Buying and selling costs in Colorado

Every dollar figure in this lesson is a made-up example. Every price, fee and offer in real life is per house, built from that house's beds, size, condition and neighborhood; county or market averages are only summaries.

Bottom line first. A flip has two closings, and each one has costs that come off your profit: one when you buy and one when you sell. Some are set by law (the documentary fee), some are quoted by the title company, and some are negotiated (agent commission, seller concessions). Put all of them in the math before you make an offer.

The documentary fee

Colorado charges a documentary fee when a deed transferring real property is recorded. The statute says it is imposed on "every person offering for recording in the office of the county clerk and recorder any deed or instrument in writing" that conveys title to real property in the state, and that it is "measured by the consideration paid or to be paid" for the transfer (C.R.S. 39-13-102(1)). Consideration means the value given in exchange for the property. The fee is on top of the ordinary recording fee (C.R.S. 39-13-102(1)), and it is payable to the county clerk and recorder (C.R.S. 39-13-102(3)).

The rate, in the statute's words: when the total consideration "exceeds five hundred dollars, the documentary fee payable shall be computed at the rate of one cent for each one hundred dollars, or major fraction thereof, of such consideration" (C.R.S. 39-13-102(2)(b)). If there is no consideration, or it is five hundred dollars or less, no fee is payable (C.R.S. 39-13-102(2)(a)). The consideration counts "the amount of any lien or encumbrance against the real property" and the charges required to make the transfer, so a mortgage the buyer takes on is part of the number, not a deduction from it (C.R.S. 39-13-102(2)(b)). For residential property, the amount is the one listed on the deed, with a special rule when none is listed or it is $500 or less (C.R.S. 39-13-102(5)(a)).

How to compute it. Divide the consideration by 100 and multiply by one cent. A major fraction means more than half. So a leftover of less than half of a hundred dollars is dropped, and a leftover of more than half counts as another full hundred. Example: $350,040 is 3,500.4 hundreds. The .4 is a minor fraction, so it is 3,500 hundreds, a fee of $35.00. But $350,060 is 3,500.6 hundreds; the .6 is a major fraction, so it counts as 3,501 hundreds, a fee of $35.01.

Who pays it in a deal? The statute puts the duty on the person offering the deed for recording. In an actual sale, who bears the cost is negotiated in the contract, so read the contract and ask the title company. Do not assume.

Other costs at the table

• Title insurance. A policy that protects against defects in ownership. An owner's policy protects the buyer; a lender usually requires its own policy. Price depends on the price and the title company.
• Closing or settlement fee. What the title or closing company charges to run the closing.
• Recording fee. A separate county fee to record the deed, in addition to the documentary fee. Since July 1, 2025, a 2024 law (HB24-1269 (2024), Colorado General Assembly) sets a flat $40 fee per recorded document instead of a fee per page, unless the law sets a different fee for that kind of document. The $50 in the table below is a made-up figure, not that fee. Ask the county clerk what it charges.
• Lender fees. Appraisal, origination, document and other charges if you borrow. The points from last lesson are part of this group.
• Prorations. Adjustments at closing for things like property tax and HOA dues so each side pays for the days they owned the house.

Selling costs

• Agent commission. The fee paid to the agents who represent the sale, usually a percentage of the price. It is negotiable and set in the listing agreement. In this lesson we use "for example, 5 percent if you agree to it," only to show the math.
• Seller concessions. A concession is a credit the seller gives the buyer, often to help pay the buyer's closing costs, after a repair request or to win a deal. It reduces what the seller walks away with.
• Seller's closing costs. Title and closing charges on the sale side, the documentary fee if the contract puts it on you, and any payoff of the loan.

Example with real numbers

Same made-up house in Aspen Bend Heights: 3-bed, 2-bath, 1,400 square foot ranch, $450,000 example ARV, $75,350 repair budget from fm-02, and the $19,740 holding cost from fm-03 (five months at $2,940 plus $5,040 points). We buy for $280,000, and we will assume, for the example, that we pay the costs shown on each side. In a real deal, the contract decides.

Buying closing:

Item	Math	Amount
Price		$280,000
Documentary fee	$280,000 / 100 = 2,800 hundreds x $0.01	$28.00
Owner's title policy	example	$1,500
Closing fee	example	$600
Recording fee	example	$50
Total cash to buy	$280,000 + $1,500 + $600 + $28 + $50	$282,178

Selling closing at $450,000:

Item	Math	Amount
Price		$450,000
Commission	5 percent (example if agreed): $450,000 x 0.05	-$22,500
Title and closing	example	-$1,800
Documentary fee	$450,000 / 100 = 4,500 hundreds x $0.01	-$45
Seller concession	example credit to the buyer	-$3,000
Net from sale	$450,000 - $22,500 - $1,800 - $45 - $3,000	$422,655

Step by step on the second table: $450,000 - $22,500 = $427,500. Minus $1,800 = $425,700. Minus $45 = $425,655. Minus $3,000 = $422,655.

Putting the whole flip together: $422,655 (net from sale) - $282,178 (cost to buy) = $140,477. Minus repairs of $75,350 = $65,127. Minus holding cost of $19,740 = $45,387 before income tax. Notice how the documentary fees, $28 and $45, are the smallest items in the picture, while the commission and the repairs are the largest. A beginner who leaves out the selling side sees a $170,000 gap between price and ARV and forgets that most of it is spoken for.

The loan balance is repaid out of the sale proceeds but is not a cost; you borrowed that money and are returning it. Interest and points are the cost, and we already counted them in holding.

Next, lessons 5 through 7 put it together into the most you can offer, how a wholesale deal differs, and how to test the numbers when things go wrong.