Colorado payment tool · West Capital Lending, Inc.
Colorado Mortgage Payment Estimator
Estimate the full monthly payment on a Colorado home — principal, interest, property taxes, and insurance — before you fall in love with a listing.
Colorado property taxes run among the lowest in the country — an effective rate of about 0.49% to 0.51% of a home's value — but the way they're calculated is unusual, and the exact bill varies by county and taxing district. Adam DeCraene (NMLS# 2811542), Mortgage Loan Originator with West Capital Lending, Inc., is licensed statewide in Colorado and built this estimator for Colorado buyers.
Run your numbers
Estimate a Colorado Monthly Payment
Enter a home price, your down payment, and a rate you want to test — then add the property taxes and insurance for the specific home you're looking at. The rate is a modeling assumption you control; it is not a rate quote. Everything runs in your browser — no personal information is collected.
Your Colorado scenario
Estimated total monthly payment
$3,484/moPrincipal & interest, plus estimated taxes and insurance, on a $480,000 loan.
Payment breakdown
How the monthly estimate is built
- Loan amount (price − down payment)
- $480,000
- Principal & interest
- $3,034/mo
- Property taxes (est., ÷ 12)
- $250/mo
- Homeowner's insurance (est., ÷ 12)
- $200/mo
- Estimated total monthly payment
- $3,484/mo
Estimates only. This estimator is an educational estimate — not a rate quote, an offer of credit, a pre-approval or approval, a commitment to lend, or tax or financial advice. The rate, taxes, and insurance shown are numbers you enter as modeling assumptions. Actual Colorado property taxes depend on the specific property's assessed value and the local mill levy in its county and taxing districts, and they can change — confirm a property's taxes with the county assessor or treasurer. The estimate excludes mortgage insurance (PMI/MIP), HOA dues, and other costs that may apply to your loan. No personal information is collected by this tool. For exact numbers on your situation, talk to Adam DeCraene, Mortgage Loan Originator, NMLS# 2811542 — call or text 949-393-6360.
Colorado tax basics
How Colorado Property Taxes Work — and Why They're Unusual
General educational information about how Colorado property taxes work — not tax advice. A specific home's bill depends on its county and local mill levies, so verify it locally with the county assessor or treasurer before you buy.
Among the lowest property taxes in the country
Colorado's effective residential property tax rate is about 0.49% to 0.51% of a home's value — among the lowest in the United States. On a $600,000 home, that's roughly $3,000 a year, or about $250 a month built into your mortgage payment.
For buyers relocating from higher-tax states, the difference is dramatic: the tax line that dominates a monthly payment elsewhere is a much smaller slice in Colorado — which means more of your payment goes to principal and interest.
An unusual three-step calculation
Colorado doesn't simply multiply your home's value by a tax rate. For 2026, the bill is built in three steps:
- Reduce the value first: a 10% reduction is applied to the first $700,000 of the home's actual value.
- Apply the assessment rate: the residential assessment rate of 6.8% is applied to that reduced value to produce the home's assessed value.
- Multiply by the mill levy: the assessed value is multiplied by your local mill levy — the combined levies of your school, fire, library, and other taxing districts.
That structure is why the effective rate lands near half a percent even though the headline assessment rate is 6.8% — and why the mill levy, which varies by county and district, is the number that makes two similar homes' bills differ.
Gallagher is gone; TABOR remains
For decades, the Gallagher Amendment forced Colorado's residential assessment rate to float so that homes carried a fixed share of the state's total property tax base. Voters repealed Gallagher in 2020, so the assessment rate is now set through the legislative process instead of an automatic formula.
What remains in place is TABOR — the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights — which limits how fast state budget revenue can grow. Together, these are the backdrop for Colorado's tax policy: assessment rates and reductions are policy choices that can change over time, which is one more reason to verify current figures locally rather than rely on an old estimate.
The Senior Homestead Exemption
Colorado offers a meaningful break for long-time senior homeowners: the Senior Homestead Exemption exempts 50% of the first $200,000 of a home's assessed value from property tax.
To qualify, a resident generally must be 65 or older and have owned and occupied the home as their primary residence for at least 10 years. The exemption is not automatic — it must be applied for, typically through the county assessor. If you're buying with a parent, or planning to age in place, it's worth asking about early.
When Colorado property taxes are due
Colorado gives homeowners payment choices. Taxes can be paid in full by April 30, or in installments — the first half in February and the second half by June 15. Starting with tax year 2025, a four-installment option is also available.
If your mortgage has an escrow account, you won't write those checks yourself: your lender or servicer collects one-twelfth of the estimated annual taxes with each monthly payment and pays the county from escrow when the bill comes due. Bills and exact schedules vary by county and district — verify yours locally.
Worked example
A $600,000 Colorado Purchase, Broken Down
The estimator above, run on its default scenario. The 6.5% rate is an example assumption used for illustration — not a rate quote — and the tax and insurance figures are example amounts to replace with the real ones for any specific home.
The purchase
Example inputs
- Home price
- $600,000
- Down payment (20%)
- $120,000
- Loan amount
- $480,000
- Rate tested (example assumption)
- 6.5%
- Term
- 30 years
- Estimated annual property taxes
- $3,000/yr
- Estimated annual homeowner's insurance
- $2,400/yr
The monthly payment
What the estimator shows for this scenario
- Principal & interest
- $3,034/mo
- Property taxes ($3,000 ÷ 12)
- $250/mo
- Homeowner's insurance ($2,400 ÷ 12)
- $200/mo
- Estimated total monthly payment
- $3,484/mo
Check the tax figure against Colorado's math: a $600,000 home gets the 10% reduction on its first $700,000 of value, leaving $540,000; at the 6.8% residential assessment rate, that's a $36,720 assessed value. At an illustrative mill levy of 80 mills (0.080), the bill would be $2,938 — an effective rate of about 0.49%. Your actual mill levy depends on your county and districts, which is why the estimator lets you enter the real tax figure for the home you're considering.
Statewide lending
Buying Anywhere in Colorado
Adam DeCraene is licensed statewide in Colorado and works with buyers across the state — in Denver and its suburbs, Colorado Springs, Boulder, the mountain communities, and everywhere in between. Because Colorado tax bills are built county by county and district by district, the tax estimate for a home in one part of the metro area won't match a similar home a few miles away — the estimator above is built for exactly that: enter each property's own numbers and compare the true monthly payments side by side.
Relocating to or from Colorado? Adam is licensed in 34 states and the District of Columbia, so he can help with the Colorado purchase and the out-of-state move on either side of it — one loan originator, one conversation, for both transactions.
First-time buyers: your down payment depends on the loan program, not the state — conventional can start as low as 3% down for qualified buyers, FHA at 3.5%, and VA at 0% for eligible veterans and service members. Ask Adam to check the current options across 175 wholesale lenders for your specific situation.
Common questions
Colorado Mortgage & Property Tax FAQs
How much are property taxes on a Colorado home?
Colorado's effective residential property tax rate is about 0.49% to 0.51% of a home's value — among the lowest in the country. On a $600,000 home, that works out to roughly $3,000 a year. The exact bill depends on your county and on the local mill levies set by your school, fire, library, and other taxing districts, so two homes at the same price in different Colorado communities can have noticeably different bills. Verify the actual taxes for a specific property with the county assessor or treasurer before you buy.
How are Colorado property taxes calculated?
Colorado does not tax a home on its full market value. For 2026, the state first applies a 10% reduction to the first $700,000 of a home's actual value, then applies the residential assessment rate of 6.8% to get the assessed value. That assessed value is multiplied by your local mill levy — the combined levies of your school, fire, library, and other districts — to produce your tax bill. Because the assessment rate is a small fraction of value and the reduction comes off the top, the effective tax ends up around half a percent of the home's actual value.
When are Colorado property taxes due?
Colorado property taxes can be paid in full by April 30, or in two installments — the first half in February and the second half by June 15. A four-installment payment option is also available starting with tax year 2025. If your mortgage has an escrow account, you do not write those checks yourself: your lender or servicer collects one-twelfth of the estimated annual taxes with each monthly mortgage payment and pays the county from your escrow account. Exact dates and options can vary, so confirm the schedule with your county treasurer.
What is the Colorado Senior Homestead Exemption?
The Senior Homestead Exemption exempts 50% of the first $200,000 of a home's assessed value from property tax for qualifying residents. To qualify, you generally must be 65 or older and have owned and occupied the home as your primary residence for at least 10 years. The exemption is not automatic — you have to apply for it, typically through your county assessor. If you or a family member may qualify, it is worth asking about, because it can meaningfully reduce the annual tax bill and therefore the monthly escrow portion of a mortgage payment.
How much down payment do I need to buy in Colorado?
It depends on the loan program, not the state. As typical guidelines that vary by lender and borrower profile: conventional loans can start as low as 3% down for qualified buyers, FHA loans at 3.5% down, and VA loans at 0% down for eligible veterans and service members. Larger down payments lower the loan amount and the monthly payment, and putting 20% down on a conventional loan avoids private mortgage insurance. Adam DeCraene is licensed statewide in Colorado and shops 175 wholesale lenders, so he can check which programs you qualify for and what each one does to your monthly payment.
Work With Adam
Adam DeCraene — Mortgage Loan Originator, NMLS# 2811542, CA DRE #02448241 — with West Capital Lending, Inc., licensed statewide in Colorado. Run your numbers above, then get the real figures for the specific Colorado home you're considering — with access to 175 wholesale lenders behind the search.