Calabash · Downsizing
Downsizing Your Calabash Home
Selling the home you've outgrown, timed around the smaller one you're moving into, not rushed and not carrying two mortgages.
A Quick Note
This page is general information, not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Rules and timelines change and your numbers are your own, so please confirm the details with your attorney, your tax professional, and your lender. I am a real estate professional, and my part is the sale and the search.
Downsizing Your Calabash Home, One Decision at a Time
Downsizing your Calabash home goes easier when you make the decisions in order: what you will net, where you are going, then when the house goes on the market. Local to Coastal Realty starts with the net. North Carolina's excise tax is $1 per $500 of the price, paid by the seller, so a $400,000 sale carries $800, along with your other closing costs.
Sell First, Buy First, or Stay a Little Longer
Sell first and take your time on the next place, negotiate a later possession date so you stay a few weeks after closing, make your next purchase depend on this sale, or buy first if your numbers allow. If the smaller place is across the line in South Carolina, apply for its 4 percent legal residence assessment once you move in, before the first penalty date for that tax year. I am licensed in both states and run both sides.
Getting a Long-Held Calabash House Ready
A house owned for years often has plenty of equity and some finishes that have not changed. Buyers here compare it with houses on both sides of the state line, and they ask about the flood zone near the river and marsh, insurance premiums, and the tax bill, which has moved: Calabash's town rate went from 0.058 per $100 in 2024 to 0.098 for 2026 on the county's table. If you added a porch, a room, or a dock, gather the permits from the town's zoning and building inspections office now. I price against Calabash and Carolina Shores sales, and we decide together what is worth fixing. See what your Calabash home is worth.
Disclosure and the Tax on the Profit
North Carolina's disclosure statement has to reach the buyer no later than their offer, and the closing runs through an attorney. The IRS lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain on your main home, or $500,000 on a joint return, if you owned and lived in it for two of the five years before the sale. If a spouse has died, the IRS has a rule for sales within two years of the death that can allow the higher exclusion when its other conditions are met.
The Launch, Then the Smaller Place
Your house gets the launch every home I list gets: professional photos, drone photography, a video walkthrough, a property website, and a targeted paid social campaign. Then the search, which my page on downsizing to a smaller home in Calabash covers. Call me.
Sources
The rules and figures above come from these sources, checked in October 2026. Your tax professional and attorney have the final word.
- North Carolina G.S. 105-228.30, excise tax on conveyances
- South Carolina Code, Title 12, Chapter 43, Section 12-43-220, assessment ratios
- Brunswick County, tax rates
- Town of Calabash, zoning and building inspections
- North Carolina G.S. Chapter 47E, Residential Property Disclosure Act
- IRS Publication 523, Selling Your Home
Frequently Asked Questions
What will I net when I sell my Calabash house?
Your price minus your mortgage payoff and closing costs, including North Carolina's excise tax of $1 per $500 of the price. I build the net sheet before we list.
Can I downsize across the line into South Carolina?
Yes, and I am licensed in both states. Apply for South Carolina's 4 percent legal residence assessment once you move in.
Do I need permits for work I did on the house?
Buyers and their attorneys may ask. Gather any permits from the Town of Calabash's zoning and building inspections office before listing.
Calabash
What downsizing looks like in Calabash
The Seafood Capital of the World, a fishing village on the Calabash River that gave its name to Calabash-style seafood.
Calabash calls itself the Seafood Capital of the World. In the 1930s, fishing families opened restaurants by the river serving lightly breaded fried seafood, and that style of cooking took the town's name.
Before the state line was set in 1735, Calabash was considered part of South Carolina and was known as Pea Landing. It sits in Brunswick County, and deep-sea fishing and golf are close by.
The method
How we do it in Calabash
Downsizing: keep exploring
Ready to make your move with Local to Coastal Realty?