North Carolina Property Taxes and Tax Foreclosure When You Sell

Full market value, and the revaluation cycle

Unlike Georgia, which assesses at 40 percent of fair market value, North Carolina assesses at 100 percent. The number on your notice is meant to be what the property is worth.

Counties must conduct a general revaluation at least every eight years, and many of the faster-growing ones do it every four. Between revaluations the assessed value generally stays put, which means a revaluation year can produce a large single-step increase — and in Mecklenburg, Wake, and Buncombe, recent revaluations moved a great many bills substantially. For owners on fixed incomes, and for heirs carrying a house nobody lives in, that step change is frequently what forces a decision.

September 1 and January 6

Property is listed in January, bills go out in the summer, and payment is generally due September 1. Taxes become delinquent on January 6 of the following year, at which point interest begins to accrue and the county can begin enforced collection.

January 6 is the date to know. It is not the same as the due date, and owners who assume a calendar-year deadline are sometimes surprised.

Proration at closing

A sale that closes mid-year splits the year's taxes between seller and buyer, and the closing attorney handles the calculation on the settlement statement. Where the rate for the year has not been set, the prior year is used as an estimate and the contract governs any later true-up.

Delinquent taxes from earlier years are different: they are a lien on the property and are paid in full from the proceeds.

Tax foreclosure, and no post-sale redemption

North Carolina counties have two routes for delinquent taxes: an in rem proceeding against the property under the tax statutes, or a mortgage-style foreclosure action. Either can end in a sale of the property, and the ten-day upset bid period applies to a tax sale as it does to a mortgage foreclosure sale.

There is no general right to redeem after a tax sale has been confirmed. That is a significant difference from Georgia, where an owner generally has twelve months. In North Carolina the window is before confirmation, which makes acting early more important.

Selling with delinquent taxes

You do not need to clear delinquent North Carolina property taxes before selling. The closing attorney obtains the figure from the county tax office and the full amount — tax, interest, and any costs — is paid from the sale proceeds.

If a tax foreclosure has already been filed or a sale scheduled, the date is the constraint. Send us the county and the date and we will tell you whether a closing can beat it.

What North Carolina charges on the deed

An excise tax of $1.00 per $500 of consideration, or a fraction of it, is levied on the instrument conveying the property. The seller pays it to the register of deeds before the deed can be recorded.

Seven coastal counties — Currituck, Dare, Camden, Chowan, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Washington — are separately authorised to levy a local land transfer tax of up to one percent. None of the counties we currently buy in is among them, but it is worth knowing if your property is on the northeastern coast.

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Laws change and every situation is different, so talk with a qualified North Carolina professional about yours.