Single-family homes in the Denver metro

A detached house comes with all of itself: the roof, the siding, the drainage around the foundation, the driveway, the fence and the trees. Unless an association’s documents say otherwise, nobody else is saving for them. That is not a reason to hesitate, it is a reason to ask about each one by year rather than by adjective, because "updated" can mean last spring or twenty years ago.

On the Front Range the roof deserves particular attention. Hail is a regular event here, and the age and condition of a roof can affect both what an inspection turns up and what an insurer is willing to write. Ask for the roof’s age and any claim history, and talk to an insurer about the specific house before the contract’s Property Insurance Termination Deadline rather than after it.

Much of the Front Range also sits on expansive clay soils, which swell when wet and shrink as they dry. Grading that carries water away from the foundation, and downspouts that discharge well clear of it, matter more here than in many places. Cracks, doors that stick and floors that slope are worth an inspector’s attention, and a structural engineer’s if the inspector suggests one.

In most of the metro, the sewer service line that runs from the house to the main under the street belongs to the property owner rather than the city or the sanitation district, and so does the cost of repairing it. Where exactly the owner’s responsibility ends varies, so confirm it with the city or district that serves the address.

A standard home inspection does not look inside that pipe. A sewer scope does: a camera run down the line that shows roots, cracks, sags where water sits, and older pipe that has separated at the joints. It is a separate service, usually ordered alongside the inspection, and it fits inside the same deadline if it is booked early.

Tree roots find their way into older joints, so a lot with mature trees over the yard is one where a scope is especially worth the call. Large trees near the line are exactly what the camera is looking for.

Much of Colorado, including the Front Range, is in the EPA’s highest predicted radon zone. That says nothing about any particular house, which is exactly the point: the only way to know a level is to measure it.

A short-term test fits inside the inspection period if it is ordered early, because it needs the house closed up before and during the test. If a result comes back elevated, mitigation is a well-understood system rather than a construction project, and it is a routinely resolved item between buyer and seller. The radon guide covers how the test works and how it fits the contract.

If a house was built in the last few decades in Highlands Ranch, Centennial or the newer parts of Aurora, there is a good chance it sits inside a metropolitan district, and often inside a homeowners association as well. They are different things. A metro district is a unit of local government that levies a property tax, commonly to repay the debt that built the streets, water lines and parks. An association is a private body collecting dues under recorded covenants. The two charges are separate, and the metro district guide shows how to look up a district and its levy from the parcel record before you offer.

Highlands Ranch is worth singling out because it is not a city. It is an unincorporated community in Douglas County, and services a city would provide are split among Douglas County, the Highlands Ranch Metro District (parks, trails and open space, and water and wastewater through Highlands Ranch Water) and other districts, with a community association administering the covenants. Elsewhere the county matters too: Aurora spans Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties, so the assessor and treasurer to call depend on the address, while Lakewood is in Jefferson County and Centennial is in Arapahoe.

Covenants can govern fences, exterior colors, parking, sheds and rentals, and they are recorded against the property rather than negotiated with the seller. Read them while the contract still gives you a deadline to act on what they say.