Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

This is a complicated question. It is usually better to sell the property outright if you can. If you go the lease option route, you should be familiar with North Carolina General Statutes 47G (can probably read it online on the general assembly site). Otherwise, I suggest you ask an attorney to help you with the transaction.

Doing this is not usually a good idea. A "rent to own" situation is for people who can't get a loan, which tells me that any buyer like this has no credit or bad credit. And if the latter, then there is always a chance that the person will skip out on you too.

You need an experienced real estate attorney to draft the agreements for you in compliance with the statutes. Ideally, there should be a written lease and an option to purchase. The person should pay rent plus something extra for the option. The rental money can go into a regular bank account but you and your sister will have to decide how the rent is handled. It is not all pure profit even if you own the home outright. What about insurance? Property taxes? Maintenance on the home? Are you prepared to be a landlord? Or hire a property management company? Even with a rent to own situation you need to think about these things. You will need to thoroughly review the provisions of the landlord tenant law regarding security deposits and other duties of a landlord (look in Chapter 42 of the NC General Statutes) as well as Chapter 4G which deals with rent to own situations.

Here is the link:

http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/Statutes/StatutesTOC.pl