Question 1

Do I need a broker's license to wholesale a Raleigh deal? I keep seeing HB 797 mentioned.

Accepted Answer

No, and HB 797 is not the reason. HB 797, the North Carolina bill that would fold residential wholesaling into the broker-license definition, passed the House 103-0 on 2025-04-30 and has sat in the Senate Rules Committee since 2025-05-01. It has not been ratified and carries no session law number, so despite what a lot of blogs claim, it is not current law. As it stands, a bona fide party to a purchase contract can assign their own contract rights without a license under North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 93A, the standard owner-principal exemption. Re-check HB 797's status before you rely on this, since a 103-0 House vote means it could move again.

Question 2

Will I owe transfer tax on both legs of a Wake County double close?

Accepted Answer

Yes, North Carolina's excise tax applies to each conveyance, so it hits the A-to-B and the B-to-C legs separately. The state excise tax is $1.00 per $500 of consideration, 0.2%, payable by the seller (transferor) to the register of deeds before recording, under North Carolina General Statutes 105-228.30. Wake County levies no additional local transfer tax on top of that. Only seven counties in the state, all in the far northeastern coastal corner, add a local 1% land transfer tax, and none of them touches the Raleigh metro. Recording itself is a flat fee under NCGS 161-10, not a percentage: $64 for the first 35 pages of a deed of trust, $26 for the first 15 pages of a deed.

Question 3

Who actually runs the closing on a Raleigh double close, a title company or an attorney?

Accepted Answer

A licensed North Carolina attorney has to be responsible for the closing. North Carolina is an attorney-closing state: the State Bar's Authorized Practice Advisory Opinion 2002-1 reads the state's unauthorized-practice statutes as barring a non-attorney from handling a residential closing, giving title opinions, or drafting the legal documents. A non-lawyer can present documents, direct signatures, and disburse funds, and the attorney doesn't have to be physically in the room, but the file runs through the attorney's trust account rather than a title-company escrow desk. Line up a Wake County closing attorney who works investor volume before you count on a fast turn.

Question 4

Does Wake County's foreclosure process change how fast I need to line up funding for a distressed assignment?

Accepted Answer

It can, because a North Carolina foreclosure sale isn't final at the auction. The state runs power-of-sale foreclosures through a clerk of superior court hearing, then the sale itself sits open for at least 10 more days under the upset-bid process: any person can outbid the winning bidder by the greater of 5% or $750, and each new upset bid restarts the 10-day clock. A contested sale can stay open for weeks before title clears. If your A-side contract is tied to a distressed or post-foreclosure Wake County property, get transactional capital committed well before you expect the upset-bid window to close, not after.

Question 5

If I end up keeping a Raleigh deal instead of assigning it, what changes on financing?

Accepted Answer

You'd move off transactional funding and onto a rehab loan sized to the work and the ARV. Some deals in this flat Raleigh-Cary market, median list price $450,000 as of July 2026, pencil better as a hold-and-renovate than a same-day flip, especially with days on market running around 54. If that's the call, our fix and flip program funds up to 90% of purchase and 100% of rehab instead of the 100%-of-purchase, same-day structure here. Talk to your closing attorney or CPA before you decide which structure fits a specific Wake County property.

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