Due diligence timelines for NC commercial buyers

North Carolina commercial contracts often give the buyer “thirty days of diligence.” That is enough for a clean warehouse and not enough for a building with tenants, a tank, or a rezoning in progress. Here is the calendar we actually use.

Days 1–3

Open title. Order survey. Send the document request: leases, estoppels, environmental, CO, tax bills, and the last two years of CAM reconciliations.

Days 4–14

Walk the property with the surveyor. Read the leases. Flag the ones that expire during the loan or have options that will surprise the lender. Start Phase I if anyone has ever mentioned a tank.

Days 15–21

Estoppels go out. Environmental, if ordered, comes back. Title exceptions get a cure plan. This is when you decide whether to ask for more time.

Days 22–30

Lender term sheet, if you are financing. Entity documents. The one amendment you actually need — not a rewrite of the PSA.

If the building has more than five tenants, a known environmental issue, or a land-use condition, we ask for 45 days on the first draft of the letter of intent. It is cheaper than a rushed Phase II.