Beginning January 1st there will be major changes to the NC OTPAC (Offer to Purchase and Contract) for Real Estate.  One of the best changes will be the improved organization of information.

1. All the defined terms are grouped together at the beginning of the contract

2. The more buyer specific paragraphs are together (paragraphs 4,5, and 6)

3.The more seller specific paragraphs are also grouped (paragraphs 7 & 8 )

4. There are a few other minor changes such as indicating how long the seller has owned the home (due to anti flipping requirements)

5. “Due Diligence” period (see below)

You may hear a lot of agents refer to this new contract as a “Due Diligence contract.”  Basically the buyer will have a negotiated time period for a negotiated fee (which can be $0) to do all of the inspections and discovery of information they wish to do.  In the previous or current contract there were several dates to keep up with and inspections were completely separate with multiple choices in how to agree to inspections.

One big complaint sellers had with the previous or current contract is the buyer had too many ways to get out of the contract with no “skin in the game.”  This revised contract changes that.  I have also heard agents refer to this new contract as “Poop or get off the pot.”  I’m just passing along what I heard here people.

Real estate is constantly changing, but this is a significant one for our state.  Be sure to seek out the professional advice of a Realtor on how to navigate this new contract.