Your North Carolina
Mortgage, Handled.
Every one of the 100 counties shares the same $832,750 loan limit, so the limit is never what decides your purchase here. What decides it is the assistance, which is forgivable but not for eleven years, and a reappraisal cycle that can move your tax bill overnight.
per month?
Lending Across North Carolina
We lend in all 100 counties. These are the markets our clients move to most, whether that is a relocation, a return home, or a second property.
The largest housing market in the state and the one where our clients most often land on a corporate relocation.
Research Triangle employment, heavy new construction, and the county where builder incentives come up in almost every conversation.
Older housing stock beside new build, which is where renovation financing and appraisal condition start to matter.
One of the more affordable metros in the state, and the part of North Carolina where the NCHFA assistance still covers a meaningful share of the down payment.
Mountain market with a strong second home and short term rental component, so occupancy and insurance questions come early.
Coastal, which means wind and flood coverage shape the payment as much as the rate does.
Buying somewhere else in North Carolina? The loan limit is identical in all 100 counties, so the conversation moves straight to assistance eligibility, the county tax rate, and insurance.
Call or textHelp That Is Forgivable, Eventually
The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency runs the state assistance, and its terms are unusually generous on income and unusually long on forgiveness.
Nothing is forgiven before year eleven. Both NCHFA products forgive at 20% a year across years 11 through 15. Sell or refinance in year ten and the full balance is still owed. That is not a reason to avoid them, it is a reason to know your timeline before you take one.
The larger of the two. A flat $15,000 rather than a percentage, which is why it goes furthest in the more affordable metros.
The agency’s main program. Assistance is calculated as a percentage of the loan amount, so it scales with the purchase rather than being capped at a flat figure.
The NCHFA income limit is high enough that a lot of buyers who assume they earn too much for state assistance actually qualify. It is worth checking rather than assuming.
Forgivable is not the same as free
If you expect to move or refinance inside a decade, treat NCHFA assistance as a loan you will repay rather than money you keep. If you expect to stay past year fifteen, it is genuinely free money and you should take it. The deciding factor is your timeline, not your income, and it is worth being honest with yourself about it before closing rather than after.
Talk through the timingProgram terms from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, verified September 2026. NCHFA sales price limits follow the underlying loan type rather than a single agency figure, so none is quoted here. Confirm current terms with the agency or with us before you rely on them.
Every Mortgage Option, One Team
The 2026 conforming limit is $832,750 in every North Carolina county. Which program fits comes down to your down payment, your credit and the condition of the property.
The default for most North Carolina purchases, and the loan type NCHFA assistance most often sits behind.
North Carolina has one of the largest veteran populations in the country and a heavy active duty presence. With full entitlement there is no loan limit.
Useful where the housing stock is older or the credit file is still being rebuilt. FHA sets its own county limits on a separate table from the conforming one.
Common in Durham and the older Greensboro and Winston-Salem neighborhoods, where the price is in the location and the work is in the house.
Above the conforming limit the underwriting standards change, and in Charlotte and the Triangle that threshold comes up more often than the state average suggests.
Worth a look after a reappraisal year, when a higher assessed value can change what a cash out refinance will support.
Send us the county, the price and your down payment and we will tell you which programs are open to you before you write an offer.
Get pre-approvedThe Excise Tax the Seller Pays
North Carolina charges one of the lowest transfer taxes in the country, and the statute puts it on the seller rather than the buyer. That is the opposite of what our DC and Maryland clients expect.
| Purchase price | State excise tax at $1.00 per $500 | Who the statute bills | What the same price costs a DC buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | $600 | The seller | $3,300 to $6,600 combined |
| $450,000 | $900 | The seller | $9,900 to $13,050 combined |
| $600,000 | $1,200 | The seller | $13,200 to $17,400 combined |
| $832,750 | $1,666 | The seller | $18,321 to $24,150 combined |
North Carolina rate from General Statute 105-228.30, which sets the excise tax at one dollar on each five hundred dollars or fractional part and states that the transferor pays it. The DC column is the combined buyer recordation and seller transfer tax at the rates on our Washington DC page and is shown for scale only. Who actually pays any of these is ultimately set by your contract.
Serving Those Who Serve
North Carolina carries one of the largest military and veteran populations in the country, from the coastal bases to the Triangle and Charlotte veteran communities.
VA loan entitlement rules from VA.gov. Funding fee exemptions depend on service history and disability status. Installation locations are given for orientation only and are not endorsements.
North Carolina Mortgage Questions, Answered
What buyers relocating to North Carolina ask us most.
Send us the county and the price point and we will give you the real numbers rather than a range.
Call (571) 621-5413Selling Your North Carolina Home Too?
Buying in North Carolina usually means selling something first. The Jamil Brothers Realty Team offers full service listings from 1.5%. The listing side is handled by the realty team and the financing by the Ken Byrne Team at ALCOVA Mortgage, and that is what makes a simultaneous sale and purchase easier to time.
Listings from 1.5%
Listing services are provided by the Jamil Brothers Realty Team. Mortgage financing is provided by the Ken Byrne Team at ALCOVA Mortgage. The two are separate businesses working the same transaction.