What you actually net when you sell in Summit County
Transfer taxes that apply in two towns and not the rest, HOA costs nobody warns you about, and why the highest offer is not always the best one.
Written by Tucker Zimmerman, Summit County Realtor with Slifer Smith & Frampton
The number that shows up on a settlement statement is not the number on the sign. In Summit County there are local costs that people from other markets have never encountered, and a couple of them are large enough to change a decision.
This page is the full list, plus how to read competing offers when the highest one is not the best one.
Transfer taxes: there is no countywide rule
I want to be careful here, because this is a parcel-by-parcel question and two properties a few miles apart can differ by thousands of dollars. Only two towns in Summit County levy a municipal transfer tax.
| Where the property is | Municipal transfer tax | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Breckenridge | 1% Real Estate Transfer Tax | Applies townwide |
| Frisco | 1% Real Estate Investment Fee | Applies townwide |
| Silverthorne | None | See the private covenant note below |
| Dillon | None | |
| Blue River | None | |
| Keystone | None | Incorporated as a municipality in February 2024 |
| Copper Mountain | None | Unincorporated county under the resort overlay zone |
| Montezuma | None | |
| Unincorporated Summit County | None |
Colorado's TABOR amendment bars any new municipal real estate transfer taxes, so this list is unlikely to grow. The existing ones predate it.
The Silverthorne distinction that catches people
Silverthorne has no town transfer tax. What it has is a 1% transfer assessment that applies as a private covenant in 18 named developments. It is recorded against the property rather than levied by the town, which means whether you owe it depends on your specific subdivision rather than your mailing address.
Do not assume based on the town on your mail. Ask your title company to confirm what applies to your specific parcel before you list, so it is in your net sheet from the beginning rather than a surprise at closing.
HOA costs at closing
Separate from your monthly dues, most Summit County associations charge something at transfer. The amounts are individually small and they add up, and the formulas are not standardized.
- Transfer or administrative fee. Charged by the association or its management company.
- Status letter or estoppel fee. Required for closing, and it is not optional.
- Document delivery fees. For providing the governing documents to the buyer.
- Working capital contribution. This is the one that varies most. Around two thirds of the associations I checked charge nothing at all, and among those that do there were four different formulas in use.
- Prorated dues. Split at closing, and if a special assessment is pending, who pays it is negotiable.
I keep a running reference on local association costs on the Summit County HOA fees page. Get your association's actual numbers in writing before you set expectations, because guessing here is how net sheets end up wrong by four figures.
Everything else that comes off the top
| Cost | Who typically pays | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Brokerage compensation | Seller | Negotiable, and worth understanding rather than just comparing |
| Title insurance owner's policy | Customarily seller in Colorado | Negotiable in the contract |
| Closing or settlement fee | Commonly split | Varies by title company |
| Prorated property taxes | Seller, through closing | Colorado pays in arrears, which surprises people |
| Recording fees | Usually buyer | Small |
| Negotiated inspection repairs | Seller | Budget something rather than nothing |
| Payoff and any prepayment penalty | Seller | Get the payoff quote early |
| Staging, cleaning, haul-away | Seller | Only if you chose that lane |
Customary is not the same as required. Nearly every line above is negotiable in the contract, and in a slower market more of it gets negotiated than sellers expect.
A higher offer can net you less
Once you have more than one offer, the price is only one of several variables, and it is not always the one with the biggest dollar impact.
- Seller concessions. A $1,000,000 offer with $25,000 in concessions nets less than a $985,000 offer with none.
- Who pays which closing costs. Read the boxes, not just the number.
- Inspection terms. An as-is offer with no inspection objection can be worth several points of price.
- Financing type and down payment. Affects both the odds of closing and the appraisal risk.
- Appraisal gap coverage. Matters most when your price is ahead of the recent comparable sales.
- Closing date and any rent-back. Has a real dollar value if it saves or costs you a move.
- Earnest money. How much is at risk tells you how serious the buyer is.
I care about what you net and whether the transaction actually closes. Not about which offer appears largest on one line of the settlement statement.
Build a side-by-side comparison with a net figure at the bottom of each column before you respond to anything. Every offer I have seen a seller regret was one they evaluated on price alone.
Short-term rental considerations
If your property is licensed for short-term rental, that license and its transferability can be a material part of its value, and the rules differ in every jurisdiction here. Whether a license transfers, whether there is a cap or a waitlist, and what a buyer needs to do to keep operating all vary by town.
I keep detailed pages on this by jurisdiction. Start with the short-term rental regulations overview and check your specific town before you or your agent make any claim about rental income or license transfer in the listing.
Also worth a conversation with your CPA. If the property was a rental, depreciation recapture and capital gains treatment can move the after-tax number more than anything on this page. I am not a tax advisor and this is not tax advice.
Common questions
Only two towns levy one. Breckenridge charges a 1% Real Estate Transfer Tax and Frisco charges a 1% Real Estate Investment Fee, both townwide. Dillon, Blue River, Montezuma, Keystone, Copper Mountain and unincorporated Summit County levy none.
Silverthorne has no municipal transfer tax. A 1% transfer assessment applies as a private covenant in 18 named developments, recorded against the property rather than levied by the town, so it depends on the specific subdivision.
Brokerage compensation, title insurance, closing fees, prorated property taxes, HOA transfer and document fees, any negotiated repairs, loan payoff, and a 1% municipal transfer tax in Breckenridge or Frisco. Most of these lines are negotiable in the contract.
Most charge something at transfer, typically an administrative or transfer fee plus a status letter fee and document delivery fees. Working capital contributions vary most: roughly two thirds of associations reviewed charge none, and those that do use several different formulas.
No. Seller concessions, who pays which closing costs, inspection terms, financing type, appraisal gap coverage and the closing date all change what you net and whether the deal closes. Compare offers on net proceeds, not on the headline price.
Worksheets you can print
Free printable worksheets from this section. No email required.
Where to go next
If you would rather just talk it through
If you want a real net sheet for your property rather than a rule of thumb, I will build one with your actual HOA numbers, your parcel's transfer tax situation and your payoff. It takes a day and it is free.
You can see how I work with sellers, request a property value review, or just call. I do not run a hard follow up sequence, and I am fine with a conversation that ends in you deciding not to sell.
Associate Broker, Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate. Based in Frisco, working across Summit County.
(303) 907-9129 · TZimmerman@SliferSummit.com · Contact page
Back to the Seller Playbook · about Tucker · Summit County homes for sale
How I ran this, sample sizes, and what the data did not show (optional, for the skeptical)
Most readers can skip this. It is here so anyone who wants to check my work can.
Every residential listing in the Summit MLS from 2015 through early 2026, across Breckenridge, Frisco, Silverthorne, Dillon, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Blue River, Wildernest, Heeney, Summit Cove and Montezuma. About 26,000 records before cleaning, 25,230 after. Single family, condo, townhouse and duplex. Pulled as record level MLS exports, not from aggregate reports.
Each municipality was checked directly rather than taken from a summary table. The Silverthorne distinction between a town tax and a private recorded covenant is the one most commonly reported incorrectly, including by sources agents use.
Based on 15 verified association fee disclosures obtained through a local management company. That is a sample, not a census, and it is why this page describes patterns rather than quoting a countywide average. Confirm your own association's numbers in writing.
Reflect what I see on Summit County settlement statements. Custom varies and every line is negotiable in the contract, so treat the 'who typically pays' column as a starting point.
- The MLS shifted from coding failed listings as withdrawn to coding them as expired around 2020. The two are always combined here.
- Summit County transaction counts are small. A handful of high priced closings can move a countywide median. Where a cell was too thin to say anything, I left it out rather than publishing it.
- Everything here is observational. Sellers choose when to list, what to fix and what to ask, and those choices are not random. These are patterns in what happened, not proof of what causes what.
- Nothing on this page is legal or tax advice. Transfer assessments run with specific parcels and subdivisions, so your title company is the authority for your property, not this page.
Analysis run August 2026 on listings through early 2026. Current conditions are deliberately not in these pages. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This is general information about market patterns, not advice about your specific property, and nothing here is legal or tax advice.