Relocating to the Carolinas

A listing shows you a house and says nothing about the street, the road you would take to work, or what is on the next block. When you are relocating, you have none of that local knowledge, and touring houses does not fix it. Some houses are a good idea and some are not, and my job is to tell you which is which before you fall for one.

I work the Triad and Triangle inland, from Burlington and Greensboro to Winston-Salem and Raleigh, and the coast from Wilmington through Brunswick County to Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, with offices in Burlington and North Myrtle Beach. That means you can compare places side by side with one person who knows all of them.

North Carolina and South Carolina do things differently, and buyers moving between them get caught out. A North Carolina contract uses a due diligence fee paid to the seller for the right to terminate during the due diligence period, and if you terminate in that period you typically get your earnest money back but not the fee. The South Carolina REALTORS contract also has a due diligence period, and ending it early takes a written notice plus the termination fee written into the contract. The seller's property disclosure form is due no later than the buyer's offer in North Carolina and before the contract is signed in South Carolina.

Both states run closings under attorney supervision. I am licensed in both, so you are not translating between two agents.

Most relocations have a deadline: a start date, a lease that ends, or a house back home that has to sell first. We work backward from that date. We decide whether you rent for a few months while you search, whether you make an offer that depends on your current home selling, or whether you buy first, and we put your lender and closing attorney into the plan early. If you are also selling, my approach to selling runs alongside the search.

Whether you can sign remotely depends on your lender, your closing attorney, and the state. Ask early, because it affects how we schedule everything. I coordinate with the closing attorney so you know what is signed ahead, what is signed at closing, and what has to be done in person. Start with the free Buyer Guide, read about buying in the Carolinas, then call me with your timeline.