Closing Costs in Colorado 2026: Buyer & Seller Guide

· ✓ Last verified Sep 29, 2026 · March 4, 2026 · by AskDoss Editorial Team ·Home Buying · 8 min read

Colorado’s state charge on a deed is a documentary fee of one cent per $100 of consideration, so $50 on a $500,000 sale. Recording is a flat $40 per document plus surcharges. The real money is local: a few mostly mountain towns levy their own real estate transfer tax, for example 1% in Breckenridge and Vail and 3% in Telluride (Telluride Municipal Code § 4-3-50).

The one-cent documentary fee under C.R.S. § 39-13-102

The fee is charged when a deed is offered for recording, and the statute puts it on “every person offering for recording” the deed. The county clerk and recorder collects it. The rate is “one cent for each one hundred dollars, or major fraction thereof” of the consideration, and that consideration counts “the amount of any lien or encumbrance” plus charges and expenses of the conveyance. An assumed loan is therefore part of the base, not subtracted from it. If total consideration is $500 or less, no fee is due. Subsection (2), which sets the rate, was last amended effective January 1, 1985.

At $500,000 the fee is $50. At $1,000,000 it is $100.

Exemptions in § 39-13-104 that matter to households: deeds given as a gift, documents that transfer title because an owner died, instruments that only confirm or correct an earlier deed, and “any document given to secure payment of an indebtedness.” That last one means your deed of trust owes no documentary fee. An exemption has to be claimed when the document is offered for recording.

A 2026 amendment (HB 26-1202, effective August 12, 2026) lets a county send part of the money it collects to affordable housing. It did not change the rate.

The deed also needs a declaration on the form set by the state property tax administrator, signed by the grantor or grantee (C.R.S. § 39-14-102). If none comes with the deed, the clerk still records it. The assessor then gives the grantee 30 days’ written notice, and a grantee who still does not file can be fined $25 or 0.025% of the sale price, whichever is more. On a $500,000 home that is $125.

Mountain-town transfer taxes, and why no new ones can appear

Colorado’s constitution bars any new transfer tax rate on real property, state or local, and any increase in an existing one: “New or increased transfer tax rates on real property are prohibited” (Colo. Const. art. X, § 20(8)(a)). The town taxes that exist are set by each town’s own ordinance and paid to the town. The state does not collect them.

  • Breckenridge: 1% of gross consideration. The town says “the burden of the tax is the responsibility of the property buyer or grantee.” Exempt transfers need an approved exemption application, and since January 1, 2026 that costs $15.
  • Vail: a 1% real estate transfer tax, in place since 1980.
  • Summit County: the county clerk lists Breckenridge, Frisco and Silverthorne as towns that “assess a municipal tax on certain real property transfers” and warns that towns may charge penalties if a deed is recorded before it goes through their office.
  • Rates and exemptions differ by town. Telluride’s tax is “three percent (3%) of the consideration” (Telluride Municipal Code § 4-3-50). Ask the town where the property sits, before closing, whether it levies a transfer tax.

On a $500,000 Breckenridge condo the town’s 1% comes to $5,000, while the state documentary fee on the same deed is $50. The Real Estate Commission’s residential contract (form CBS1, § 15.4) has a blank where the parties decide who pays any local transfer tax: buyer, seller or half each. A separate line (§ 15.6) does the same for private transfer fees and other fees due on a transfer of the property, “such as community association fees, developer fees and foundation fees.”

County recording: a flat $40 per document since July 2025

HB 24-1269 ended page-count pricing. Under C.R.S. § 30-1-103(1), since July 1, 2025 the recording fee has been “forty dollars for each document.” On top of that, § 30-10-421 adds a $1 surcharge and the electronic recording board’s surcharge, which § 24-21-403(2) caps at $2. Arapahoe and Logan counties publish $43 per document. A deed plus a deed of trust at $43 each comes to $86.

Filed title rates, a $10 tax certificate, and who picks the title company

Title premiums are set by each insurer and agent, not by the state. Each one files its rates with the Commissioner of Insurance, and a new rate takes effect no earlier than 30 days after the filing is received (C.R.S. § 10-11-118(2)). Its rates must be “readily available to the public” in each of its offices in the county. Two companies can charge different amounts for the same policy, so ask for each quote in writing.

On the state residential contract, the seller chooses the title company and pays for the owner’s policy unless the parties check the box for the buyer to do so (CBS1 § 8.1.1–8.1.2). Owner’s extended coverage costs extra, and the contract has a separate line for who pays that (§ 8.1.3).

Before issuing an owner’s policy on a home sale, the title company has to get a certificate of taxes due from the county treasurer, unless the insured says otherwise in writing (C.R.S. § 10-11-122(3)(a)). The treasurer’s fee for it is $10 (§ 30-1-102(1)(f)). Starting January 1, 2027, that maximum is adjusted every two years for Denver-area inflation (§ 30-1-102(4)).

Brokers, title companies and the 1957 Conway-Bogue ruling

Colorado’s insurance code counts “closing and settlement services” by a title company or title agent as part of the business of title insurance (C.R.S. § 10-11-102(3), (3.5)). Title agents must be licensed (§ 10-11-116(1)(a)), so a title company that closes your sale answers to the state’s Commissioner of Insurance.

Brokers can fill in the paperwork too, within limits. In Conway-Bogue Realty Investment Co. v. Denver Bar Ass’n, 135 Colo. 398, 312 P.2d 998 (1957), the Colorado Supreme Court held that completing standard forms and explaining them is the practice of law. It still refused to stop licensed brokers from doing it “without separate charge therefor,” “in behalf of their customers,” and only in a real estate deal they are handling as brokers.

Whoever closes, Colorado’s good-funds law applies (C.R.S. § 38-35-125). The closer may not pay out money until it is available to withdraw right away, for example a Fed wire or a cashier’s check. The closer can advance up to $500 for small items such as recording costs. The seller can waive the rule, but only if three conditions are met: the written closing instructions say so in advance, they say the closer will not handle the money, and every lienholder agrees in writing to release its lien when it receives the payoff check.

Seller-side lines set by Colorado statute

  • 2% withholding for sellers with an out-of-state address. Under C.R.S. § 39-22-604.5, the closer withholds 2% of the sales price or of the net proceeds, whichever is less, in two cases. The first is when the seller is an individual, estate or trust whose proceeds are disbursed to, or whose federal real estate reporting return under IRC § 6045(e) shows, a last-known street address outside Colorado at the time of transfer. The second is when the seller is a foreign corporation with no permanent place of business in Colorado. There is no withholding if the price is $100,000 or less. It is also skipped if the seller signs an affirmation that they are a Colorado resident, that the corporation has a permanent place of business in Colorado, that the home was their principal residence, or that they will owe no Colorado tax on the gain.
  • Release of the deed of trust. A paid-off Colorado deed of trust is released by the county public trustee, at the request of the lender or a title company. Before releasing it, the public trustee must receive a $30 fee (C.R.S. § 38-37-104(1)(a)) plus the fee for recording the release (§ 38-39-102(1)(a)(III)). The $30 fee is also indexed to Denver-area inflation from January 1, 2027 (§ 38-37-104(1.5)).
  • Property tax paid a year late. Colorado property taxes are due January 1 of the year after they are levied (C.R.S. § 39-10-102(1)(b)(I)). CBS1 § 16.1.1 prorates the year-of-closing taxes to the closing date. The parties check a basis: the previous calendar year’s taxes, the most recent mill levy and valuation, or another method they write in.

CHFA grants and second loans

The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) offers down payment and closing cost help to buyers who finance with one of its first-mortgage programs. Its page listed the options this way on September 24, 2026:

  • Grant: up to the lesser of $25,000 or 3% of the first mortgage, with no repayment.
  • Second mortgage: up to the lesser of $25,000 or 4% of the first mortgage. Repayment is deferred until an event such as payoff of the first mortgage, a sale or refinance, or the home no longer being your primary residence. Within the second-mortgage option, buyers with a permanent disability and first-generation buyers can use specific CHFA programs offering up to $25,000 regardless of the first-mortgage amount. This is still a loan, with repayment deferred.

CHFA notes that “higher interest rates apply” with either option, and its limits are stated for a 30-year fixed-rate loan. On a $200,000 first mortgage that works out to a grant of up to $6,000 or a second loan of up to $8,000. CHFA works only through participating lenders; start with mortgage pre-approval and run the numbers in the down payment calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Colorado documentary fee the same as a transfer tax?

No. It is one cent per $100 of consideration, collected by the county clerk when the deed is recorded (C.R.S. § 39-13-102). Breckenridge and Vail each charge 1% under their own ordinances, and Telluride charges 3%; other towns differ or charge nothing.

Can a Colorado town add a transfer tax after I buy?

Not a new one, and not a higher rate. Colo. Const. art. X, § 20(8)(a) says “New or increased transfer tax rates on real property are prohibited.”

Does my mortgage add a documentary fee?

No. § 39-13-104(1)(j) exempts “any document given to secure payment of an indebtedness,” which covers a deed of trust. You still pay the per-document recording fee to record it.

I’m moving out of Colorado. Will part of my proceeds be held back?

Yes, if your proceeds are sent to an out-of-state street address or the federal IRC § 6045(e) return shows one: the closer withholds 2% of the price or of the net proceeds, whichever is less (C.R.S. § 39-22-604.5). Withholding does not apply if the price is $100,000 or less. It also does not apply if you sign an affirmation that you are a Colorado resident, that the home was your principal residence, or that no Colorado tax will be due on the gain.

Why does my Colorado closing statement show a charge from the public trustee?

Because Colorado deeds of trust are released by the county public trustee, not by the lender. The public trustee charges $30 (C.R.S. § 38-37-104(1)(a)), and the release also carries its own recording fee.

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