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Real Estate Law

Real estate lawyers with experience in Morehead City

The attorneys at North Carolina’s Kirkman Whitford Law Firm apply their extensive knowledge about property rights, real estate issues, finance and business to all areas of real estate law. With more than three decades of experience in real estate law, we can help you with:

  • Residential home sales transactions
  • Commercial property sales transactions
  • Homeowners associations
  • Condominium law
  • Landlord–tenant disputes
  • Evictions
  • Foreclosures
  • Real estate contracts
  • Eminent domain
  • Zoning, land-use and building permits
  • Boundary and easement disputes
  • Title disputes

Real estate transaction attorneys

From offer to sale, we handle all aspects of buying and selling real estate and construction, so you can feel confident about a smooth and precise transaction. Our attorneys can:

  • Draft or review your sales contract
  • Negotiate real estate agreements
  • Review your lending documents
  • Search and clear a title
  • Analyze your deal and rectify potential problems
  • Handle land use, zoning and permitting
  • Conduct your real estate closing

Real estate litigation attorneys

Real estate litigation requires substantial knowledge about property laws and civil litigation, as well as a dynamic courtroom presence. At the Kirkman Whitford Law Firm, our attorneys possess the specific knowledge that is necessary to successfully litigate your real estate disputes.

Real estate negotiators

Some disputes are better solved outside of the courtroom. Our effective mediators guide negotiations to protect your interests. By retaining an experienced mediator to strategize during the contract negotiation process, you can often prevent disputes from arising at a later stage in the real estate transaction. This can save time, costs and frustrations.

GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE SOCIAL DISTANCING
AT A REAL ESTATE CLOSING

For the benefit of our clients, Kirkman, Whitford, Brady, Berryman & Gordon, PA will continue to operate and conduct closings. In order to best protect our staff, clients, agents, and any third parties who are involved in our office’s real estate transactions, as well as promote social distancing, we have established new office polices. We are carefully monitoring the local Register of Deeds offices, which are currently all open and operating. As the impact of the coronavirus develops within our community, we will update our office policies and operation, as may be needed.

HEALTH AND SANITATION PRECAUTIONS

On Your Part:

  • IF YOU ARE SICK OR EXHIBITING SYMPTOMS. In order to best protect our staff, we ask that any individual who is exhibiting any signs or symptoms of sickness reschedule your closing appointment.
  • IF YOU HAVE HAD CONTACT WITH SOMEONE EXHIBITING SYMPTOMS. Unfortunately, the best advice from the CDC is to proceed in the same manner as if you were sick.
  • WASH YOUR HANDS. Prior to engaging in any closing activity please thoroughly wash and/or sanitize your hands. These activities include:
    • Handling documents
    • Signing documents
    • Final walk-throughs
    • Entering buildings (doorknobs, elevator buttons)
  • AVOID PHYSICAL CONTACT WHERE POSSIBLE. Please accept our apologies for not shaking hands and please do not be offended when we decline.
  • AVOID LINGERING IN THE CONFERENCE ROOMS. Prior to entering the office, please call ahead to facilitate entering the office hands-free and being immediately directed to a conference room. We apologize for any prolonged wait in your car.

On Our Part:

  • WE PLEDGE TO FOLLOW THE SAME PROTOCOLS LISTED ABOVE.
  • ADDITIONAL STEPS WE WILL TAKE:
    • Spray and/or wipe conference room tables and chairs between closings
    • Spray and/or wipe pens before signing
    • Maintain a distance of at least six feet from other individuals where possible

PARTIES AT CLOSING

  • BUYERS/BORROWERS. Please follow the directions above and bring only the necessary signers to the table. Buyers and Sellers should take particular care to avoid bringing their children to closing.
  • We will be limiting in-office appointments for sellers. Sellers are encouraged to sign their seller documents outside of our office and to overnight or hand-deliver the original, notarized documents for closing. This will help to reduce overall traffic and contact.
  • REAL ESTATE AGENTS & LENDERS. Please consider phone conferencing or facetime/skype attendance, instead of being physically present. Lenders, additional family members, and other third parties will not be allowed to attend closings or appointments.

CLOSINGS AND PHYSICAL LOCATIONS

  • OFFICE HOURS. Our office will continue to be open for closings and our hours will remain 9:00 to 5:00; however, we are implementing an Appointment Only policy. If you do not have a scheduled appointment, please call or email our office as we will not be able to greet walk-ins. In the event that the Coronavirus continues to spread in our area, we will be limiting our office hours and working from home as much as possible.
  • The buyer(s) and/or seller(s) are the only people who should be physically present in our office for closings or appointments, see above for more details.
  • LENGTH OF CLOSINGS. Our office prides itself on our attorneys’ friendliness and desire to educate buyers about the closing process and to explain all closing documents. At this time and in order to shorten the amount of time of closing (and thus lessen exposure), our attorneys will quickly review all documents at closing and will attempt to have buyers in and out of the office within 20 minutes. If you would prefer to read your loan package in advance, please contact your paralegal who can email you the package prior to closing.
  • “Physical” or “in-person” recording requires an appointment at the Carteret County Register of Deeds, we will visit the Register of Deeds ONLY ONCE A DAY as needed to limit additional exposure. Please understand that this may delay the recordation and distribution following the closing ceremony.
  • If it is unavoidable that your closing be rescheduled, please communicate with our office and the other parties. Additionally, if your transaction involves a loan, please consult with your bank regarding the expiration of your interest rate lock.

FINANCIAL

  • CASH CLOSINGS. All cash closings (e.g. not involving a loan) will now be handled remotely, without a physical in-office closing.
  • NO PHYSICAL CASH. Physical cash is handled by multiple people every day and can be an opportunity to circulate many germs, not just COVID-19. Please do not present physical cash at the closing, but defer to bank checks and wires, where possible.
    • Increased use of wires requires additional security around that process.
    • If sending a wire, please call to confirm the wiring instructions with our office prior to sending.
    • Do not EVER rely on email for the wiring instructions or our contact information.
  • EARNEST MONEY DEPOSITS. If possible, please mail or wire earnest money deposits. If drop off is needed, please call the office and someone will come out to your car to get it. Acknowledgments will be emailed as soon as possible.
  • POST-CLOSING CHECKS. Real Estate broker commission checks will be mailed or overnighted and may not be picked up from our office. Sellers who have not previously provided our firm with original, notarized wiring instructions will have their proceeds checks mailed or overnighted. Checks will no longer be available for pick up after closing.

Thank you for your understanding while we work diligently to ensure that your real estate transactions are not delayed and to do our part in preventing the spread of this problematic virus.

Contact experienced real estate attorneys

To schedule an appointment with a real estate attorney in our Morehead City office, call us at 252-726-8411, or contact us online.

Kirkman Whitford Law Firm Client Information Privacy Policy

Federal law and/or the Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys published by the North Carolina State Bar generally prohibit attorneys from sharing nonpublic personal information about clients with non-affiliated third parties.  Pursuant to this law and these rules, WE DO NOT DISCLOSE ANY NONPUBLIC PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU WITH ANYONE FOR ANY PURPOSE THAT IS NOT DIRECTLY CONNECTED WITH YOUR CLOSING AND NECESSARY OR REASONABLY CONVENIENT TO COMPLETE YOUR CLOSING.  We may collect nonpublic personal information about you in connection with providing legal services to you from your mortgage company, banker, accountant, real estate broker, credit reporting agency, insurance agent, creditors and other companies, agencies, or individuals that have information about you necessary for us to consider or process when closing your transaction.  We may disclose any of the above information that we collect about you to the attorneys and staff members in our law firm who are involved in representing you.  We may disclose nonpublic personal information about you to your mortgage company, banker, accountant, real estate broker, creditors, and other companies, agencies, and individuals only as necessary or reasonably convenient to pursue the closing of your transaction.  We do not disclose any information about you to anyone unless it is necessary or reasonably convenient to pursue the closing of your transaction.  We do not sell any information about you.  In addition to the above, there occasions when the law requires us to disclose confidential information about you, but these occasions are rare and generally involve a court proceeding and a subpoena.  We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that promote compliance with federal regulations to guard your nonpublic personal information.