Selling and buying without an agent in Colorado

Who runs your closing

Colorado is a title and escrow state, not an attorney state. You are not required to hire a lawyer to sell your home, and most transactions close through a licensed title insurance company acting as the settlement or escrow agent rather than through an attorney’s office. Colorado is often called a table closing state: buyer and seller can sit down together to sign while the settlement agent handles the documents, the money, and recording the deed. Escrow funds must be held by a licensed closing or title company, and a real estate broker cannot serve as the escrow agent. You may still hire a real estate attorney to review your contract or answer questions, and for an unusual sale that can be money well spent, but it is a choice, not a requirement.

What you must disclose

Colorado sellers must disclose known latent, adverse material facts about the property. This duty comes from common law, confirmed by the Colorado Court of Appeals in Gattis v. McNutt, which held that home sellers owe buyers an independent obligation to disclose defects they know about. To meet it, sellers customarily complete the Colorado Real Estate Commission’s Seller’s Property Disclosure (Residential), form SPD19. The form is unusually detailed, running fourteen pages, and it is updated periodically, with the current version taking effect January 1, 2026. Colorado also has a separate statute requiring written disclosure of whether the property was ever used as a methamphetamine laboratory, unless it has been remediated and certified. Fill the form out honestly and completely. Disclosing a known problem protects you; hiding one invites a lawsuit.

Transfer taxes

Colorado does not levy a traditional percentage-based real estate transfer tax. Instead, when a deed is recorded and the consideration is more than $500, the county clerk and recorder collects a documentary fee of one cent for each $100 of consideration, roughly $0.10 per $1,000 of the sale price. On a $500,000 sale that comes to about $50. By longstanding custom the seller usually pays this fee at closing, though who pays is negotiable in your contract. Because the amount is so small, it rarely moves your bottom line.

The bottom line for doing it yourself

Selling without an agent in Colorado is very doable. Your two real obligations are handling disclosure carefully and letting a licensed title or escrow company run the closing. Get the SPD19 form early, complete it truthfully, then price and market your home and lean on your title company for the paperwork. Budget for the modest documentary fee and consider a one-time attorney review if anything about your sale feels complicated. This guide is general information, not legal advice; for your specific situation, consult a licensed Colorado attorney or your title company.