Buying or selling in Aurora

The county decides which assessor values the property, which treasurer collects the tax and where the deed is recorded. In Aurora that can be Arapahoe, Adams or Douglas County, and a listing will simply say Aurora, so check the county on the parcel record before anything else.

The same record lists every taxing entity on the bill. Aurora publishes information on the metropolitan districts inside the city, and a metro district adds its own levy to the property tax. The guide to metro districts explains how to look one up and read its service plan before you offer.

Aurora Water is the city's water and wastewater utility; confirm the provider for a specific address. The city also notes that a homeowners association or a metro district can be responsible for maintaining a neighborhood's stormwater pond, and it has written to some of them about the requirements. If a subdivision has a pond or other shared drainage, ask whose it is and how its upkeep is funded, because that cost lands in dues or a levy.

Aurora's flood resources page makes the general point plainly: every home or property is at some level of risk for flooding. Check the FEMA map for the specific address, and ask the lender early whether flood insurance will be required.

The city says four school districts serve its residents, including Aurora Public Schools and Cherry Creek School District. Cherry Creek assigns neighborhood schools by physical address and publishes an address locator. Confirm any specific address with the district itself, and note that Cherry Creek School District is a different place from Denver's Cherry Creek neighborhood, which the Cherry Creek page explains. Here is how to check which school district an address is in.

RTD's R Line, which runs from RidgeGate Parkway to Peoria, has stations in the city including Aurora Metro Center, Florida, Iliff, Nine Mile and Fitzsimons. The A Line, from Union Station to Denver Airport, stops in Aurora at Peoria and at 40th/Airport-Gateway Park. E-470, a toll highway, runs through the city as well.

Building permits go through the city's Building Permit Center, with online applications. Zoning and development applications sit with Planning and Business Development, and the city's zoning code, the Unified Development Ordinance, is published online.

Aurora has an Oil and Gas Advisory Committee and publishes an Oil and Gas Operations Map, along with the pipeline and pad-site projects under review in the city. If a property is near a proposed or existing site, the map is the place to start, before the showing rather than after.

On a newer house, the questions are usually the metro district levy and the association documents, both of which the Colorado contract gives you time to read. On an older one, the guide to buying a 1970s house sets out the era's inspection list, and the radon guide explains why testing is routine here.