Costs of Selling Land in North Carolina

Selling Costs in North Carolina: What to Know

North Carolina calls its transfer tax an excise tax on conveyances. The seller pays it to the register of deeds before the deed is recorded, at $1 for each $500 of the price. A few northeastern counties add a local land transfer tax on top.

This page lists each cost of selling land in North Carolina, who usually pays it, and the official source. It ends with a worked example on a $25,000 lot and a short guide to capital gains.

Who pays what by custom in North Carolina

State law makes the seller pay the excise tax before the deed can be recorded. Most other costs are set in the purchase contract.

Sellers usually pay for deed preparation and the excise stamps. Buyers usually pay for the title search, their title policy and recording the deed. Property taxes in North Carolina are billed for the calendar year, and the contract splits them to the closing date.

• Seller: excise tax, deed preparation, payoff of any liens
• Buyer: title search, title insurance, deed recording
• Split by contract: property taxes for the year

County land transfer taxes

A small group of counties in the northeast of the state have local acts that allow a land transfer tax in addition to the state excise tax. In Dare County the rate is $1 per $100 of the price, which is 1%. If your land is near the coast in that region, ask the register of deeds whether a local tax applies.

Recording fees are the same in every county because G.S. 161-10 sets them: $26 for the first 15 pages and $4 for each extra page.

Attorney or title company closing

North Carolina is an attorney closing state. The State Bar's advisory opinion says a nonlawyer may not handle a residential closing and a licensed North Carolina lawyer must supervise its main parts, including title opinions and deeds.

Land sales are usually closed by a lawyer as well. Title companies issue the insurance, but a lawyer gives the title opinion and prepares the deed.

Capital gains basics (federal and North Carolina)

Federal tax applies to your gain, not the sale price. Gain is the price minus your basis (what you paid plus improvements) and minus selling costs. If you owned the land more than one year, the gain is long-term and the IRS rates are 0%, 15% or 20% depending on your income. If you owned it one year or less, the gain is taxed as ordinary income.

Higher earners can also owe the 3.8% net investment income tax. The closing agent usually reports the sale to the IRS on Form 1099-S. Inherited land usually takes a basis equal to its value at the date of death, which can shrink the gain. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice; ask a tax professional about your own sale.

North Carolina taxes capital gains as regular income at a flat rate. The Department of Revenue lists 4.25% for 2025 and 3.99% for tax years after 2025.

How selling to a cash buyer changes the costs

A listed sale in North Carolina often carries an agent commission plus the seller's share of closing costs. When you sell to EasyLotBuyer, you pay no fees or commissions and we pay the closing costs. We make a cash offer within 24 hours and can close in as few as 7 days.

Taxes on your own gain stay with you whoever buys, because they come from your income, not the closing. If the land has back taxes or liens, they are paid at closing from the sale. We also buy land with title issues or no road access, and land from heirs and estates.

• No agent commission
• No closing costs for you: we pay them
• Back taxes paid at closing from the sale
• Cash offer within 24 hours