5 Types of Homes I Would Never Buy (From a North Carolina Real Estate Attorney)

There are five types of homes a North Carolina real estate attorney would not buy. Landlocked property with no legal access to a public road. A mobile home where the DMV title was never cancelled. A house with an active neighbor dispute. A lakefront home with an unpermitted pier. And a condo or townhouse with a defunct or underfunded owners association.

Every one of these has the same thing in common. The problem existed before you showed up, and it is still going to be there after you close. Buying the house does not make it go away.

In the video below, Tiffany Webber walks through all five, why each one is a problem, and the one question to ask before you make an offer on each type of property.

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1. Landlocked Property With No Legal Access

Here is something we hear all the time. Somebody read online that the government has to give you access if your property is landlocked. Stop right there, because that is not true. The government has nothing to do with it.

Landlocked means your parcel has no legal access to a public road. None. You are surrounded by other people land, and your neighbors are not legally required to give you a way in just because you need one.

Now, there is something called an easement by necessity, where a court can grant you access if your property was once part of a larger tract and got divided in a way that cut off the access. But even with a good legal argument, you are probably going to court to prove it. That means attorney fees, time, stress, and no guarantee of the outcome you need.

Before you make an offer, confirm the property has legal recorded access to a public road. Pull the deed. Pull the plat. If you do not see it clearly, walk away. If you want the longer version of how access rights actually work, we covered that in how easements really work.

2. A Mobile Home Where the DMV Title Was Never Cancelled

This one comes up more than you would think, and it trips people up because it sounds like a paperwork technicality. It is not a technicality. It is a deal killer.

When a mobile home is placed on land, it starts its life as personal property, just like a car. It has a DMV title. For that mobile home to be treated as real property, meaning attached to the land and part of the real estate, that DMV title has to be officially cancelled and the home has to be properly affixed to the land.

If that never happened, lenders will not lend against it. You cannot get a traditional mortgage on a mobile home that is still legally personal property. And a lot of buyers do not find this out until they are already under contract and the lender comes back with a problem. We see this all the time. The seller has been living there for years, nobody ever thought to cancel the title, and now you either unwind the deal or go through a process to get it corrected, which takes time and is not always simple.

So before you make an offer on a mobile home, ask whether the DMV title was properly cancelled and whether the home has been legally converted to real property. That one question saves a lot of pain.

3. A Home With a Known Neighbor Dispute

If a seller discloses an active dispute with a neighbor, over a fence line, over access, over an encroachment, do not assume the dispute disappears when you become the new owner. It does not. You are not buying a fresh start. You are buying into that situation.

Whatever tension exists between those two properties does not vanish at closing. And if the dispute is based on something legal, a boundary line, an easement, an encroachment, it is going to need a legal resolution, which means it is going to need you to deal with it.

Buyers walk into these thinking they will just be friendly with the neighbors and work it out. Sometimes that works. But when the dispute is rooted in actual ownership or access rights, friendliness might not fix it. A court order fixes it.

If a seller discloses a neighbor dispute, find out exactly what it is, how long it has been going on, and whether there is any legal action involved. Then decide whether you want to inherit that problem.

4. A Lakefront Home With an Unpermitted Pier

This one is personal. Tiffany and her family bought a home where the pier had been destroyed, and they were able to get documentation proving it had been permitted. That proof is what allowed them to rebuild it. Without the proof, no pier goes back on that property.

Here is why this matters so much on Lake Norman. Lakefront property costs what it costs largely because of lake access, and the pier is a big part of that value. If you buy a home with a pier that was never permitted, the permitting authority, whether that is Duke Energy Lake Services or a state or local agency, can require you to tear it down. Not modify it. Tear it down.

Then you are left with a lakefront home, no pier, no guarantee you can build one, and a value that just took a hit. The lifestyle you paid for is gone.

Before you close on any lakefront property with a pier, verify the pier is permitted and get the documentation. If the seller cannot produce it, that is a problem to resolve before closing, not after. There is more on this in what to know before buying property on Lake Norman.

5. A Condo or Townhouse With a Defunct Owners Association

Condos and townhouses are a different animal than single family homes. When you buy one, you are not just buying your unit. You are buying into a shared ownership structure. The roof, the parking lot, the pool, the exterior walls, the hallways, all of it is maintained collectively through the owners association.

If that association has run out of money, is poorly managed, or has basically stopped functioning, you are in trouble. The roof needs replacing, nobody has been funding the reserves, the association does not have the money, and now every owner gets hit with a special assessment. That is a lump sum charge that can run into the thousands to cover what should have been saved for over time.

Or the common elements just do not get maintained. The building deteriorates, your property value drops, and you are stuck in a unit that is harder to sell, because any buyer lender is going to look at the association financials and walk away.

Before you buy a condo or townhouse, request the association financials. Look at the reserve fund. Ask about pending special assessments. If the association is underfunded or disorganized, that is a structural problem with the investment you are about to make. Our breakdown of how HOAs really work in North Carolina goes through what those documents actually tell you.

Watch the full video for Tiffany walking through each one, including the pier story and what she checks before making an offer.

Common Questions

Can you get a mortgage on landlocked property in North Carolina?

Usually not. Lenders want legal recorded access to a public road, and without it the property is hard to finance and hard to resell. An easement by necessity may be available through the courts in some situations, but that is litigation, not a closing condition.

How do I know if a mobile home title has been cancelled in NC?

The cancellation is recorded, so a title search will show whether the home was converted to real property. If it was not, the home is still personal property with a DMV title, and most lenders will not finance it.

Do I have to disclose a neighbor dispute when selling a home in North Carolina?

North Carolina uses a Residential Property and Owners Association Disclosure Statement, and sellers answer questions about the property including access and boundary items. Sellers can answer no representation on many of them, which is exactly why buyers should ask directly and look at the recorded documents.

Who permits piers on Lake Norman?

Duke Energy Lake Services manages the shoreline for Lake Norman, and local and state agencies can be involved depending on the structure. The part that matters for a buyer is that the existing pier has documentation, because an unpermitted pier can be ordered removed.

What should I look for in HOA or condo association financials?

The reserve fund balance, the current budget, the minutes, and any pending or recently passed special assessments. An association that has not been funding reserves is the one that hands you a large bill after you already own the unit.

Buying in the Lake Norman Area? Let Us Handle the Closing

At Thomas & Webber, the title search, the legal access, the pier documentation, and the association documents are all part of what gets looked at before you reach the closing table. Catching these things before closing is a lot cheaper than fixing them after.

Our offices in Mooresville, Cornelius, and Denver serve buyers and sellers throughout the Lake Norman area, including Davidson, Huntersville, Sherrills Ford, Troutman, and Statesville.

Email your contract to [email protected] or call us at (704) 663-1600 to schedule your closing with us.