There seems to be a lot of confusion and frankly a lack of understanding from my out-of-state clients about what due diligence is so let's get to the bottom of it right now. In North Carolina real estate, the due diligence period is simply time and discovery for the buyer to make sure that this is the home that they absolutely want to buy, and in order to get that time, they're offering the seller money to take their home off the market. This is the time the buyer is getting the home inspected getting the home appraised, getting quotes, and everything that they would need to do to make sure that this is 100 the home that they love and they want to close on. The only way that the buyer would lose this due diligence money is if they decided to terminate the contract at that time the due diligence deposit is the property of the sellers. Should the buyer continue with the purchase, that money that they brought for the due diligence fee becomes part of how much they're bringing to closing. So for example say that the buyer was going to bring twenty thousand dollars to closing and their due diligence deposit was five thousand dollars. Instead of bringing twenty thousand dollars to closing, they're only bringing fifteen thousand.
If you need more clarification on due diligence or understanding buying and selling in North Carolina please reach out.