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Home / Colorado Licensed Statewide · Firefighter-Owned

Colorado Mortgage Broker.
From Front Range
To Mountain Resort.

Hero Mortgage Group is a firefighter-owned brokerage licensed across Colorado. We place loans for buyers from Boulder to Burlington — Denver metro, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Greeley, Pueblo, and every mountain town with a ZIP code. Colorado runs three of the more generous DPA programs in the country (CHFA SmartStep, metroDPA, and CHFA SmartStep Special for heroes). We know all three, by heart.

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4%
CHFA SmartStep DPA Grant
$1.25M
High-Cost Mountain Loan Limit
0.55%
Avg Property Tax Rate
15DAYS
Average Colorado Close
Why Hero In Colorado

Two Colorados,
One Mortgage Playbook.

Colorado lending splits into two markets. The Front Range — Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs — runs hot, with strong jobs, baseline conforming loan limits, and CHFA DPA appetite. The Mountain Resort markets — Aspen, Vail, Telluride, Steamboat, Breckenridge — run on jumbo and high-cost-county pricing, with very different lender appetite, asset documentation, and condo eligibility.

Most generic brokers handle one and stumble on the other. We work both. The Front Range files come through our standard 40+ wholesale lender bench; the mountain-resort files we route to specific portfolio lenders with appetite for second-home and short-term-rental properties. Different game, same discipline.

Programs · Colorado

Colorado’s Best DPA
Programs, Mapped.

Colorado has invested heavily in housing assistance, particularly for working families and heroes. The full menu below — we place every program statewide.

CHFA SmartStep & SmartStep Plus.

The flagship Colorado Housing & Finance Authority program. CHFA SmartStep pairs a competitive bond-rate first mortgage with a DPA grant of up to 4% of the loan amount (never repaid as long as you own the home). SmartStep Plus offers the same first mortgage with a slightly higher rate but more DPA — sometimes up to 5%. We model both side-by-side on every file.

Pairs with FHA, VA, USDA, or conventional. Income limits scale with household size; typically $145K-$175K depending on county. No first-time-buyer requirement on most products.

CHFA SmartStep Special (Heroes).

The same SmartStep structure with a discounted interest rate for educators, healthcare workers, first responders, and active military. This is Colorado’s answer to Florida Hometown Heroes — less generous on the DPA dollar amount, but the rate reduction often produces lower total cost over the life of the loan.

metroDPA.

A second-mortgage DPA program available in the Denver metro region (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties). Up to 4% additional DPA on top of CHFA SmartStep. The metroDPA + CHFA stack is the single most powerful first-time-buyer combination in Colorado — easily worth $20,000+ in assistance on a typical Denver-metro purchase.

VA Loans In Colorado.

Colorado has roughly 380,000 veterans, with major concentrations around Colorado Springs (Fort Carson, USAFA, Peterson SFB, Schriever SFB, Cheyenne Mountain), Denver, and the Northern Front Range. The 2026 baseline VA loan limit in most Colorado counties is $832,750. Mountain-resort counties — Eagle, Pitkin, Routt, San Miguel, Summit — hit the high-cost ceiling of $1,249,125. Boulder County sits in an intermediate tier (~$890K).

Mountain & Jumbo Loans.

The Aspen-Vail-Telluride corridor is one of the most sophisticated jumbo markets in the country. Pledged-asset structures, interest-only periods, short-term-rental income consideration, second-home conventional, and Non-QM bank-statement loans all come into play. We have direct relationships with the portfolio lenders that handle these files routinely.

FHA In Colorado.

2026 FHA single-family limits run from $524,225 (baseline) to $1,089,300 (high-cost mountain counties). Most Front Range counties hit higher tiers due to property values: Denver $649K, Boulder $797K, Adams/Arapahoe/Jefferson $649K. We confirm county-specific limits at pre-approval.

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Colorado · Statewide Coverage

Front Range,
Mountains, & Plains.

Colorado runs Pacific-time to Mountain-time depending on which side of the Divide you’re on. We close in every county:

Colorado FAQ

Questions From Colorado
Buyers, Answered.

What's the difference between CHFA SmartStep and metroDPA?

CHFA SmartStep is the statewide Colorado Housing & Finance Authority program — available in all 64 Colorado counties. It bundles a bond-rate first mortgage with a 4% DPA grant.

metroDPA is a regional add-on, available only in the seven Denver-metro counties. It provides an additional DPA layer on top of CHFA SmartStep, usually 2-4% more. The two stack cleanly — that combination is the most powerful Colorado-metro DPA available, often producing $20,000+ in total assistance on a typical Denver-area purchase.

What's the high-cost county loan limit in Colorado for 2026?

Most Colorado counties sit at the 2026 baseline of $832,750. The mountain-resort counties — Eagle, Pitkin, Routt, San Miguel, Summit — hit the FHFA high-cost ceiling of $1,249,125 for single-family. Boulder County sits in an intermediate tier (approximately $890,750). Above those limits, the file moves to jumbo financing, which we place with several Colorado-focused portfolio lenders for competitive pricing.

How does Colorado property tax reform affect my qualification?

Colorado has been actively adjusting residential property-tax assessment rates since 2023. The headline effect: residential assessed value as a percentage of actual value has changed materially. The practical impact on a buyer: your projected property-tax bill (which factors into your DTI for qualification) may be different in 2026 from what 2024-25 estimates would suggest. We use current-year assessment data on every Colorado file, so the PITI you see is accurate.

Can I buy a short-term rental property in a Colorado mountain town?

Yes, but it's a specialized file. Mountain counties have varying STR regulations — some (Summit County, Steamboat Springs) have caps on new STR permits; others allow them with restrictions. For underwriting, the file qualifies as either an investment property (using DSCR programs where projected rent supports the loan) or a second home (no rental income credit, but lower rates and down payment). We model both paths and confirm STR permitability with the local jurisdiction before submission.

I'm stationed at Fort Carson. How do BAH and PCS moves affect my mortgage?

BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) counts as qualifying income at its full value — it's a recurring monthly benefit. Active-duty service members can buy in Colorado, then PCS-move and either rent the home out (using BAH at the new station to qualify for a new VA loan) or sell. The VA's "two active VA loans at once" rule allows you to keep the Colorado home and buy at the new station with remaining entitlement. We've structured this file pattern dozens of times.

Are there any Colorado-specific lender requirements I should know about?

Two. First, wildfire insurance is increasingly required in foothills and mountain counties — and standard homeowners policies may exclude wildfire damage in some ZIP codes. We pre-quote insurance during pre-approval to avoid the eleventh-hour surprise. Second, Colorado is a "deed of trust" state (vs. mortgage state), which affects foreclosure timelines and trustee fees — relevant if you're refinancing or paying off a loan, less so on purchase.

How fast can you close a Colorado mortgage?

Our average Colorado close is 15 days from contract acceptance. The variables: appraisal turn time (5-10 days in Denver metro, 10-14 days in mountain counties due to appraiser availability), HOA estoppel turn-around (most Colorado HOAs respond in 3-5 business days), and the title commitment. Mountain-resort closings sometimes take an extra week due to remote-area appraisal scheduling.

For Every Colorado Buyer

Front Range Or Mountains.
One Broker For Both.

No documents required to start. Eligibility for CHFA, metroDPA, and Colorado-specific programs verified on the first call.

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