Eight years between reappraisals

Martin County's previous reappraisal took effect January 1, 2017, and the current one took effect January 1, 2025. The next is scheduled for 2033. Eight years of market change arrived in one step, and those values will stay in place for another eight.

Owners on fixed incomes and heirs paying taxes on a house nobody lives in feel that most. If taxes have fallen behind, the sale can still close, and the delinquent amount is paid from the proceeds.

Heirs' property and family land

A 2024 Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond analysis named Martin County among the rural eastern North Carolina counties with especially high concentrations of heirs' property: land passed down without a will or a probate, so it is owned in shares by everyone in the line of inheritance.

Those shares make a normal listing hard, because every owner has to sign or the estate has to be settled. We buy heirs' property, work with each heir, and can open the estate as part of the sale. If the land is in present-use value, three years of deferred taxes plus interest come due when it leaves qualifying use, and we build that into the offer.

The Roanoke River at Williamston

The Roanoke forms the county's northern edge past Williamston, Jamesville, and Hamilton. At Williamston it reaches flood stage at 12 feet; it crested at 13 feet in Floyd in 1999 and passed flood stage again in 2018 and 2020. The National Weather Service expects homes north and south of Williamston to flood at 17 feet, a level the river has topped in the past.

Houses on low ground near the river or in a mapped flood zone need flood insurance for a federally backed mortgage, and a high quote can end a financed contract. We buy houses on low ground and ones with old water damage.

Martin County property we buy

  • Older houses in Williamston and Robersonville that need major repairs
  • Heirs' property owned by several family members
  • Farm and timber parcels in present-use value with a house
  • Houses on low ground near the Roanoke River
  • Manufactured homes on owned land
  • Rural houses on wells and septic systems
  • Vacant houses and rentals

Records, courts, and closing in Martin County

Williamston is the county seat. Deeds and deeds of trust are recorded with the Martin County Register of Deeds there, and the clerk of superior court in Williamston hears foreclosures and holds the estate files heirs need when family land changes hands. Values and tax bills come from the county tax office.

A licensed North Carolina attorney handles the closing and records the deed before money is paid out.

Frequently asked questions

Our family land in Martin County was never probated. Can we sell it?

Yes. We work with all of the heirs, and the estate can be opened through the clerk of superior court in Williamston as part of the sale.

Why did my tax value change so much in 2025?

It was the first reappraisal since 2017, so eight years of price change showed up at once. If the bill is behind, it is paid from the closing proceeds.

Do you buy houses near the Roanoke River in Williamston or Jamesville?

Yes, including ones on low ground or with past water damage.

One heir won't respond. Can the rest of us still sell?

Sometimes. It depends on how title is held and what the estate file shows. Tell us who the heirs are and we will work through it with the closing attorney.

Do you buy in Oak City, Hamilton, and Everetts?

Yes, along with Bear Grass, Hassell, Parmele, and the rest of the county.

Martin County property and court resources