Legal Question in Real Estate Law in North Carolina

And the question is?

Are you selling through a realtor or on your own? Is this vacant land or developed land? Commercial property or residential? If undeveloped, what will it be sold for or who will the land be sold to (type of buyer)? If residential, is the land part of a bigger tract? Has it been subdivided? What about water/sewage to the property?

If the property is developed, when was any structure built? If its a residence, you will have to provide a residential real property statement to the prospective buyer. If the home was built before 1978 you will need a lead paint disclosure too. What about earnest money? That will be addressed in any offer to purchase agreement as well as any other contingencies (like buyer's right to inspect or loan or other contingencies)

If it is through a realtor, there is not too much for you to do. The realtor presents offers to purchase from buyers to you. You accept or reject. If all goes well and an offer is accepted, the buyer picks the closing attorney. You go in to to sign the deed and the attorney arranges to pay the money to you.

If you are doing this on your own, the buyer may have an offer to purchase agreement or you may pay a real estate lawyer to draft one for you to use. Again, once the offer to purchase is signed and closing occurs, you may want to let the buyer choose their own attorney to prepare the closing documents. If you want to have control, then you pay the closing attorney if the buyer will agree.

I would recommend that you at least sit down with a real estate attorney and that you not use do-it-yourself documents. The NC realtors and NC real estate lawyers have gotten together and prepared lots of forms. Don't reinvent the wheel - just use the forms for NC if the land is in NC. However, the forms can only be accessed by a real estate lawyer who is a member of the real estate section or a realtor.