Chapel Hill, NC · Orange County, Durham County
Senior Transition Advisor for the family home in Chapel Hill, NC
By Ryan Riggins, Senior Transition Advisor for the family home, NC broker #361546, eXp Realty
Updated
When a parent in Chapel Hill moves to assisted living, decide the house before anyone lists it: confirm who can sign, run the funding math against the community's fee sheet, and choose sell, rent or keep. Chapel Hill is in Orange County and Durham County, and most families will deal with Orange County's offices, where tax staff will help fill out the relief paperwork.
I'm Ryan Riggins, a licensed North Carolina broker with eXp Realty, based in Greensboro. I work with Chapel Hill families on the house decision by phone and video, and I never take the listing.
What I do, in one sentence.
A Senior Transition Advisor for the family home helps a family decide what happens to a parent's house before anyone lists it: the funding math against the community's fee sheet, who can legally sign, and sell, rent or keep. If selling, one vetted local agent. Not a mover, not a placement agent, never the listing agent.
More on what a Senior Transition Advisor for the family home is, and isn’t.
Orange County, with part of town in Durham.
Chapel Hill is an Orange County town that also reaches into Durham County. The county on the tax bill is the one whose tax office, register of deeds and DSS you'll use.
On the Orange side, the county Department on Aging runs the Seymour Center in Chapel Hill, and it's a good first call for almost anything.
What’s specific to a Chapel Hill house.
Homestead Exclusion or Circuit Breaker, not both.
In Orange County you can't combine the Circuit Breaker with the Homestead Exclusion. The Circuit Breaker is a deferral: the unpaid difference for the current and three prior years becomes a lien at 6% interest, due when the home is sold. If a sale is likely, know which one your parent has. Orange County Tax Administration, 919-245-2100 option 2, will help with the paperwork.
If staying home is still possible, price that too.
Keeping the house sometimes means keeping your parent in it. Orange County's Handy Helpers volunteers build ramps and install grab bars at no labor cost, and Piedmont Health SeniorCare is the PACE program serving Orange County. Put those next to the community's fee sheet before you decide.
Record the power of attorney in the right county.
North Carolina requires a power of attorney to be registered with the register of deeds before a deed signed under it is recorded, in the county where your parent lives or where the house is. For most Chapel Hill houses that's the Orange County Register of Deeds.
None of this is legal or tax advice. Signing authority, deeds and Medicaid belong with an elder law attorney, and the tax side of a sale belongs with a CPA. I tell you when you need one and what to ask.
Local help worth a call.
From my Orange County Senior Help Directory. Confirm details before you rely on them.
- Orange County Department on Aging, 919-968-2087
Information Helpline. Runs the Seymour Center in Chapel Hill and the Handy Helpers program. - Orange County DSS, 919-245-2800
Medicaid, energy assistance and food benefits. - Orange County Tax Administration, 919-245-2100 option 2
Homestead Exclusion, Circuit Breaker and Disabled Veteran Exclusion. Deadline June 1. - Piedmont Health SeniorCare (PACE), 919-545-7337
Full care coordination for people who could stay home instead of a nursing home. - EZ Rider, 919-969-5544
Door-to-door paratransit inside Chapel Hill and Carrboro. - Legal Aid of NC, Senior Law Project
Legal Aid of North Carolina's Senior Law Project: free civil legal help for anyone 60 or older, including powers of attorney and Medicaid. Senior Legal Helpline 1-877-579-7562, weekdays 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.
The full lists: Orange County Senior Help Directory, Durham County Senior Help Directory.
How working with me goes.
- 1. A free 20-minute call. Phone or video. Bring the community’s fee sheet if you have it, and the power of attorney if there is one. You’ll leave knowing what to do first.
- 2. The funding math. The fee sheet next to what your parent actually has: income, savings, and what the house would really net. How many months does the money last, with the house and without it?
- 3. A written plan, if you want one. The Senior Transition Roadmap is free, by application: an intake form, a call with me, a written plan we build together, a follow-up call and 90 days of email support.
- 4. Sell, rent or keep, on purpose. I lay the three side by side. Here’s how sell, rent and keep compare.
- 5. If selling, one vetted local agent. I refer one agent I’ve vetted for this kind of sale and tell you why that one. I never take the listing.
What it costs: nothing to your family. If you sell, the agent I refer pays me a referral fee at closing out of the commission, through eXp Realty. If you rent, keep or wait, I’m not paid at all.
If your mom or dad is moving right now, start with what to do with the house when Mom moves to assisted living.
Common questions
Questions from Chapel Hill families.
What county is Chapel Hill in?
Orange County, and part of the town is in Durham County. The property tax bill tells you which one your parent's house is in.
Should we keep Mom's Chapel Hill house or sell it when she moves to assisted living?
Run the funding math first: the community's fee sheet against her income, savings and what the house would net. Then compare selling, renting and keeping, including what it costs to hold an empty house. An elder law attorney and a CPA should see the plan before anything is signed.
Can my parent have both the Homestead Exclusion and the Circuit Breaker in Orange County?
No. You can't combine them. The Circuit Breaker is a deferral that becomes a lien due when the home is sold, so know which one your parent has before you plan a sale. Orange County Tax Administration is at 919-245-2100 option 2.
Will you sell my parent's Chapel Hill house?
No. I never take the listing and never buy the house. If your family sells, I refer one vetted local agent, who pays me a referral fee at closing. Your family pays me nothing.
Other cities: Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, Raleigh, Durham, Cary. Or see every city I serve.
Talk to me before anyone lists the Chapel Hill house.
A free 20-minute call. It costs your family nothing.
Ryan Riggins, NC Real Estate Broker #361546, eXp Realty. Not legal, tax or financial advice.