How a Real Estate Attorney Buys a House (5 Steps I Never Skip)

You would think being a real estate attorney makes buying a home easy. No surprises, no mistakes, no stress. That is not how it went.

Here are the five steps Tiffany Webber takes every time she buys a property. Read the restrictions before making an offer. Never skip the final walkthrough. Check the permit history on anything that has been added or modified. Read all of the HOA documents, not just the restrictions. And use an agent, even as an attorney.

Step one is on the list because of a mistake that cost real money. In the video below she walks through all five, including the vacant lot she and her husband had to terminate on, and what that cost.

Watch the Full Video

Step 1: Read the Restrictions Before You Make an Offer

Before, not during due diligence. Not after the contract is signed. Before picking up the phone to make the offer.

Here is why. Before she really knew what she was doing as a buyer, Tiffany and her husband were looking at a vacant lot. The location was perfect, the price was right, and they could already picture what they were going to build. So they made an offer, got it under contract, and started moving forward.

Then she read the restrictions. The deed restrictions on that lot required a minimum house size significantly larger than what they wanted to build, and honestly larger than what they could afford to build at the time. Not a small difference either. They would have had to build a much bigger house than they had planned just to comply.

They terminated the contract. And when you terminate in North Carolina, you lose your due diligence money. That money is gone. It does not come back. So they lost it, because the restrictions did not get read before the offer.

Now, every time, before an offer goes out, she asks the listing agent for the restrictions. The seller should have them or be able to get them. If for some reason they do not, you go pull them yourself from the register of deeds. You do not need a law degree to do that and you do not need special access. In North Carolina those records are public and anyone can get them. It takes maybe thirty minutes, and it can save you from making an offer on a property that will not let you do what you actually want to do with it.

Step 2: Do Not Skip the Final Walkthrough

People skip the final walkthrough. It is understandable. You are tired, you are excited, you just want to get to the closing table.

But the final walkthrough is not just a chance to see the house one more time before it is yours. It is your last opportunity to verify the seller held up their end of the bargain. If repairs were negotiated, the walkthrough is where you confirm those repairs were actually done. If they were not done, you have a problem, and you are not closing until they are.

Better still is knowing the repairs are completed before the walkthrough rather than finding out at it. No surprises, no last minute scrambles, no awkward conversation at the closing table about something that should have been handled weeks ago.

If you show up and agreed upon repairs are not done, closing is probably not happening on the originally scheduled date. That is okay. The seller made a commitment and did not follow through. You do not have to close like everything is fine.

Step 3: Check the Permit History

This one does not come up in every transaction, but when it matters, it really matters. Any time there is something added or modified on a property, a deck, a finished basement, an addition, a detached garage, check the permit history with the county.

And to be fair about it, Tiffany and her husband have built an unpermitted deck before. So there is no judgment here. People do work on their homes without pulling permits all the time. But as a buyer you need to know about it, because if you buy a property with unpermitted work and the county comes knocking later, that is your problem now. You might be required to bring it up to code. You might have to tear it down. You might have issues when you go to sell.

Checking is usually straightforward. Most counties have permit history available online or through the county offices, and it does not take long. If there is unpermitted work, that does not automatically mean you walk away. It just means you go in with your eyes open and decide whether you are comfortable with the risk. That is a very different position than finding out after you have closed.

Step 4: Read All of the HOA Documents, Not Just the Restrictions

Most people hear HOA documents and think about the restrictions. Those get read, but you go further than that.

If the restrictions reference rules and regulations, and a lot of them do, get copies of those too. The restrictions might say refer to the community rules for pool usage, and then the rules say the pool is reserved for a swim team five days a week and residents can only use it on weekends. That is pretty relevant if you bought the house partly because of the pool.

Then the financials, specifically the reserve funds. Does the association have enough money set aside to actually take care of things? If the association maintains the roads in the community and the reserve fund is basically empty, that is a red flag, because when those roads need work the money has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is usually a special assessment on the homeowners. There is more on that in our post on HOA red flags homebuyers should not ignore.

And then the bylaws. How many homeowners have to vote to change the restrictions? This matters more than people realize. If you are buying into a community because you like the way it is governed, you want to know how easy or hard it is for those rules to change after you move in.

The HOA documents are not exciting reading. They do tell you a lot about what you are actually buying into, though. Not just the house, the community around it.

Step 5: Use an Agent, Even If You Are the Attorney

This one surprises people. The assumption is that a real estate attorney does not need an agent. She can write her own contract, she knows the process, so why pay someone else?

Because a lot of what goes into buying a house has nothing to do with the legal side of it. Does she need an agent to write a contract? No. But does she want to be the one managing the emotional back and forth of a negotiation on a house she is personally attached to? Not really. Having an agent handle that takes the emotion out of it, and when you are buying something you actually want, emotion can cost you money.

More than that, a good agent has a network. They know the inspectors, the surveyors, who to call and who to avoid. They quarterback all the moving pieces. That is genuinely valuable even to someone who does this for a living.

Watch the full video for the whole walkthrough, including the vacant lot story and what she checks in the HOA financials. The next document worth understanding is the one at the closing table, which we broke down in how to read your closing disclosure.

Common Questions

Do you get your due diligence fee back if you terminate in North Carolina?

No. In North Carolina the due diligence fee is paid to the seller and is generally not refundable if the buyer terminates during the due diligence period. The earnest money usually comes back. The due diligence fee does not.

How do I find deed restrictions on a property in NC?

Ask the listing agent or the seller first. If that does not work, restrictions are recorded and public, so you can pull them from the county register of deeds yourself. In most counties a good chunk of that is available online.

Is a final walkthrough required in North Carolina?

It is not legally required, but it is your last chance to confirm negotiated repairs were actually completed and the property is in the condition you agreed to buy. Skipping it means giving that up.

What happens if I buy a house with unpermitted work?

The problem transfers to you. Depending on the county and the work, you may be required to bring it up to code or remove it, and it can complicate your own sale later. Knowing before you close lets you price it in or negotiate it.

Do I need a real estate attorney to buy a house in North Carolina?

Yes. North Carolina requires an attorney to handle the closing, including the title search and the deed preparation. That is separate from having a real estate agent, and most buyers here end up working with both.

Buying in the Lake Norman Area?

At Thomas & Webber, we handle the title search, the recorded restrictions, the deed, and the closing itself, so the things that catch buyers off guard turn up before you are at the table instead of after.

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

Email your contract to close@thomasandwebber.com or call us at (704) 663-1600 to schedule your closing with us.