and which license app

Nov 18, 2020 6 min read

Maintenance Tasks Front Range Owners Shouldn't Skip

A maintenance task that gets ignored on a Front Range home rarely announces itself. A furnace filter clogs quietly, a roof flashing gap leaks only during a hard rain, and a water heater's anode rod corrodes away with no warning until the tank itself starts to fail. None of these show symptoms until the cost has already grown.Six systems account for most of the "wish I had caught that sooner" repa

Nov 11, 2020 9 min read

5 Reasons Colorado Sellers Take a Cash Offer on a Home

A cash offer makes sense for a Colorado seller in five situations: you need to close in 10 to 14 days, the home will not pass a lender's appraisal or condition review, you are selling as is with repairs you will not make, the house is vacant or inherited and sits far from where you live, or a foreclosure clock is running. In every other case a financed buyer on the open market pays more, and in t

Nov 10, 2020 5 min read

Insulation to Install in a Colorado Home: R-Value Guide

Colorado spans three building climate zones depending on elevation, from Denver's Zone 5B up through Zone 6 and Zone 7 in the mountains, and the target R-value for attic, wall, and crawlspace insulation changes with the zone. A Denver metro home wants R-49 to R-60 in the attic and R-13 to R-21 in exterior walls; a mountain-adjacent home in a colder zone wants the higher end of both ranges.Getting

Nov 10, 2020 7 min read

Winterizing a Front Range Home: Full Checklist

A Front Range home needs to be ready for 65-degree afternoons and single-digit nights in the same week, so the fall checklist has to cover more ground than a generic winterizing list written for a milder climate. The three jobs that matter most before the first hard freeze: shut down the sprinkler system, protect exposed pipes, and get the furnace tuned for altitude.The Denver metro area sees its

Nov 8, 2020 7 min read

Customizing a New Colorado Home Without Losing Resale Value

A new home on the Front Range starts to feel personal once it reflects the people living in it, and six changes do that fastest: plants suited to the dry climate, personal art, a paint plan built around strong Colorado light, lighting upgrades, a room dedicated to a hobby, and small hardware swaps. Each one also carries a Colorado-specific rule worth knowing before spending money on it.Front Rang

Nov 3, 2020 6 min read

What Colorado Real Estate Agents Won't Tell You

A real estate agent works for you, not the other way around. The national commission settlement that took effect August 17, 2024 rewrote several of the old rules for buyers and sellers on the Front Range, and every one of the changes below is information you are entitled to have in writing before you sign anything.Nothing in Colorado law requires a buyer or seller to work with the first agent the

Oct 21, 2020 7 min read

Eco-Friendly Home Upgrades That Pay Off in Colorado

The three eco-friendly upgrades that pay off fastest on a Colorado home are homemade cleaning products that skip harsh chemicals, a metal roof built to take a hail hit, and a water-wise yard that meets Front Range watering rules. Each one answers a real Colorado problem: hard water, hail season, and drought restrictions.Denver averages 300 days of sun a year, and at 5,280 feet the UV load is roug

Oct 21, 2020 7 min read

How Remote Work Affects Colorado Homeowners Insurance

Working from a spare bedroom or basement office changes what your homeowners policy needs to cover, and Colorado's hail, wildfire and theft risk make the base policy price move for reasons that have nothing to do with where you work. Here is what actually changes, what does not, and what it costs.A standard Colorado homeowners policy covers ordinary home office contents — a desk, a laptop, a prin

Sep 29, 2020 6 min read

A Colorado Buyer's Guide to a Higher Credit Score

A higher credit score earns a Colorado buyer a lower mortgage rate, a smaller down payment requirement, and access to more loan programs, and most of the fastest gains come from three habits: paying every bill on time, lowering credit card balances, and leaving old accounts open.Conventional loans start at 620, FHA loans start at 580 with 3.5% down (500 with 10% down), and the Colorado Housing an

Sep 26, 2020 6 min read

4 Showing Mistakes That Cost Colorado Sellers a Sale

Four things quietly cost Front Range sellers a buyer at showing time: pest activity, clutter that hides a room's real size, personal items and valuables left in the open, and strong odors from cooking, smoke or air fresheners. None of them take more than a weekend to fix, and all four show up in buyer feedback when they go wrong.A showing is a short window, no more than 20 to 30 minutes, for a bu

Aug 30, 2020 6 min read

Home Office Space for Colorado-Based Businesses

Denver and most Front Range cities allow a home-based business as long as it stays a secondary use of the home, does not add regular customer traffic, and does not require exterior changes that signal a commercial operation. A spare bedroom, a finished basement corner, or part of a garage all work, but the right layout depends on zoning, HOA rules, and how much internet and workspace the business

Aug 29, 2020 7 min read

Denver vs. the Suburbs: Pros and Cons for Buyers

I'm Brian Lee Burke, and I've been a REALTOR since 2003. Here are the numbers behind the city-or-suburb question, from MLS data I pulled on October 29, 2026, followed by the questions buyers ask most.MLS data by mailing city, pulled October 29, 2026. Median sold and price per square foot cover October 29, 2025 to October 28, 2026; for sale is as of October 29, 2026.Denver had the most choice, 3,8

Aug 20, 2020 5 min read

Home Security Tips | Colorado | Home Security Hacks

When you're ready to put your home on the market, look at any potential security risks. You can significantly reduce the risk of a break-in or vandalism by being proactive. Invest in security before you have to pay for repairs.Ensure that you invest in cool light bulbs that can be inserted into remote sockets or at least left on for hours if you've already moved and want your house to look lived

Aug 18, 2020 7 min read

Selling a Colorado Home From Out of State or Deployed

You do not have to fly back to Colorado to sell a house here. Colorado accepts electronic signatures on the listing agreement, the contract and every disclosure, has allowed remote online notarization since the end of 2020, lets a seller sign the deed anywhere in the world before a notary and mail it to the title company, and records a power of attorney with the deed for a seller who cannot sign

Jul 9, 2020 8 min read

Home Appraisal in Divorce: Understanding the Process & Impact | The Kenna Group at KW DTC

The marital home is usually the most valuable asset that needs to be divided up during a divorce, so it is essential to find its actual value. One of the first steps that you will need to take to divide up your assets is to arrange a home valuation.Finding out the value of your joint assets is a crucial step when you are getting a divorce. Knowing how much your property is worth is essential to d

Jul 9, 2020 8 min read

How a Colorado Home Appraisal Works: Comps, Gaps, Deadlines

A Colorado home appraisal is a written opinion of market value from an appraiser licensed by the Colorado Division of Real Estate, built on closed sales of similar homes in the same area, adjusted for the differences between those homes and yours. On a financed purchase the buyer's lender orders it, the buyer pays for it, and the Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate gives the buyer a dat