Before anything else it helps to get clear on two things: why you are selling, and when you need to be out. Almost every decision after this one follows from those two answers.
Why are you selling?
It sounds obvious until you sit down with it. Are you after more space, or a different neighborhood? Moving off the island, or just across it? Cashing out an investment property, or freeing up money for the next one?
Each of those points to a different plan. A seller who has to close before a school year starts is playing a different game than one who can wait for the right number. Once I know which one you are, the rest of the decisions get easier.
When should you sell?
Set your time frame early. If you need to move quickly, I will put together a market analysis and a plan built around that deadline. If you are not in a hurry, we can look at what the market is actually doing and choose your window.
On Topsail the calendar pulls in more than one direction at once — rental season, storm season, and the second-home buyer’s own year. Which of those matters most depends on what you own and who is likely to buy it.
What is the market doing?
You will know what I know. Where prices are, what is selling and what is sitting, what the competing listings are asking and what they are actually getting, and how financing and terms are landing right now.
I have been licensed in North Carolina since 2008. For 11 years I worked in property management here, across more than 150 vacation rentals and 120 long-term rentals, before focusing on real estate sales. So when we talk about the parts that are not in the photographs — flood zone, storm exposure, how a property actually rents — I am usually not guessing.
What will you actually walk away with?
Selling is a financial decision, so it is worth running the numbers before you list. I will help you estimate your net proceeds rather than your sale price — commission, closing costs, repairs, payoff, all of it.
If there are tax or estate questions in play, take them to your CPA or attorney early rather than meeting them at the closing table. I am glad to be in that conversation with them. The goal is that nothing about the money side surprises you.
What comes out of a North Carolina sale
Nobody can quote your net without your numbers, but the list of things that come out of a sale here is short and knowable. Ask for a written estimate early rather than meeting these at the closing table.
- Excise tax. North Carolina charges the seller a deed excise tax of one dollar per five hundred dollars of the price, or part of it, paid to the register of deeds before the deed can be recorded.
- Loan payoff. The balance plus interest to the day of recording, and any prepayment terms your lender applies.
- Property taxes. Prorated between you and the buyer as of the closing date.
- Brokerage compensation. Whatever you and I agree in writing. Broker fees are not set by law and are fully negotiable.
- Attorney and closing costs. Your share of the closing attorney’s work, recording fees, courier and wire charges, and any document preparation attributable to you.
- Anything you agree to during the transaction. Repairs, a home warranty, or help with the buyer’s closing costs, if you agree to them.
- Association dues and transfer charges. Prorated dues, and any transfer or capital fee the association charges when ownership changes.
Where this comes from
- N.C. General Statutes § 105-228.30 — deed excise tax (opens in a new tab)
- NAR — broker fees are not set by law and are negotiable (opens in a new tab)
General information about how a North Carolina residential sale usually works, not legal, tax or financial advice. Every property and every contract is different. Your closing attorney is the right person to ask about your own transaction.