Buying a home in North Carolina when you work for yourself
A step-by-step income checklist for self-employed North Carolina buyers: the 25% ownership rule, how long you need, how lenders figure income, and using NCHFA help.
Guides
How-to guides for first-time buyers in North Carolina
Step-by-step how-tos for buying your first North Carolina home: the due diligence contract, attorney closings, deed stamps, coastal insurance, property tax and NCHFA's 3% or $15,000 help.
Suggested reading order
- Begin with the steps guide and the cash-needed guide, so you know the whole path and the rough cost.
- Next, read the credit score and loan type guides. They decide which programs you can pair with.
- If your pay is unusual (overtime, a 10-month school contract, 1099 or app work), read the income guide that matches it before you meet a lender.
- Finish with the mistakes guide the week before you sign anything.
Buying a home in North Carolina with gig income
Drive or deliver for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, Amazon Flex or Spark in North Carolina? Here's how lenders count gig income, the mileage math, and using NCHFA help.
How the North Carolina offer to purchase and due diligence period work
How North Carolina's Offer to Purchase and Contract works for first-time buyers: the due diligence fee, earnest money, the deadline, and how to fit NCHFA help inside it.
How an attorney closing works in North Carolina
North Carolina home closings run through an attorney. Here's who does what, what to send them, how title and deed stamps work, and what happens on closing day.
North Carolina closing costs: a line-by-line worksheet for buyers
Work out your North Carolina cash to close line by line: who pays the deed excise tax, the coastal counties with an extra transfer tax, loan fees, prepaids, and where NCHFA help applies.
NCHFA's 3% or $15,000 down payment help: how to choose and stack it
Pick between NCHFA's 3% NC Home Advantage assistance and the $15,000 NC 1st Home Advantage Down Payment, see what you'd owe if you sell early, and stack city help.
Charlotte, the Triangle or the Triad: comparing first-home costs
Compare buying a first home in Charlotte, the Triangle and the Triad: NCHFA income limits, county tax rates, local price caps and city down payment programs side by side.
Buying near Fort Bragg or Camp Lejeune: a checklist for military buyers
A step-by-step checklist for service members and veterans buying near Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty) or Camp Lejeune: VA loans, NCHFA's veteran exception, PCS timing and local help.
Setting up hurricane, wind and flood insurance on the North Carolina coast
Set up insurance for a first home on the North Carolina coast: the Coastal Property Insurance Pool, named storm deductibles, flood coverage rules and how premiums affect NCHFA approval.
North Carolina property taxes on a first home, step by step
How North Carolina property tax works for first-time buyers: county and city rates, revaluation years, the September 1 due date, escrow at closing, and the relief programs that exist.
North Carolina's Homes for Heroes bill: where it stands and what to use now
What North Carolina's proposed Homes for Heroes bill (SB 789) would give teachers, police, firefighters, EMS and military buyers, where it stands, and the programs you can use today.
Buying a manufactured home in North Carolina with down payment help
How to buy a manufactured home in North Carolina with NCHFA assistance: the 660 credit rule, FHA, VA or USDA only, turning the home into real property, and city programs that allow it.
