The Colorado real estate contract for most home sales is the residential Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate, approved by the Colorado Real Estate Commission (CREC). Colorado brokers must use the CREC-approved forms when they're available. The contract runs on a deadline chart: dates for earnest money, title, inspection, loan, appraisal and closing. Miss a deadline and your client can lose rights. Here's how I teach agents to think about it. This is training, not legal advice. Your managing broker is your first call.
The short answer
Use the current CREC-approved forms from the Colorado Division of Real Estate. Fill in the deadline chart carefully. Calendar every date. Use the approved objection, resolution and termination forms. Don't write legal language in additional provisions. Ask your managing broker when anything is unusual.
Step by step
- Get the current forms. CREC updates forms. Use the current versions through your brokerage's contract software or the Division of Real Estate.
- Fill in the parties and property exactly. Legal names, legal description, inclusions and exclusions.
- Price and terms. Purchase price, earnest money, new loan, seller concessions, loan type.
- Build the deadline chart. Common deadlines include:
- Earnest money deadline
- Record title and title objection deadlines
- HOA document deadlines (if any)
- Seller's property disclosure deadline
- Loan application, loan objection and loan termination deadlines
- Appraisal deadline and appraisal objection deadline
- Inspection objection, inspection termination and inspection resolution deadlines
- Closing date and possession
- Calendar every date. Send the client a simple list.
- Use the approved forms to object or terminate. The inspection objection, the inspection resolution, the notice to terminate. Use them by the deadline.
- Amend in writing. Any change to price, dates or terms uses the approved amend/extend form, signed by both sides.
- Keep additional provisions factual. Brokers can't practice law. Don't draft legal language. Ask your managing broker.
A worked example (illustration only)
A contract signed Monday, June 2, closing July 11:
| Deadline | Date |
|---|---|
| Earnest money | June 4 |
| Seller's property disclosure | June 5 |
| Inspection objection | June 12 |
| Inspection resolution | June 16 |
| Appraisal deadline | June 27 |
| Appraisal objection | June 30 |
| Loan objection | July 3 |
| Closing | July 11 |
Illustration only. Real deadlines are negotiated and written in each contract. The contract controls.
How to explain it to your client
"The Colorado contract is a standard form the state approves, so everyone's working from the same rules. The most important part is a list of dates. Each date is a checkpoint where you can raise a concern or, in some cases, walk away. I'll put every date on your calendar and remind you before each one. If anything legal comes up, I'll tell you to talk to an attorney. I'm your broker, not your lawyer."
Watch-outs
- No legal advice. Colorado brokers can fill in approved forms but can't practice law. Send legal questions to an attorney.
- Use the current forms. Old versions cause problems.
- Deadlines are everything. A missed deadline can waive a right.
- Days and times. The contract defines how dates and times work. Read it.
- Brokerage relationships. Colorado has specific disclosure rules for brokerage relationships. Follow your brokerage policy.
- Complaints happen. The Division of Real Estate takes complaints seriously. Document everything.
This is training for real estate agents. It isn't legal advice. Use the current CREC-approved forms and check with your managing broker.
Questions
Where do I get Colorado real estate forms?
From the Colorado Division of Real Estate or your brokerage's contract software.
Can I add my own clauses?
Keep additional provisions factual and simple. Don't draft legal language. Ask your managing broker.
What happens if a deadline is missed?
It depends on the contract and the deadline. Rights can be waived. Talk to your managing broker right away.
Can a buyer terminate after inspection?
Under the contract's inspection terms, by the deadline, using the approved form.
Who answers legal questions?
An attorney. Your managing broker can help with brokerage questions.
Brian Lee Burke is the founder of PadLeaders, a Colorado real estate broker licensed since 2003, team leader of The Kenna Group at Keller Williams DTC (formerly Kenna Real Estate Group) and the author of Mastering Real Estate and The Real Estate Playbook. More about Brian.
- Agent training by Brian Lee Burke, The Kenna Group at Keller Williams DTC
- Colorado Division of Real Estate
- Colorado Division of Real Estate