Selling and buying without an agent in North Carolina

Who runs your closing

North Carolina is an attorney state. State Bar rules on the practice of law require a licensed North Carolina attorney to conduct the closing, so a title or escrow company cannot do it alone the way one would in an escrow state. The attorney runs the title search, prepares and reviews the deed and the closing documents, oversees the money going in and out, and records the deed with the county. A title company still issues the title insurance policy behind the scenes. Treat the attorney’s fee as a normal, expected line in the sale rather than an optional add-on.

What you must disclose

Chapter 47E, the Residential Property Disclosure Act, requires a seller of one-to-four-unit residential property to give the buyer the state’s Residential Property and Owners’ Association Disclosure Statement, form REC 4.22, before the buyer makes an offer. The form has a feature most states lack: you can answer many items “No Representation,” which lets you decline to characterize a condition instead of vouching for it. If you do answer, answer truthfully from what you actually know. A separate Mineral and Oil and Gas Rights Disclosure Statement is also mandated and printed in boldface. Deliver both up front, or the buyer gains a right to cancel.

Transfer taxes

North Carolina levies an excise tax on the deed, collected by the county Register of Deeds when the deed is recorded and paid by the seller. The rate is $1 for every $500 of the sale price, which is $2 per $1,000, or 0.2 percent, under G.S. 105-228.30. Seven counties in the northeast, Dare, Currituck, Camden, Chowan, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Washington, add a local land transfer tax of up to 1 percent on top of that. Check whether your county is one of them before you estimate your net proceeds, because that 1 percent dwarfs the base excise tax.

The bottom line for doing it yourself

Selling without an agent works fine here, but plan around the closing attorney from day one, since using one is the rule in North Carolina, not a shortcut you can skip. Your own work is pricing, the REC 4.22 disclosure plus the mineral rights form, and a solid contract. The base excise tax is small for most sellers, though the land-transfer counties change the arithmetic. This is general information, not legal advice.