For definitions of real estate terms, click here for the Wall Street Journal's "Real Estate Journal" Glossary of Terms.

• FINANCIAL REVIEW: Seller ensures s/he is prepared to sell, collects needed documents, performs financial review of mortgage payoff, costs to sell existing home, buy new home, move, etc.

• STAGING: Seller performs repairs of known issues and prepares home to sell (packs personal items, organizes closets, removes any clutter, etc. See our selling tips guides.).

• COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS: Prospective listing agent realtor (and seller) review local market for comparable properties and applicable market conditions. Prospective listing agent visits seller's property and prepares Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to help set price range recommendations.

• AGENCY REPRESENTATION: Seller selects Listing (or Selling) agent and signs Exclusive Right To Sell contract to market home. Buyer selects Buyer's Agents and signs Exclusive Right to Represent Buyer contract with the selected realtor and firm. Note: If you want your Buyer's agent to be able to show you property for which his or her firm may be representing the seller, you'll need to sign a Dual Agency Addendum. The BARTRAM TEAM can serve as both Buyer's Agent and/or Selling Agent for you!

• DISCLOSURES: Seller fills out all required legal disclosure forms (e.g., NC Residential Property Disclosure, Lead Paint in Home, Radon, Home Owner’s Association, etc.).

• MARKETING: The Listing Agent markets the home via a variety of effective marketing techniques, including yard sign, MLS posting, print advertising & flyers, online advertising and web sites, buyer database, etc. Read the "Marketing to Move" section of our Bartram Team's Selling Real Estate in New Bern web page for a discussion of our various online and traditional marketing techniques we use to sell your New Bern home or property.

• BUYER FINANCING PREQUALIFICATION: Before beginning to view property, buyers that will be requiring a loan to cover all or some of their purchase should contact a lender to get pre-qualified. It only takes 15-20 minutes on the phone or in person, and you are not obligated to use this lender for your final loan, but a Pre-qualification Letter is often required by sellers today to be submitted along with your Offer to Purchase and Contract.

• OFFER & EARNEST MONEY: Buyer determines he wants to buy home and has Buyer’s Agent prepare Offer to Purchase and Contract to present to Listing Agent, along with an Earnest Money Deposit.

• PRESENTATION OF OFFER(S) & NEGOTIATIONS: Listing Agent brings all offers to sellers and offers advice on their relative benefits and assists with negotiations.

• ACCEPTANCE & COMMUNICATION: Seller and buyer can counteroffer back and forth through agents until an offer is accepted (signed) and communicated to both parties (buyers and sellers or their agents). (Note: Each counteroffer is considered a totally new offer and nullifies the prior offer.)

• EARNEST MONEY DEPOSIT: The selling brokerage deposits the earnest money received from the buyer in a separate escrow holding account until closing or until the contract is cancelled.

  • Note: In North Carolina, usually the listing brokerage deposits the earnest money after receiving it from the buyer's agent along with the Offer to Purchase and Contract, but it is not required that the listing brokerage be the depositor. The buyer can request that the money be held by the buyer's agent brokerage or somewhere else; all parties just have to agree on how this is to be handled.

• SALE PENDING NOTICES: Listing agent puts Sale Pending notices in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and on the property yard sign, etc.

  • For homes with sales contracts with a contingency (e.g., buyer must first sell his home before finalizing purchase of seller's home), the home will still be considered "on the market" and remain for sale with showings by realtors. However, if a second offer is made by another buyer that doesn't contain a contingency AFTER an original contingency offer was accepted by the sellers, the original buyers must be notified and given a chance to either remove their contingency and proceed with the purchase or abandon the contract.

• FINAL BUYER FINANCING: For non-cash purchases and depending on the contract terms and desired closing date, the buyer usually has 5 to 10 days to get the final financing on the home or property. 

  • DEED OF TRUST VS. A MORTGAGE: Note that in North Carolina (as in many states in the South and West), buyers actually get what is officially called a "deed of trust" instead of a mortgage, but the term "mortgage" will be used commonly by everyone, including your lender. However, your final paperwork from the attorney will show that a deed of trust differs from a mortgage in that there are three parties of the Deed of Trust instead of 2 in a mortgage: the borrower, the lender (or beneficiary), and a third party trustee. The borrower transfers the legal title for the property to the trustee who holds the property in trust as security for the payment of the debt to the lender/beneficiary. If the borrower pays the debt as agreed, the deed of trust becomes void. If, however, the borrower defaults on the loan, the trustee may sell the property at a public sale under the terms of the deed of trust. In most jurisdictions where the deed of trust is in force, the borrower is subject to having his property sold without benefit of legal foreclosure proceedings. A few states like North Carolina have begun to treat the deed of trust like a mortgage.

• APPRAISAL: The Buyer’s Lender orders appraisal to determine current market value of the property.

  • Note: Most banks and lenders require an appraisal before issuing a mortgage. Even cash buyers may and often do require an appraisal as well- most buyer's agents recommend this. If the property was priced too high above the standard prices for comparable properties in the current market, it may not appraise to the contracted sales price. If this happens, the buyer can legally cancel the contract and have his earnest money returned if the standard NC appraisal contingency was used in the contract. In areas with rapid rises or declines in property values in a 6-month period, appraisals can vary widely.

• HOME INSPECTION: Home inspection is ordered by buyer after an acceptable appraisal is received. If time is a factor, and we're confident the home will appraise, inspections can be done earlier. 

• REPAIR AGREEMENT: Any repair issues are negotiated between buyer and seller through agents. The buyer's agent prepares a Repair Agreement which is signed by buyers and then presented to the seller's agent. The seller can accept or offer modifications which are negotiated until both parties agree.

  • REPAIR CONTINGENCY: The buyer can have cost estimates to properly carry out all the repairs prepared by qualified contractors. If a repair contingency was included in the signed contract and the total to carry out all the required repairs exceeds the amount in the contingency clause, the buyer can legally decide to abandon the contract.

• REPAIRS COMPLETED AND RE-INSPECTION: Seller performs repairs or hires qualified contractors to perform these repairs. (Ask The Bartram Team can help with lists of multiple qualified service companies and contractors.) Once the seller declares the repairs complete, the buyer should have his home inspector re-inspect (this is usually done at a reduced rate) to ensure the repairs were completed satisfactorily and did not create new problems.

• WOOD-DESTROYING INSECT INSPECTION: A NC Wood-Destroying Insect (termite or pest) inspection is ordered by buyer (must be within 30 days of closing). Once the inspection is completed, an official North Carolina WDIR or Wood-Destroying Insect Report is prepared by the inspector and sent to the buyer's agent and attorney to be included at closing.

  • BOB'S TIP: As is typical in most of the South, eastern North Carolina is prone to wood-destroying insects like termites and carpenter ants, among others, so a quarterly pest treatment and annual termite inspection contract is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for all home buyers.

• PROPERTY SURVEY: Property surveys are ordered (if necessary) after a successful appraisal and inspections--buyers don't want to invest too much into the property until they are sure it's a go.

• INSURANCE: Buyer applies for hazard (homeowner’s) insurance and the information goes to the lender and closing attorney. (Note: Some properties may also require federal Flood Insurance. Check with your Realtor.)

• UTILITIES: Nearing closing date, buyer arranges for the utilities to be switched over. (Click here to visit the Bartram Team web page with New Bern Utility Companies contact information).  

  • In the case of a Seller Occupancy after Closing, the switchover of the utilities to the name of the new buyer-owner won't happen the seller- now the renter- vacates the home. It is recommended that the switchover not happen until the day of or day after closing, since a final walk-through by buyer has to be done and electricity and water are required to be functioning.

• FINANCING PAPERWORK: If the buyer is purchasing the property with a loan to finance all or part of it, his lender must deliver the paperwork to the closing attorney several days in advance of closing. They are required for preparing the HUD-1 Statement. The buyer and the buyer's realtor should also be sent a copy in order to carefully review for any errors (We have found these are prone to be very error ridden!).

• HUD-1 STATEMENT: Usually a day or two in advance, attorney will provide a copy of the federally mandated HUD-1 Settlement Statement for the realtors, buyers and sellers to review for accuracy. Required by the Department of Housing & Urban Development or HUD for every residential real estate transaction, the HUD-1 Settlement Statement can be difficult to interpret.

  • Click here for a detailed explanation of the HUD-1 Statement by HUD.
     

  • SETTLEMENT COSTS: Read this informative web page by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on settlement costs, rights and paperwork for buyers and sellers.

• EARNEST MONEY CHECK REQUEST: Before closing, the agent for whichever brokerage is holding the buyer's earnest money check must request that a check be issued (usually by the firm's accountant and broker-in-charge) for delivery to the closing attorney at closing.

• FINAL WALK-THROUGH: The day before or morning of the closing, the buyers and their agent do a final pre-closing walk-through to ensure the property is in the same or better condition as at the time of the contract and all repairs are done, permanent fixtures (including landscaping) are in place and personal property that is conveying is still present.

• THE CLOSING: Buyers and sellers go to the closing location (usually the office of the buyer's attorney for the formal closing meeting. This meeting can be done via mail or at differing times if one or both parties are unable to attend in person at the set time. (Note: In North Carolina, a real estate attorney is required to close the transaction. Typically the buyer must always have an attorney to prepare all the required documentation and titles. The seller can also have his own attorney prepare the deed and review contracts if desired, or the seller can have the buyer closing attorney handle if it is a simple transaction.)

• TITLE SEARCH AND DEED PREPARATION: Before the closing, the buyer's closing attorney performs a title search to ensure there is clear title to this property and that the buyer is fully able to sell it legally. The seller's attorney (if one was used) has forwarded signed deeds in advance to the buyer's closing attorney.

• CERTIFIED FUNDS: Buyer gives closing attorney certified funds to pay for closing and signs loan papers.

• SIGNING: Both the buyers and sellers sign all other required documents.

• TURNING OVER KEYS: Seller (or seller's agent or attorney) turns over house keys to buyer. (Note: If there is some question of funds transfer or other issue with buyer, keys can be held by closing attorney until the funds are received and the deed is recorded.) All house keys to all doors, garage door openers, alarm code keys and instructions and other owner materials must be handed over at this time.

• RECORDING OF DEED: Attorney records new deed at the courthouse and disperses funds due to all parties.