Home / Answers / Agent Training / Specialty
Agent TrainingSpecialty training for real estate agents
Divorce, probate, reverse mortgage heirs, short sales and pre-foreclosure, mountain property and 55+ communities. 25 guides from Brian Lee Burke, team leader of The Kenna Group at Keller Williams DTC, licensed since 2003, each with the short answer, the steps and a script for your client.
Do Colorado mountain counties require a septic inspection at sale?Colorado's OWTS rules come from the state health department (CDPHE) and its Regulation 43. Local health agencies adopt rules at least as strict and handle permits. Several Front Range mountain and resort counties require a septic inspection, use permit or transfer certificate before closing. Some don't. Others have programs starting or changing. Fees, how long the permit stays valid, and winter rules all vary. Check the county health department for the property, every time.How do 55+ community rules and costs work in Colorado?A federal law called the Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA) lets a community limit itself to older residents. To use the 55+ version of that rule, at least 80% of the occupied homes must have at least one resident who is 55 or older. The community must also publish its age policy and check ages on a regular basis. Everything past that comes from the community's own recorded covenants. Those covenants differ a lot. Dues differ a lot, too. Some cover heat and water. Some cover only a clubhouse. So you read the documents for the exact home every time.How do I advise a client who wants to buy a foreclosure at auction?In Colorado, foreclosure sales are run by the county public trustee, and some properties also go through online auction platforms. Bidders usually need certified funds or cash quickly, often within a day or a few days. There's normally no inspection, no financing contingency, and no access before the sale. The buyer may take on certain liens, unpaid taxes or HOA balances, and may have to go through a legal process to remove occupants. Redemption and cure rules can apply. It's a cash investor's game, done with an attorney and a title professional.How do I advise an investor buyer on short-term rental rules in Colorado?Eligibility first, revenue second. In Denver, a short-term rental license generally requires the property to be the host's primary residence, meaning the place they actually live and usually return to. Many mountain counties and towns license short-term rentals separately, and some cap the number of licenses or limit them by zone. HOAs can ban short-term rentals even where the city allows them. Verify all three for the exact address before your buyer counts a dollar of rental income.How do I help a buyer get wildfire insurance on a mountain home?Get insurance quotes the day you go under contract, not the week of your deadline. Colorado's HB25-1182 requires admitted insurers and the Colorado FAIR Plan, when they use a wildfire model or score, to give the homeowner the score, explain it, show how mitigation can change it, and allow an appeal. Documented mitigation, like defensible space, a Class A roof and ember-resistant vents, can help with the score and with discounts. If standard insurers decline, the Colorado FAIR Plan is the last-resort option, with its own rules and coverage limits.How do I help a buyer house hack with a duplex or ADU?There are three main setups: a 2-4 unit property where the buyer lives in one unit, a single-family home with a legal accessory dwelling unit (ADU), or a single home where the buyer rents rooms or a basement. Each one is treated differently by zoning and by lenders. Verify the legal unit count, get the lender's rental income rules before searching, and run the numbers as "how much does rent offset my cost," not "the tenant pays my mortgage."How do I help a client buy a second home or vacation home in Colorado?A second home is one the owner uses part of the year for personal stays. Lenders treat it differently from a primary home and from an investment property, so the buyer's plan for renting it matters. Before falling in love, check insurance cost and availability, who plows the road, water and septic, internet, short-term rental rules, property taxes and any town transfer taxes. Then pick the house.How do I help a couple sell a home during a divorce?Stay neutral. Get both owners' signatures on everything. Send every update to both. Price it with data, not emotion. Coordinate timing with their attorneys and the divorce decree. Point legal, tax and loan questions to the right pros.How do I help a homeowner downsize or rightsize?"Smaller" isn't a plan. Find out what the client wants to get rid of (stairs, yard, snow, empty rooms) and what they won't give up (garage, guest room, storage). Price the current home from this year's sales so they know their net. Search by how the next home lives, not by a label. Decide whether to sell first, buy first or tie the two together. Send tax questions to a CPA, and point them to the IRS and the county assessor for the rules.How do I help a homeowner who is behind on their mortgage?Federal servicing rules generally keep a lender from starting foreclosure until the loan is more than 120 days late. In Colorado, foreclosure starts when the lender records a Notice of Election and Demand (NED) with the county public trustee. The sale is usually set about 110 to 125 days after that for a typical home. Until the sale, the owner may still catch up, get a repayment plan or modification, sell the home and keep any equity, or try a short sale. After the sale, Colorado owners generally have no right to buy it back. So the earlier they act, the more doors are open.How do I sell an inherited or probate home in Colorado?In Colorado, probate runs through the district court in the county where the person lived (Denver has its own probate court). The court appoints a personal representative (PR) and issues Letters. Once the PR has Letters, the PR can list, sign a contract and sign the deed. In informal probate, that usually doesn't need a hearing. Formal or supervised probate can add a court step before closing. Homes held in a trust, in joint tenancy or with a recorded beneficiary deed may skip probate. Your first job is to find out which one you have.How do I work with real estate investor clients?Find out the investor's strategy first: long-term rental, short-term rental, fix-and-flip, house hack, or land. Then build every search and every conversation around their numbers: price, rent, expenses, repairs, financing and exit. Do the property-specific checks investors care about: zoning, rental rules, permits, HOA rental limits, and condition. Bring them deals, show your math, and let them decide.How do heirs sell a house with a reverse mortgage?The servicer sends a due-and-payable notice. The heirs respond quickly with their plan. The home gets listed and priced to sell. If the home is worth less than the loan, heirs can generally sell for at least 95% of the appraised value and FHA insurance covers the rest. Agents keep the timeline moving and keep the heirs talking to the servicer.How do manufactured home financing and title work in Colorado?For a standard mortgage, most lenders want a manufactured home built after June 15, 1976, with HUD certification labels, on a permanent foundation, titled together with the land as real property, and not moved since it was first installed. In Colorado, turning the home into real property means the vehicle-style title has been purged through the county and state process. Homes on leased lots or not converted to real property usually need cash or a chattel loan (personal property financing).How does a client buy a home after a divorce?Colorado has no legal waiting period to buy after a divorce. The lender's rules set the timeline. Lenders can count maintenance (Colorado's word for alimony) and child support the buyer receives, if a court order requires it, there's a payment history (often six months), and it continues for a set time after closing (often three years). Support the buyer pays counts as a debt. The old mortgage counts against them unless the decree assigns it to the ex and the lender accepts that, or the ex has a documented payment record. Most buyers wait for the final decree before closing.How does a short sale work for an underwater seller?The seller lists the home at market value. A buyer makes an offer. The seller's lender (and any second lienholder) reviews a package of documents and decides whether to approve the price. It takes longer than a normal sale. The seller usually needs a real hardship. Talk to your managing broker before you take one.How does a spousal buyout work in a divorce?Take the agreed value. Subtract every loan and lien. Decide, in writing, whether estimated selling costs come off too. Multiply what's left by the leaving spouse's share. That's the buyout. The keeping spouse usually pays it with a refinance that also takes the other spouse off the old loan. The quitclaim deed gets signed at the refinance closing, not before. The keeping spouse should be pre-approved before the decree sets a refinance date.What are the options for an underwater seller, and how do they compare?Three questions narrow it fast. Can they still make the payment? Do they have to move? How much cash could they really bring to closing? If they can pay and don't have to move, waiting is often the cheapest choice. If they must move and have cash, selling and bringing the difference is the cleanest exit. If they can't pay and have no cash, it usually comes down to a short sale or a deed in lieu, with foreclosure as the outcome nobody picks on purpose.What do real estate agents need to know about 1031 exchanges?Under Section 1031, an investor can defer tax on the sale of real property held for investment or business use by buying like-kind real property. A qualified intermediary holds the sale money so the investor never touches it. There are two hard deadlines from the day the first property closes: 45 days to identify replacement property in writing, and 180 days (or the tax filing deadline, if earlier) to close. Personal residences don't qualify. Cash or debt relief the investor keeps, called boot, is taxable.What happens when one spouse refuses to sell the house?Once a Colorado divorce is filed and served, an automatic order stops either spouse from selling marital property alone. So you need either a written agreement signed by both (often called a stipulation) or a court order. If one spouse refuses, their attorneys go to the court, not to you. Your job is to stay neutral, give both sides the same information at the same time, keep a written log, and follow the order to the letter.What is Colorado's 35-acre rule, and what does it mean for land buyers?Colorado law excludes divisions of land into parcels of 35 acres or more (not intended for multiple owners) from the state definition of "subdivision." That means those splits skip county subdivision review. Parcels under 35 acres go through county subdivision or exemption rules. The 35-acre line also affects water: parcels of 35 acres or more may qualify for a broader domestic and livestock well permit, while most smaller parcels created after 1972 get household-use-only well permits.What is the house worth in a divorce?Colorado generally values marital property as of the decree or the property hearing, not the day they separated. The number usually comes from a written comparative market analysis (CMA) from an agent, a licensed appraisal, or both. A broker price opinion (BPO) is another written agent opinion, often on a standard form. Online estimates are not evidence. If either spouse disputes the agent's number, an independent appraisal that both agree in advance will control is the common fix.What should I check when my buyer is buying a home with a well?Look up the well permit with the Colorado Division of Water Resources (DWR). The permit says what the water can be used for. Many small mountain parcels have "household use only" permits, which cover water inside one home and nothing outside. Have the water tested by a lab during the inspection period. Ask about yield (how many gallons per minute the well produces) and storage. Make sure the change-of-owner filing with DWR gets done at closing. Water rights, like ditch shares or decreed rights, are a separate property right that moves by deed.What should my buyer check about winter access and private roads on a mountain home?Find out whether the road to the home is county-maintained or private. If it's private, find out who plows it, who pays, and whether there's a written road maintenance agreement or road association. Check the driveway's steepness, length and turnaround, and confirm recorded legal access with the title company. Then have the buyer drive it in winter if they can.What should my buyer know about propane and heating in a mountain home?Find out the heat source and fuel, who owns the propane tank, and what the last 12 months of utility bills look like. Propane is delivered by truck to a tank on the lot, so access matters. Leased tanks belong to the propane company and stay with that company's contract. Ask for furnace or boiler age and service records, and have the inspector look at the system.
