Buyer guide
Before the first tour
Boulder · Weld · Larimer
From Michelle Barbour, REALTOR® with milehimodern, serving Boulder, Weld, and Larimer Counties.
Most buyers start with listings. The houses that waste a Saturday were never in range: the wrong town at 8 a.m., the wrong property type, or a payment that only works if taxes, HOA dues, and insurance stay where a listing estimate put them.
Settle these four before the first tour. If one of them is still open, you will like a house you cannot buy, or skip one you should have seen.
- Monthly cost, not list price. Payment, property taxes, HOA dues, and insurance. On the Front Range those four move the number more than the asking price does. A lower list price with high taxes or a high HOA can cost more each month than the house you thought was out of reach.
- House or attached. Do not mix them. Only price and bid against the same property type, or you will compare a house to a condo and get the price wrong.
- The town at 8 a.m. Boulder, Longmont, Erie, Louisville, Lafayette, Windsor, Fort Collins. “Close to Boulder” on a listing is often a noon drive. Decide the commute you will actually make, then look inside that set.
- Must-haves you will not trade. Yard or no yard. One level or stairs. A school attendance area, checked with the district, not copied from the listing. Everything else can move.
The rest of the guide
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Preparing to Buy — the milehimodern guide
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Pre-approval before you write
Pre-approval comes before the offer, not after you find the house. A local lender needs the documents before a seller will treat the offer as real. I can introduce you to people I use. Search with the budget they give you. A number from a payment calculator falls apart when taxes, HOA dues, or insurance come in.
What the search is for
Listing alerts should match the four things above. Tour until the house fits in person. Photos hide the street, the light, and the room that is smaller than it looks. I will tour with you. When we find the right fit, I write the offer and stay with the purchase through closing.
How the offer is built
The price comes from recent closed sales of the same property type in the same named area. Not from the list price, and not from a Zestimate. We set price, earnest money, dates, and what you will do if the appraisal comes in low, before anyone signs. Once everyone has signed, earnest money is due. Miss that date and the contract can die.
Takeaway: Decide the appraisal plan before you submit. Do not discover it the day the report arrives.
Inspection
This is where buyers give up leverage without meaning to. Read the contract deadlines with me before you order the inspection. In the Colorado contract, delivering an Inspection Objection is not the same move as terminating. The signed contract controls which deadline does which. Do not send a form because a blog told you to.
If there is an HOA
Read the documents before you waive anything: budget, reserves, insurance, rental rules, and special assessments. A low list price with a thin reserve is a repair you will pay later. Some projects are not eligible for the loan you planned. Ask the lender early, or you will write an offer the financing cannot close.
Appraisal and closing
The lender orders the appraisal. If it comes in under the price, you use the plan you already set: bring cash, renegotiate, or use the deadline in the contract. Closing day is a last walk-through, papers in front of a notary, then keys. Review the final numbers with your lender before that appointment. Set utilities and insurance before you get there.
If you are also selling
The dates have to work on both contracts. A closing you cannot make is a term, not a detail. We plan that before either side is signed. The seller guide is the other half.
Disclaimer
This guide is educational. It is not legal, tax, or lending advice. Your signed contract, your lender, and the relevant county or district control the transaction. School attendance areas, HOA rules, taxes, and loan eligibility have to be verified for the specific property.