What a Four-Bedroom House Rents for in the Denver Metro
| Bedroom count | Median monthly rent (Denver metro) | Gap vs. 4-bed | Source, date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bedroom | $1,450 | $4,239 less | Zillow, checked early July 2026 |
| 2 bedroom | $2,125 | $3,564 less | Zillow, checked early July 2026 |
| 3 bedroom | $3,000 | $2,689 less | Zillow, checked early July 2026 |
| 4 bedroom | $5,689 | baseline | Zillow, checked early July 2026 |
The four-bedroom jump in Denver is $2,689 over three-bedroom, a wider step up than the $875 move from two-bedroom to three-bedroom. That step is a Denver pattern, and not a national rule. In the Austin metro, three-bedroom houses average $4,498, roughly $933 above four-bedroom houses at $3,565, an inverted step Doorstead’s June 2026 data attributes to larger homes concentrating in lower-rent suburban submarkets. Check the bedroom premium for your specific submarket before assuming a fourth bedroom always costs more.
Does a house that’s been listed a long time mean something is wrong with it?Not necessarily. Days on market tracks pricing and demand as much as condition; a well-located house priced slightly above market can sit for weeks with no defect at all, while an underpriced one in a weak submarket can linger for the same reason.
Reading Listing Shorthand Before You Call
“Bd” means bedroom and “ba” means bathroom. “Sqft” is interior square footage. “Units available” on a house listing usually signals a duplex or a basement unit counted separately from the main house. “Accepts applications” means the landlord is actively screening, not still deciding whether to list the property.
What does “car-dependent” mean on a rental listing?It’s a walkability shorthand meaning daily errands generally require a car rather than transit or walking; it’s a location signal, not a comment on the house itself.
What You’ll Be Asked to Pay Before You Get the Keys
| Charge | Colorado limit | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Security deposit | One month’s rent maximum, refundable | HB25-1249 |
| Deposit return / deduction statement | Written itemized statement within 30 days (60 if lease states) | HB25-1249 |
| Pet deposit | Capped at $300 | C.R.S. 38-12-106 |
| Pet rent | Greater of $35 or 1.5% of monthly rent | C.R.S. 38-12-106 |
| Application fee | Limited to actual processing cost; unused portion refunded within 20 days | HB19-1106 |
Beyond the table, a first month’s rent is due at signing in nearly every lease and carries no statutory cap of its own. On a $5,689 Denver four-bedroom rental, that means budgeting for the rent itself, up to $5,689 in deposit, and any pet charges, before a single application fee is even considered.
- Security deposit: up to one month’s rent, must go into a traceable account, and Colorado bans keeping it for normal wear and tear.
- Pet costs: a $300 deposit ceiling plus ongoing pet rent capped at the greater of $35 or 1.5% of rent.
- Application fee: tied to the landlord’s actual cost of processing your application, with a receipt required and a 20-day refund window for anything unused.
Can a landlord require more than one month’s rent as a security deposit in Colorado?Generally no, since HB25-1249 caps it at one month’s rent starting January 1, 2026. Subsidized housing is an exception, allowed up to 1.5 times rent, and owner-managed single-family or condo landlords are exempt from the cap.
How Long a Four-Bedroom Rental Typically Sits Before It Leases
| Market | Segment | Avg. days on market | Period, source |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | All rental types | 30 days | June 2026, Apartment List |
| Boston metro | Single-family homes | 25 days | June 2026, Doorstead |
| Austin | All property types | 51 days | June 2026, Doorstead |
| Brooklyn | Rental apartments | 57 days | January 2026, Corcoran |
Metro averages hide submarket spread. Inside the Boston metro alone, Burlington homes leased in 10 days in June 2026 while Brookline properties took 46, an internal spread wider than the gap between the fastest and slowest metros in the table above, according to Doorstead’s June 2026 report.
Why the Automated Rent Estimate Can Be Wrong
Is the “Zestimate” or rent estimate shown on a listing the real rent I’d pay?No. It’s a computed estimate meant as a landlord pricing resource, and the listed asking rent or a signed lease amount is what actually applies.
Who Gets Disqualified, and Why
- Rental or credit history older than 7 years: Colorado landlords who use history as screening criteria cannot weigh anything beyond that window.
- Income below the landlord’s threshold: screening standards commonly run from about two-and-a-half to four times gross monthly rent, set by each landlord rather than by state law.
- Paying with a housing subsidy: under 2023 Colo. S.B. 184, a landlord cannot require income above 200% of the rent from a tenant paying via a housing subsidy, a limit most applicants never hear about until they ask directly.
The subsidy-income limit matters most for four-bedroom houses specifically, since larger units are where voucher-holding families most often get screened out on income grounds that the statute doesn’t actually permit.
Where the Real Listings Live
This page can tell you what a four-bedroom house should cost in the Denver metro and what you can legally be charged to move in. It cannot show which specific houses are on the market this week, because that takes a live listings feed this page doesn’t have. Check Zillow, Redfin, or a local Denver broker for current inventory, then hold whatever you find against the numbers above: does the rent land near $5,689 for a comparable four-bedroom, does the deposit stay at or under one month’s rent, and does the application fee look tied to an actual cost rather than a flat markup.
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