Jacob McCrackin
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A house you tour in January is a house with part of itself switched off. The sprinklers were blown out in October, the central air has not run since September, and after a storm the roof and the yard are under a few inches of snow.
None of that is a reason to wait for spring. It does mean a winter inspection is a partial inspection, and the contract has to cover what the inspector could not reach.
The roof. An inspector will not walk a snow-covered roof, and from a ladder or a drone they see snow, not shingles. On the Front Range the roof question is mostly a hail question, so ask the seller for the roof’s age, any permit for a replacement and the home’s insurance claims history. A roof replaced after a hail claim three years ago is a different house from one that has taken ten seasons of storms.
Grading and drainage. With the ground frozen and covered, nobody can watch where snowmelt goes. The clues are inside: water stains low on basement walls, white mineral crust on concrete, rust on the bottom of the water heater. Ask the seller directly whether water has ever come in, because Colorado’s Seller’s Property Disclosure asks the same question in writing.
The sprinklers. Almost every system in town is drained and blown out before the first hard freeze, so nobody can run it until spring. You are buying it on faith unless the contract says otherwise.
The central air. Most inspectors will not run an air conditioner when it is below about 60 to 65 degrees outside, because running a compressor in the cold risks damaging it. The report will say “not tested.” What you can still get is the data plate with the unit’s age and the seller’s service records.
Some problems are easier to find in January. The furnace runs under real load, so short-cycling or a weak blower shows up on the first visit. Drafts are obvious. A day or two after a snowfall, the roof gives itself away: patches that melt early over heated rooms point to thin attic insulation, and icicles along the eaves usually mean heat escaping where it should not.
Look at which way the driveway faces. A north-facing driveway or front walk in Colorado Springs can hold ice for weeks after the rest of the street has dried, and you only learn that in winter.
El Paso County is in the EPA’s Zone 1, its highest radon potential, and the county health department reports that more than 40% of homes tested here between 2005 and 2023 came back high. Winter is a good time to test, because short-term tests are meant to run with the windows and doors closed, which is how houses sit in January anyway.
Colorado does not require a radon test. A seller who knows the house has had high radon must disclose it, and the contract carries a state radon warning, but if nobody has tested, there is nothing to disclose. Order the test with your inspection. Most real estate radon tests run at least 48 hours, so leave room for that before your inspection objection deadline. If the result comes back at or above the EPA’s action level of 4 picocuries per liter, a mitigation system in Colorado usually costs $1,000 to $2,000, according to El Paso County Public Health, and that is a reasonable thing to ask the seller to cover.
Colorado’s standard contract gives you an inspection objection deadline and a resolution deadline. Anything you object to goes on the Inspection Objection Notice before the first date, and if you and the seller have not agreed in writing by the second, the contract terminates unless you withdraw the objection. Winter is when those dates need the most thought.
Fewer people house-hunt in December and January, and the sellers who list then often have a reason they cannot wait for spring: a relocation, an estate or a PCS of their own. That combination is what makes the requests above realistic. A seller with one serious buyer and a deadline is more likely to agree to a repair credit than one with three offers in May.
For service members arriving on winter orders, our page on military relocation to Colorado Springs covers timing the search around a report date. For the steps of a purchase in order, see our Colorado Springs home buying tips.
Yes. A winter inspection still covers the structure, the furnace, plumbing, electrical and everything inside the house. It cannot test the sprinklers or usually the air conditioning, and it may not see the roof, so the contract needs to cover those parts separately.
Yes, and winter is a good time to do it. Short-term radon tests are meant to run with the house closed up, which is how most homes sit in January. Most real estate tests take at least 48 hours, so build that into your inspection period.
Most inspectors will not run central air below about 60 to 65 degrees outside. Ask for the unit’s age and service records, note it as not tested in your inspection objection, and negotiate a repair commitment or a credit. An escrow holdback until spring is possible only if your lender allows one.
Thinking about a winter purchase? Book a buyer consultation and we will walk through the inspection and contract dates before you write an offer.
Sources: El Paso County Public Health radon page (Zone 1; over 40% of homes tested 2005-2023 high; $1,000-$2,000 mitigation); U.S. EPA radon action level; Colorado Real Estate Commission Inspection Objection Notice (mandatory from January 1, 2026). Last updated October 23, 2026.
Jacob McCrackin served as an Army Staff Sergeant and grew up in Colorado, so he has seen plenty of Front Range winters from both sides of a closing. He helps service members and veterans buy and sell homes across Colorado Springs as an associate broker with Solid Oak Realty.