Should You Refinance? How to Weigh Closing Costs, Break-Even and Your Plans

Featured Advice

Selling a Home With Solar Panels: Owned, Leased or Financed, and Why It Matters

Solar panels can add steps to a sale. Whether the system is owned, financed or leased often decides what those steps are. Here's what sellers should know before listing.

You’ll learnWhy owned, financed and leased solar systems can each lead to a different path at closing

Unpermitted Work: What It Means When You Buy or Sell a Home

A converted garage or finished basement can raise a question at closing time: was the work permitted? Here's what unpermitted work means for owners, sellers and buyers.

You’ll learnWhat counts as unpermitted work and what types of projects commonly require a permit

Adding or Removing a Name on Your Home's Deed: What to Know Before You Sign

Being on the deed is ownership. Being on the mortgage is debt. Here's what to know about deed types, title, taxes and your loan before a name is added or removed.

You’ll learnWhy being on the deed and being on the mortgage are two separate things

Buying a Home With a Pool: What to Check Before You Commit

A pool brings its own equipment, upkeep, local rules and insurance questions. Here's what buyers often check before committing to a home with a pool.

You’ll learnWhy a standard home inspection may look at a pool only in a limited way, and what a specialized pool inspection may cover

Buying a Home

Buying a Home With a Pool: What to Check Before You Commit

Why a standard home inspection may look at a pool only in a limited way, and what a specialized pool inspection may cover

Do You Need a Property Survey When Buying a Home? What It Shows and When It Matters

What a boundary survey shows, including property lines, improvements and possible encroachments

Escalation Clauses: How They Work When You're Competing for a Home

How an escalation clause works, with a hypothetical example

Home Ownership

See also: Insurance · Home Maintenance

Unpermitted Work: What It Means When You Buy or Sell a Home

What counts as unpermitted work and what types of projects commonly require a permit

Water Backup Coverage: Why a Backed-Up Drain Is Often Not Covered, and How to Close the Gap

Why many standard homeowners policies treat sudden plumbing leaks differently from water that backs up through a drain, sewer or sump

Which Home Records to Keep, and for How Long

Which purchase and closing documents to keep for as long as you own the home

Selling a Home

Selling a Home With Solar Panels: Owned, Leased or Financed, and Why It Matters

Why owned, financed and leased solar systems can each lead to a different path at closing

Selling Your Home and Capital Gains: How the Home Sale Tax Exclusion Works

How gain is calculated from your amount realized and adjusted basis

The Listing Agreement, Explained: What You're Signing When You Hire an Agent to Sell

The three common types of listing agreements and how they differ

Southern Coastal NC

Living in Wilmington, NC: What Buyers Should Know Before Moving

Why Wilmington, the three beach towns, and the unincorporated county are separate jurisdictions, and why that changes taxes, rules, and utilities

Buying an Investment Property on Oak Island, NC: What to Check Before You Buy

Calabash, NC: What Buyers Should Know

Why Calabash is a creek and waterway town built around a working seafood waterfront rather than an oceanfront beach town

The Benefits of Living in Southport, NC Year-Round: Why Full-Time Residents Get the Best of the Town

What the roughly October-to-April off-season gives Southport residents: a calm waterfront, open restaurant tables, and downtown returned to locals