Need to Sell Your Home in North Carolina?

The vast majority of North Carolina’s foreclosures are subject to a nonjudicial process, although there is a small amount of court involvement in a nonjudicial foreclosure. [read more="Read more" less="Read less"]

North Carolina law requires that a hearing is held with a court clerk who will review all relevant foreclosure documents and certify an actual sale. This is for the protection of the homeowner in foreclosure, and is to ascertain that the lender is actually within their rights to foreclose.

In general, a foreclosure can be completed as quickly as 60 days. In most cases, 90 days will pass between receiving the first notice and the actual approved auction of the home. Since 90 days is the best case scenario, it’s safer to assume you have 60 days to work with. If you act quickly, you may be able to sell the home before the foreclosure has been finalized.

Foreclosure costs your lender money. They’ve already lost money due to your defaulted loan, and they have to spend more to foreclose. Homes typically sell for less than full value at an auction, and in some states, lenders can pursue you for a deficiency judgement. This deficiency usually helps lenders make up the difference of their loss. In North Carolina, lenders cannot seek deficiency judgements on purchase money mortgage loans.

This is good news for you in two ways – the first being that you can’t be held accountable for the difference, and the second being that your lender will be willing to let you sell your home before the completion of the foreclosure. Always seek out a home investor. They don’t offer full market value, but it’s very unlikely that your home would sell for full market value at auction. If your lender and an investor can come to an agreement about a sale price, the home can be purchased before the foreclosure and prevent the destruction of your financial history.

It’s worth noting that selling your home this way will still negatively affect your credit score, although it won’t have as significant of an impact as an actual foreclosure. The smaller hit you take, the easier it is to rebound. It’s essentially the difference between walking away with a skinned knee or a broken leg. It isn’t perfect, but it’s a much better alternative.[/read]

You cannot evict good tenants who abide by the lease and always pay their rent on time. If you like your tenants, you probably wouldn’t want to do so anyway. [read more="Read more" less="Read less"]

Explain to your tenants that you’d like to get out of land-lording, and tell them you won’t be renewing the lease. Write them some letters of recommendation that they can use to find new housing, offer to return their deposits, and remove any consequences for early termination of the lease.

Bad tenants are a different story. Failing to pay rent is the only scenario in which a landlord needs to serve a formal compliance notice. In this case, it’s ten days to pay rent or leave. If ten days passes and the tenant still hasn’t paid, you’re free to pursue legal eviction methods.

Lease violations are much different. North Carolina law doesn’t require a specific compliance period, making it completely voluntary on your part whether or not you choose to give your tenants a period of time to resolve the issue. If you’re looking to get the tenants out as quickly as possible, it’s as simple as telling them to get out in as little as one business day. Prepare a notice that states the reason, hand it to the tenant, and keep a copy for yourself. Tenants who fail to leave within the designated period are then considered holdover tenants, and are subject to a 30 day legal eviction process.

If the violation was serious, such a felony crime, a danger to public health or safety, or significant destruction of a property, things can move even faster. With month to month tenancies, the legal eviction process can run as short as 7 days before the constable or sheriff can remove the tenants from the property.

Never change locks, shut off utilities, or remove property until the eviction has been completed. These are considered self-service eviction tactics, and they’re illegal in North Carolina. Tenants can sue you for violating their rights. If you aren’t sure when you’re allowed to do these things, ask the sheriff. It’s usually after the tenant has been legally removed.[/read]

North Carolina offers a valuable probate shortcut that can be used when there are no extraordinary circumstances at play. [read more="Read more" less="Read less"]

This means a modest estate, a clear and uncontested will, and a family of beneficiaries that are all getting along. If the value of the estate minus the property is less than $20,000 or less than $30,000 when the inheritor is the spouse of the deceased, there’s a simple form you can use to bypass the majority of the probate process.

This form is very easy to fill out, and it’s called the Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of Decedent. This paperwork is submitted to the court in the county where the decedent lived, and send copies off to people or institutions that own (or partially own) any assets of the estate – including its debts. Once everyone responds, the property is turned over to you. You only need to go to probate if anyone objects. After a 90 day waiting period, all you need to do is provide a document to the court that shows how the assets (including any properties you want to sell) were handled.

If legitimate probate is necessary, the process is easy to manage. North Carolina offers a sole probate process, rather than specialized varieties that address a whole host of circumstances. The court offers forms online that can be filled out and submitted. The executor of the estate is responsible for inventorying the assets, having them appraised, selling anything that needs to be sold, paying debts and taxes out of the estate, and distributing what’s leftover.

If the will specifically states that the property should be sold to settle debts, the executor doesn’t need court permission to do so. If it doesn’t, the court will need to agree. If you’re looking to take care of the debts left behind in an estate, choose a fast sale method to expedite the probate.

Once everything is settled and creditors are satisfied, the executor prepares closing paperwork, submits it to the court, and the court closes the probate. If you completed the probate process without selling the home but would like to sell it after the fact, you can do that as soon as the estate is officially considered to be fulfilled. [/read]

Most buyers aren’t interested in homes that need a lot of work. Families picture themselves signing the paperwork and moving into a home that’s already theirs to customize. [read more="Read more" less="Read less"]

If the home needs serious repairs, particularly if they are structural, this can drive away even the most eager of buyers. Depending on what needs to be done, it may be worthwhile to invest in home repairs.

Every real estate agent and home appraiser in the country will emphasize how important a roof is. Since North Carolina is in a hurricane zone, this is especially true. Storms take a huge toll on roofs, and a bad roof can lead to water damage throughout a home. In North Carolina, the average cost of a roof repair is $4,957. If it’s too late, and water has seeped into the structure of your home, the repair cost becomes much higher.

While a major structural repair such as a roof repair will usually yield a significant return on investment, it’s only a feasible option if you have the cash to spend. Since repairs aren’t completed overnight, you should also expect to spend some time waiting for things to get done. If time and money are both short, you can sell the home as-is.

You won’t make much progress on the traditional market, but you can always sell a damaged home to a home investor. Home investors are people who grab up properties that need work, purchase them at a discount, and do the work themselves. Their offer will be less the cost of the repairs, but it saves you from having to invest up to tens of thousands of dollars that you may not have. [/read]