My contract file from a closing back in early January looked different from every file I'd worked with before it. Same address format, same layout, but the Dates and Deadlines page had a few new lines I had to explain twice to my buyers. Colorado's Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate got an update this year, and as of January 1, 2026, the new version is the only one brokers are supposed to use. If you...
A stat crossed my desk this week that stopped me mid-scroll. In May 2021, the average home listed in Denver Metro was getting 14.2 showings a month. This May, that number was 4.7. That's not a typo, and it's not one bad month. It's a nearly two-thirds decline over five years, according to InfoSparks data cited in the Denver Metro Association of Realtors' June 2026 Market Trends Report. If you've listed a...
You get a letter from your HOA. Certified mail, return receipt requested. Somewhere in your yard, your fence, or your trash cans didn't sit right with the architectural committee, and now there's a fine attached. Most homeowners' first instinct is to just pay it and move on. Here's what a lot of people in Parker and Aurora don't realize: under Colorado law, your HOA legally cannot fine you the moment it...
Picture this: you've accepted an offer on your Parker home. Good number, reasonable terms, everything you wanted. Then you get to the fine print and see it, the buyer's purchase is contingent on selling their own house first. Suddenly your "sold" home isn't really sold. It's sold if their house sells too. This is one of the most common questions I get from sellers who are otherwise thrilled with an offer:...
If you've seen a headline saying the 2026 conforming loan limit is $832,750, that number is right for most of the country, but it's not what buyers in Denver, Aurora, Parker, or Highlands Ranch actually get. Douglas County and the rest of the Denver metro area sit above the national baseline this year, and knowing your real number before you start shopping can change which homes qualify as a...
If you've been touring homes in Highlands Ranch, you've probably noticed something that doesn't quite add up. One listing shows an HOA fee, another mentions something called HRCA, and a title company disclosure might reference a third charge you've never heard of. It's not a mistake. Highlands Ranch runs on three separate fee layers, and knowing which one pays for what can save you from a confusing...
Denver's housing market has spent most of this year being described the same way: balanced, cooling, buyers finally getting some breathing room after a stretch of sellers calling the shots. That description is accurate for most of the market. It is not what's happening at the top of it. Through the first half of 2026, luxury homes accounted for 2,973 sales across the Denver metro area, or just over 14...
If you're buying a new construction condo or townhome in Colorado this year, one thing changed on January 1 that almost nobody outside the legal and building industry noticed. Your HOA now needs a lot more agreement among owners before it can sue a builder over a construction defect, and builders who sign up for a new state incentive program get real legal protection in return for offering a written...
Most Colorado sellers assume they'll owe some kind of state transfer tax on closing day, the way people in California or New York do. It's a fair guess, and it's almost always wrong. Colorado doesn't have a real transfer tax at the state level. What you'll actually see on the settlement statement is a tiny documentary fee, and unless your home sits in one of twelve specific mountain towns, that's the...
A client called me a few weeks ago with a good problem. She and her husband are being relocated to Japan for two years through her company, and instead of selling their Highlands Ranch townhome, they wanted to rent it out and come back to it later. Reasonable plan. Then she read her HOA's rules and saw a rental cap that made her nervous. So we pulled the actual declaration, not just the rules handout, and...
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