The absolute first step in the home-buying process is to get pre-approved for a mortgage by a local lender. Obtaining a lender's pre-approval letter sets the ball rolling in the correct way. It helps you identify the proper price range to be searching in and gives sellers the confidence that you're a serious buyer.

Buying a home can take roughly 10 to 12 weeks, faster when needed, from start to finish (from searching online to closing). The average time to close on a home in North Carolina is 30 to 45 days after a home is chosen and an offer is accepted (under normal market conditions). However, cash-paying home purchasers who are well-prepared have been known to purchase properties much faster.

You should absolutely have an agent represent you in a real estate transaction in North Carolina and not all agents are created equally. Therefore, agent compensation may vary. Currently in North Carolina, the listing broker compensates the buyers' agent firm (also known as buyer's agents) for bringing purchasers to the table most of the time. Although there is no standard commission, typically the listing firm splits the listing fee with the buyer's agent firm when the home is sold. As a result, buyers do not compensate their representatives directly most of the time. However this could always change and currently there are some occassions where a listing firm may not compensate a buyer's agent's firm the full amount the firm is seeking. In that case, the firm could seek the buyer to make up the difference but these cases are rare currently. Regardless, be sure to understand the agreement you enter into with your agent.

The average down payment in the United States is 11%. However, this figure includes both first-time and recurrent purchasers. There are some homes or home purchasers that may qualify for 100% financing and therefore not be required to have any down payment. Speaking directly with a local lender will help you understand what loan and down payment makes the most sense for you. DO THIS STEP FIRST!

That depends on a lot of factors most importantly your debt to income ratio if you're financing the home and the timing of when you want to be in your new home. Definitely ask your agent and your lender this question VERY EARLY on if you currently own a home and want to purchase a new one.

It's entirely up to you! But with that said, if your agent has to show you 10 or more homes without you making an offer on one of them, there is a chance they don't fully understand your needs or they have changed. Home buying is, without a doubt, easier today than it has ever been. The opportunity to browse for homes online and view photos before leaving the comfort of your own home has dramatically transformed the home-buying process. Convenience has never been higher. But it's still a process of elimination. Start online, make a list of your top 3 or 4 favorite homes and schedule showings on those. Nothing beats seeing a house in person to get a sense of how it looks and feels.

The timeframe in which the seller must respond isn't set unless a buyer adds a specific time in their offer, which isn't always the best idea. Your agent should build a rapport with the listing agent and get an understanding of the seller's needs and timeline and then communicate that with you. I feel you should hear at least something back within 24 hours at the most and if not, your agent should be figuring out why it's not happened yet. Sitting there waiting is extremely stressful and unprofessional in my opinion.

No, not in North Carolina. In our state homes are sold in "as is" condition and sellers are not required to make any repairs. However, it's been customary that a negotiation happens at this point and depending on a number of factors it might make sense for the seller to make repairs or concessions. It's a case by case basis and your agent should have a decent idea of what "could" show up on an inspection before you make an offer.

Ok, this could get confusing and if you're a first time buyer in this state, it might sound a little odd. Here is how it goes:

When you make an offer on a home in NC and it gets accepted by the seller, there is a required deposit that you must make. This is not a loan downpayment but it can count toward that. The two options for this deposit are called an Earnest Money Deposit and a Due Diligence Fee. 

Earnest money is a deposit that gets held in escrow by the closing attorney or one of the real estate firms until the transaction closes. At closing, it's applied to the total amount due and you pay less that amount. This deposit COULD be refundable to the buyer if they cancel the transaction before the end of their due diligence (investigation) window of time.  This deposit has better protection for the buyer but less for the seller so often, sellers prefer to have little or no money in Earnest Money.

The other option is called Due Diligence and sellers prefer this because it's a non-refundable fee that buyer's pay for the ability to walk away from the transaction for any reason or no reason at all. Buyers don't love this because it's non refundable. In a strong seller's market this fee is most likely going to be a very important part of the negotiations and in theory shows sellers how serious the buyer is.

There is no set amount for either of these fees but often we see somewhere around 1-3% depending on how competitive the situation is for that specific home.

Here’s an example of how deposits typically flow during a North Carolina home purchase: