Home Sale Law in North Carolina

Buying or selling a house can be an exciting but stressful time in a person's life. It also requires a person to make a large number of possibly life-changing financial and legal decisions.

While there are no laws in Wake County, North Carolina against persons buying or selling real estate on their own, this is rarely the ideal way to go, given the many legal issues surrounding the sale of property.

One good way to help a real estate sale or purchase go smoothly is to retain a real estate broker. These professionals can help you find the right house within your budget, or help you find suitable buyers for a house you're selling.

Some Wake County, North Carolina real estate brokers charge a flat fee, but most take a relatively small percentage of the sale price of a house they assist a client sell.

Getting a Mortgage in Wake County, North Carolina

If the buyer asks the seller a question about the physical condition of the home, the seller is legally required to answer it honestly. If the seller lies when asked a direct question, they have committed a serious form of fraud, and, if sued by the buyer, will incur considerablet liability.

In addition to disclosing any material facts the buyer directly inquires about, most "latent defects" in a house or other piece of property should be disclosed whether the buyer asks or not. Typically, any defect that the seller knows about and that the buyer can't be expected to know through a reasonable inspection, it has to be disclosed.

Buyers should remember, nonetheless, that if they are not blameless in their failure to discover defects, they might not be able to recover if they sue.

Therefore, if a buyer fails to conduct a reasonable expectation of the property, he or she cannot recover for any harm caused by defects that such an inspection would have revealed.

Can a Wake County, North Carolina Real Estate Attorney help?

Buying a house can be an exciting, but challenging, experience. Most home buyers want to focus on the positive aspects that come with home-ownership, and ignore the tedious paperwork and legal issues. A seasoned Wake County, North Carolina real estate attorney can enable this.