North Carolina notes are commonly secured by a deed of trust, on anything from a Charlotte house to a mountain lot or a coastal cottage. We take yours to competing buyers and show the worksheet for each offer.
What weakens an offer on a North Carolina note.
The same worksheet comes with every offer.
| Remaining balance | $129,400 |
|---|---|
| Payments left | 168 |
| Buyer’s target yield | 8.0% |
| Purchase price | $115,000 |
| Discount from balance | 11.1% |
| Our fee | shown on every offer |
| Sell the whole note | Sell 60 payments | Keep it | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash today | $115,000 | $56,200 | $0 |
| Payments still coming to you | None | 108 payments of $1,140 | 168 payments of $1,140 |
| Total you receive | $115,000 | $179,320 | $191,520 |
| What you give up | Every future payment | The next five years | A lump sum now |
Illustrative example. Totals add up the payments as scheduled; they assume the payer keeps paying and are not adjusted for the value of money over time.
The promissory noteThe mortgage or deed of trustA payment historyThe closing statement from the saleNorth Carolina has grown quickly around Charlotte, the Triangle of Raleigh, Durham and Cary, and the Triad of Greensboro and Winston-Salem. Notes in those metros are on houses, sold by investors or by owners who moved away and financed the buyer themselves. An owner who moved here and still holds paper on a house left behind should read the page for the state where that house stands, because the document follows the property.
Outside the metros the collateral depends on the region. In the mountains around Asheville, Boone and Murphy, sellers and small developers have carried paper on cabins and building lots. On the coast, from the Outer Banks down to Brunswick County, notes sit on beach houses and on lots in planned communities. In the eastern counties the security is more often a manufactured home with land, or a farm tract sold to a neighbor.
North Carolina commonly uses a deed of trust. The borrower conveys the property to a trustee, who holds it as security for the lender until the loan is paid. Foreclosure is commonly carried out under a power of sale written into the deed of trust. It does not need a full lawsuit, but it generally does involve a hearing before the clerk of superior court before the trustee can sell. Real estate closings in the state are also commonly handled by attorneys.
That is the general shape, and the notices and steps behind it are set by state law that gets amended. Ask a North Carolina attorney or title company how the current rules apply to your deed of trust. The sale of the note itself runs the same way as for other deed of trust notes.
Note buyers generally understand a power of sale process and are willing to price it, which helps the number of bids on a North Carolina note. The price itself still turns on the return a buyer needs and on how safe the collateral looks. Buyers measure that safety first through the payer’s equity, meaning the property’s value less the amount still owed, and our page on equity and investment to value explains how. After equity, the questions depend on where the property is.
Say which of these applies when you give us the basics of your note, so that the buyers asked are ones who price that kind of property.
Each of those questions has a document behind it: a septic permit or soil evaluation for a mountain lot, the insurance declarations page for a coastal house, the title status for a manufactured home. Find the one that fits your property and put it with the note, the recorded deed of trust and your payment record. If the document does not exist, as with a lot that was never evaluated for septic, find that out now so it is not first raised from a buyer’s checklist.
Deeds of trust are the commonly used security document in North Carolina. The property is conveyed to a trustee who holds it as security until the loan is paid. Check the heading of your own recorded document to be sure which one you have.
Commonly through a power of sale in the deed of trust. It does not need a full lawsuit, but it generally involves a hearing before the clerk of superior court before the trustee can sell. The steps and notices are set by state law, so ask a local attorney about your situation.
Yes, though the buyer pool is smaller than for houses. Expect questions about road access, slope and whether the lot can take a septic system. A good down payment and a clean payment record do most of the work on a land note.
Real estate closings in North Carolina are commonly handled by attorneys, and a buyer may use one for the note sale. Whether you need your own is your decision. Having an attorney read the purchase agreement before you sign is a reasonable precaution.