Feasibility Study Consultant in North Carolina

A North Carolina feasibility study is built county by county, because the county decides four of the numbers a lender tests first: the combined sales tax a customer pays, which runs from 6.75 to 8.25 percent [1], any room occupancy or prepared food tax the General Assembly has allowed it to levy [2], the year its real property is next revalued [3], and a development tier, reset every year, that opens or closes several state incentives [4]. The state counted 11,197,968 residents on July 1, 2025, 7.2 percent more than at the April 2020 estimates base [5], and Wake County, at 1,257,235 residents, now holds 23,852 more people than Mecklenburg [6]. Visitors spent $37.2B across all 100 counties in 2025 [7], and Visit North Carolina, the Department of Revenue and the Department of Commerce all publish their series by county, which is where a North Carolina study finds its evidence. This page covers what lenders reviewing a North Carolina project look for, the resident and visitor demand base, the places above fifty thousand residents and the USDA rural test, every metro area above a quarter million residents with a county in the state, the state rules that move each asset family's numbers, three illustrative debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) models built on North Carolina rates and rules, and the documents a North Carolina file should hold.

What do lenders reviewing a North Carolina project expect from a feasibility study?

They expect every tax rate, assessed value and incentive in the projection to be traced to the county that sets it and dated to the year it applies, and they expect DSCR to be computed only after those county lines are in place. The general standard is covered in lender feasibility study requirements, and what makes a feasibility study bankable explains how a report survives credit review. Beneath the state questions sit two federal rules: a Business and Industry guarantee above $1,000,000 to a new business requires an independent qualified consultant's study [8], and since October 1, 2026, SOP 50 10 8.1 lets SBA request one [9].

On top of those, a reviewer reading a North Carolina file asks five county questions.

• Which county's sales tax, from which date. The Department of Revenue builds each county's combined rate from the 4.75% state rate plus local and transit rates [1]. Fifty counties sit at 6.75%, 46 at 7%, Wake alone at 7.25%, Durham and Orange at 7.5%, and Mecklenburg at 8.25% since an additional county levy took effect on July 1, 2026 [1]. A Charlotte projection still built on the old Mecklenburg rate of 7.25% understates the price a customer pays by a full percentage point [10].
• Which local taxes sit on rooms and meals. Counties named in G.S. 153A-155 and cities named in G.S. 160A-215 may levy a room occupancy tax, other local governments hold prepared food and beverage taxes under their own acts, and both are paid to the local government rather than to the Department of Revenue [2]. The Department's county rate table leaves prepared meal taxes out entirely [1], so the full tax on a hotel folio or a restaurant check comes from the county or city.
• Where the county stands in its revaluation cycle. G.S. 105-286 makes every county reappraise real property at least every eight years, a growing segment of counties works on a four-year cycle, and at least 11 of the 100 counties are in a countywide reappraisal in any given year [3]. Between reappraisals G.S. 105-287 limits when an assessor may change a value [3], so the year a revaluation lands can move a tax line more than any rate decision; Forsyth County's latest one raised the county's total assessed valuation by 39.9% [11].
• Which tier the county holds this year. Commerce ranks every county annually into 40 Tier 1, 40 Tier 2 and 20 Tier 3 counties [4], and its 2026 memo moved Buncombe from Tier Three to Tier Two and Madison and Burke from Tier Two to Tier One [12]. Any incentive tied to a Tier 1 or Tier 2 location has to be tested against the right year's designation: the eligible internet data center exemption requires one, and the historic credit bonus requires one unless the development is on an eligible targeted investment site [13].
• Which local approvals come before revenue. An ABC retail permit is issued only where an ABC election approved alcohol sales, and the city or county governing body gets 15 days to object to a specific permit [14]; an adult care home's beds must match the certificate of need issued for it [15]. A projection that books revenue ahead of either step is a projection a lender will send back.

Every one of the five has a county answer. A North Carolina study therefore opens with a county sheet for the site, listing the combined rate, the local room and meal taxes, the revaluation year, the tier and the approvals in hand, and builds the cash flow from that sheet. FSC's DSCR and debt yield calculator reruns coverage when one of those county inputs changes, and the SBA DSCR calculator compares SOP 50 10 8 with SOP 50 10 8.1 for an SBA file. When the loan program is still open, the lender fit finder narrows it, and the SBA, USDA and conventional program pages show what each lender type reads first.

How large is North Carolina's demand base, and what does each figure mean for a study?

The resident base is 11,197,968 people in 4,539,531 households [5][16], and it grew by 145,907 in the year to July 2025 [5], but a study treats those statewide totals as background, because the State Demographer expects urban and regional center or suburban counties, home to about two-thirds of residents, to absorb nearly 80% of growth through 2030 [17]. Table 1 gives the resident measures and the job each one does in a North Carolina study.

Table 1. Statewide resident measures for North Carolina

Source: Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 state totals [5] and single year of age file [18]; American Community Survey 2025 1-year tables B25003, B19013 and B25064 [16][19][20]; Building Permits Survey, 2025 [21].

The yearly gain fell 19.0% from 2024 to 2025 [5], and Table 2 shows where the drop came from.

Table 2. North Carolina population change by year

Source: Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 state totals [5].

Domestic migration has held between 83,059 and 103,627 a year since 2021, while international migration rose from 9,926 to 82,899 and then fell to 46,890 [5]. For a study, that split matters more than the total. Absorption that leans on 2024's gain of 180,212 assumes the international inflow of that year repeats, and the 2025 figure says it did not [5]; a projection is safer anchored to the domestic series, which supplied 57.6% of the 2025 gain [5]. The state's own outlook, in Table 3, points the same way: growth continues but concentrates.

Table 3. Statewide outlook and visitor measures from North Carolina agencies

Source: North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, Demographic Outlook [17]; Visit North Carolina county expenditures, fast facts and sector series [7][22][23].

Three readings follow for a North Carolina study. The aging projection is the firmest demand signal in the state outlook: 2.4 million residents aged 65 and older by 2030 [17], against an 18.9% share today [18]. The college age population grows by only 21,000 to 2030 and then declines [17], so a student housing study that runs past 2030 needs a campus-level enrollment case rather than a demographic one. And lodging spending rose 50.9% from 2019 but only 0.9% in 2025 [23]; lodging is 22.8% of all visitor spending statewide [23][7], and a hotel study that extends the post-2019 climb is extrapolating a run that has already flattened.

The supply side starts from Census establishment counts, shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Establishments in North Carolina for selected asset types

Source: Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 [24].

Each count is statewide and three years old by the time a 2026 study reads it [24], so none of them sizes a market. Their use is as a check on the study's own field census: a trade area survey that finds a share of the state's 645 self-storage operators or 1,928 hotels out of line with the trade area's share of residents is a prompt to look again [24].

Which North Carolina places pass 50,000 residents, and how does the USDA rural test read them?

Twenty-three places do in the July 2025 estimates, and two of them, Wake Forest and Holly Springs, were under that line at the April 2020 base [25]. Table 5 lists them with their change since 2020.

Table 5. North Carolina places over 50,000 residents

Source: Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates; FSC computed the change [25].

The fastest growth on the list belongs to towns, not to the large cities: Apex rose 24.9%, Holly Springs 21.9% and Wake Forest 21.1% [25]. At the other end, Asheville is the only place on the list that lost residents, down 1.3%, while Jacksonville and Fayetteville were nearly flat at +0.1% and +0.3% [25]. For a resident-serving study, a town growing three times as fast as the state is a different trade area from a city that held flat, and the study reads the town's own series rather than a metro average.

Under 7 CFR 5001.3, a rural area lies beyond any city or town of more than 50,000 inhabitants and beyond the urbanized area contiguous and adjacent to such a place; population is read from the latest decennial census, and an application cannot be approved subject to meeting the rural test later [26]. Table 5 holds estimates, not census counts, so a site near a town that crossed the line after 2020 goes to the Property Eligibility Map or a Rural Development State Office determination [26]. This page makes no eligibility finding for any site.

What does each North Carolina metro area mean for a study?

Each of the ten metro areas above a quarter million residents with a county in North Carolina is a different mix of counties, so a study reads its demand from county series rather than from the metro label: Census for residents, Visit North Carolina for visitor spending, the Department of Revenue for taxable sales and the county's combined rate, and Commerce for the tier. Table 6 sets the ten metros side by side.

Table 6. Metro areas over a quarter million residents with a North Carolina county

Source: Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 metro estimates [27]; American Community Survey 2025 1-year tables B19013, B25003 and B25064 [19][16][20]. Change and renter share computed by the Census data layer [27][16].

Wilmington grew fastest since 2020, at 16.6%, and Raleigh-Cary carries the highest income and rent, at $101,695 and $1,713 [27][19][20]. Besides the Virginia Beach area, two metros lost domestic migrants in the latest year, Asheville and Fayetteville [27], and Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton has the lowest income, renter share and rent of the ten [19][16][20]. The county tables that follow carry the rest of the evidence.

Table 7. Combined sales and use tax rates in North Carolina counties, from July 1, 2026

Source: Department of Revenue, current county rates table, effective July 1, 2026, which marks rates that include the 0.50% transit rate; FSC counted the 100 county rows [1]. Metro membership from the Census metro file [27].

The spread inside one metro can be as wide as the spread across the state. Mecklenburg's 8.25% sits beside Union at 6.75% and Cabarrus and Gaston at 7% [1], so a retail or restaurant site in Mecklenburg carries 1.50 points more tax on the same sale than one in Union, another county of the same metro [1]. Only four county rates in the table carry the transit marker, those of Mecklenburg, Wake, Durham and Orange, and they are also the four highest rates in the state [1].

Table 8. Visitor spending in selected North Carolina counties, 2025

Source: Visit North Carolina, 2025 County Level Visitor Expenditures; lodging includes second-home spending [7].

Table 9. Taxable sales in metro core counties, fiscal year 2025-2026

Source: Department of Revenue, State Sales and Use Tax Statistics for fiscal year 2025-2026, county summary [28], and current county rates [1]; per resident figures divide by the July 1, 2025 county estimates [6][27], an FSC computation.

The Department's statistics measure the state sales and use tax base for a July to June year, not the county's own collections [28], and fiscal 2025-2026 ended before Mecklenburg's added levy began [10]. Per resident, the figures separate regional retail centers from the rest: New Hanover and Durham run at $32,490 and $32,163 a resident while Cumberland is at $18,902 [28][27]. A retail or restaurant study uses the county's figure to test whether a trade area already draws spending from beyond its own residents, which is what a high per resident number shows.

Table 10. 2026 development tiers for metro counties named on this page

Source: Department of Commerce, County Distress Rankings (Tiers) and the 2026 tier designations memo published November 26, 2025 [4][12]; metro membership from the Census metro file [27].

The tier memo describes the 40, 40 and 20 split as a requirement of G.S. 143B-437.08, assuming no ties [12], so a county moves only when its ranking crosses another county's. The four fastest-growing metros since 2020 are Wilmington, Raleigh-Cary, Charlotte and Durham-Chapel Hill [27], and their named counties, New Hanover, Wake, Mecklenburg and Durham, are all Tier 3 in 2026 [4], which means the incentives reserved for Tier 1 and Tier 2 locations are a factor for projects in the slower metros, not the fastest ones.

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC: Mecklenburg and seven other North Carolina counties

The Charlotte metro had 2,938,830 residents on July 1, 2025, up 10.5% since the 2020 base, and 84.5% of them lived in its eight North Carolina counties [27]; the other three counties are in South Carolina and fall outside this page. Table 11 lists the North Carolina side.

Table 11. North Carolina counties in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metro

Source: Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 metro file [27]; Department of Revenue county rates [1].

The metro added 54,122 residents in the year to July 2025, with 24,404 from domestic and 18,239 from international migration [27], the largest gain of the ten metros. Its median household income is $89,067, 34.6% of households rent and median gross rent is $1,641 [19][16][20]. Mecklenburg holds 49.6% of the metro's North Carolina residents [27], and its county numbers dominate the local record. Mecklenburg grew 10.6% from the 2020 base to 1,233,383 [6], and Charlotte city reached 964,784, up 10.3% [25].

Mecklenburg is the county where the July 1, 2026 rate change matters most. The Department of Revenue's notice of March 2, 2026 set out the new 8.25% as 4.75% state, 2.00% county, 0.50% transit and the additional 1.00% county levy, and said electricity, piped natural gas and qualifying food items carry their own rates and are not part of the increase [10]. Mecklenburg's state taxable sales were $37,134,594,295 in fiscal 2025-2026, up 3.1% from $36,027,444,827 the year before [28][29], and none of that year includes the new levy [10]. Visitors spent $6,467.67 million in Mecklenburg in 2025, 17.4% of the state total and up 1.5%, including $1,535.92 million on lodging [7]; next door, Cabarrus drew $682.81 million, with $167.84 million on lodging [7]. The State Ports Authority runs an inland port in Charlotte alongside its two deep-water ports [30], and UNC Charlotte enrolls 28,098 students [31]. Mecklenburg is Tier 3 for 2026 [4].

What this means for asset types active in the Charlotte metro:

• Retail, restaurants and car washes. A site study names the county first, because a sale in Mecklenburg carries 1.50 points more sales tax than the same sale in Union [1]. Price comparisons with suburban competitors are made after tax, and a projection built on fiscal 2025-2026 taxable sales describes a market before the levy [28][10].
• Hotels. Lodging was 23.7% of Mecklenburg's visitor spending [7], and Mecklenburg's share of state visitor spending is larger than Wake's and Buncombe's combined [7]. The county occupancy rate is not among this page's sources, so a Charlotte hotel study takes it from the county.
• Apartments and student housing. Rent of $1,641 and a 34.6% renter share sit above the state's $1,412 and 33.0% [20][16], and UNC Charlotte's 28,098 students are the metro's UNC System base [31].
• Industrial and data centers. The inland port supports distribution demand [30], but Mecklenburg's Tier 3 status means the eligible internet data center exemption's tier condition is not met there in 2026 [4][13].

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC: Currituck, Camden and Gates counties

North Carolina holds only 3.0% of this metro's 1,797,213 residents, in Currituck, Camden and Gates counties with 33,158, 11,315 and 10,234 residents [27]. The metro as a whole grew 1.0% since 2020 and lost 2,241 residents to domestic migration in the latest year [27], but those figures describe Hampton Roads, not the North Carolina side. For a study on the North Carolina side, the county figures carry the case.

Currituck is a visitor county. Visitors spent $577.62 million there in 2025, down 0.7%, and $273.23 million of it was lodging, a column that includes second-home spending [7]. That is 47.3% of all visitor spending, double the share in Mecklenburg or Wake, and $17,420 for every resident [7][27]. Currituck's taxable sales were $945,736,036 in fiscal 2025-2026 [28], and its combined rate is 6.75% [1]. SBA's Wilmington office serves Currituck [32].

What this means for asset types active on the North Carolina side:

• Vacation rentals and cottages. The Department of Revenue counts a residence or cottage rented for occupancy as an accommodation, and cleaning, pet and reservation fees as part of the taxable gross receipts [33]. A rental pool study shows nightly rates and fees net of sales tax and any local occupancy tax.
• Marinas and docks. A pier or docking facility in estuarine or public trust waters can use the state's general permit, with its fee, length and shading limits [34][35][36].
• Retail and food. With visitor spending of $17,420 per resident [7][27], a store or restaurant study models the season from visitor flows rather than from Currituck's 33,158 residents [27].

Raleigh-Cary: Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties

Raleigh-Cary had 1,595,720 residents on July 1, 2025, up 12.9% since 2020, with 36,793 added in the latest year, 19,974 of them from domestic migration [27]. Wake County holds 1,257,235 of them, Johnston 256,448 and Franklin 82,037 [27], and Wake grew 11.3% since the 2020 base [6]. The metro has the highest median household income of the ten, $101,695, and the highest median gross rent, $1,713, with 35.2% of households renting [19][20][16]. Raleigh city reached 506,306 and Cary 183,582 [25].

The local record is the richest of any metro. The Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority counted about 15.7 million passengers in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, up 1.2%, against 15.5 million the year before [37]. The City of Raleigh's financial report says the visitors bureau's main revenue is a county-wide 6.00% occupancy tax [38], and that Wake County occupancy and prepared food and beverage taxes are funding a $387.5 million convention center expansion, expected to open in 2028 with about 80,000 square feet of event space and 20 meeting rooms, and a convention hotel of about 600 rooms [38]. Wake's taxable sales were $32,712,598,502 in fiscal 2025-2026 [28], and visitors spent $3,626.86 million there in 2025, up 2.4%, with $903.17 million on lodging [7]. Johnston County's visitor spending, $337.30 million, rose 7.2%, the fastest gain in Table 8 [7]. NC State University enrolls 31,159 [31].

Raleigh's report also shows what a revaluation does to a tax base. Total taxable assessed value was $119,269,294 thousand in fiscal 2025, a revaluation year, against $82,381,155 thousand a year earlier, a 44.8% rise, with real property at $107,881,470 thousand [38]. The city rate stood at 35.50 cents per $100, unchanged in the budget the report describes [38]. Wake's combined sales tax is 7.25% including transit, and the county is Tier 3 [1][4].

What this means for asset types active in Raleigh-Cary:

• Hotels. The expansion is expected to add meeting demand from 2028, and the convention hotel adds about 600 rooms of supply when it is developed [38]; a Raleigh hotel study dates each one and shows a room's revenue net of the 7.25% sales tax and the 6.00% occupancy tax [1][38].
• Apartments. The metro's median rent is the highest of the ten [20], and a property tax line built before the latest revaluation is out of date by the scale of the 44.8% jump [38].
• Retail and restaurants. Wake's per resident taxable sales of $26,019 sit below Durham's and Mecklenburg's [28][6], so a Wake retail study cannot assume the inflow of outside spending that the Durham and Mecklenburg figures suggest.
• Student housing. NC State's 31,159 enrollment [31] is the demand base, read against the college age outlook that turns down after 2030 [17].

Greensboro-High Point: Guilford, Randolph and Rockingham counties

The Greensboro-High Point metro had 805,945 residents on July 1, 2025, up 3.8% since 2020, with 6,400 added in the latest year [27]. Guilford holds 562,234, Randolph 149,516 and Rockingham 94,195 [27], and Guilford grew 3.9% from the 2020 base [6]. Median household income is $71,087, 35.4% of households rent, and median gross rent is $1,223 [19][16][20]. Greensboro city has 308,667 residents and High Point 120,571 [25].

Guilford County's financial report holds three items a study needs. Assessed value rose $2.7 billion, or 3.8%, to $73.4 billion in fiscal 2025 while the county rate stayed at $.7305 per hundred [39]. The next reappraisal takes place in 2026 for fiscal 2027, a year earlier than scheduled, because state law required it once values set in the 2022 revaluation came in more than 20 percent below actual market selling prices [39]. And the county levies a three percent occupancy tax, remitting 70 percent of net proceeds to its tourism development authority [39]. Separately, county commissioners placed a 0.25% Article 46 sales tax on the November 3, 2026 ballot; if it passed and a resolution is adopted, collection begins in April 2027 [40]. This page does not state the result. Guilford's taxable sales were $11,673,552,606 in fiscal 2025-2026 [28], visitors spent $1,846.62 million in 2025, up 2.9% [7], UNC Greensboro enrolls 17,059 and NC A&T State University 9,185 [31], and Guilford is Tier 2 [4].

What this means for asset types active in Greensboro-High Point:

• Every income property. A Guilford projection that runs into fiscal 2027 carries a reappraisal in its second year [39]. The county's own explanation, values more than 20 percent below market, says the reset is likely to raise assessed values [39], so the study shows the tax line before and after the reappraisal rather than holding the fiscal 2025 figure flat.
• Retail and restaurants. The combined rate is 6.75% today [1] and would be 7.00% from April 2027 if the referendum passed and the levy is adopted [40][1]; a study confirms the result with the county and dates the rate.
• Hotels. A room in Guilford carries the 6.75% sales tax and the three percent county occupancy tax [1][39], a lighter stack than Wake's, shown in Table 12.
• Student housing. UNC Greensboro and NC A&T together enroll 26,244 [31].
• Industrial and rehabilitation. As a Tier 2 county, Guilford meets the county test for the historic credit bonus in 2026, and the tier test, one of four conditions, for the eligible internet data center exemption [4][13].

Winston-Salem: Forsyth and four other counties

The Winston-Salem metro had 712,206 residents on July 1, 2025, up 5.4% since 2020, with 6,869 added in the latest year and 5,477 from domestic migration [27]. Forsyth holds 401,718, Davidson 180,182, Stokes 46,126, Davie 45,855 and Yadkin 38,325 [27]. Income is $70,675, the renter share 29.7% and median gross rent $1,180 [19][16][20]. Winston-Salem city has 257,271 residents, up 3.1% [25].

Forsyth County's financial report is the clearest North Carolina record of a revaluation's effect. The revaluation behind the fiscal 2026 budget raised assessed value by $18.6 billion, or 39.9% [11]. The county then set a rate of $0.5352 per hundred dollars, $.0448 above the revenue neutral rate of $.4904 [11], against a rate of 0.6778 per $100 in fiscal 2025, when total assessed value was $46,628,874,088 and real property $36,356,840,560 [11]. The ten largest taxpayers held $3,582,079,891 of assessed value, 7.68% of the total [11]. Forsyth's taxable sales were $8,845,912,192 in fiscal 2025-2026 [28], visitors spent $1,082.86 million in 2025, down 0.8% [7], Winston-Salem State University enrolls 4,144 [31], the combined rate is 7% and the county is Tier 2 [1][4].

What this means for asset types active in the Winston-Salem metro:

• Every income property. The rate fell 21.0% while the county's total assessed valuation rose 39.9% [11], so whether a property's county tax rose depends on whether its own value rose faster than the 26.6% break-even implied by the two rates [11]. Illustrative model B works through it.
• Rehabilitation of older buildings. Forsyth's Tier 2 status adds the 5% bonus to the state historic credit in 2026 [4][13]; illustrative model C prices the difference.
• Apartments. Rent of $1,180 and a 29.7% renter share [20][16] mean a new building's rents have to be tested against a lower base than in Raleigh or Charlotte.
• Personal property heavy projects. Real property was 78.0% of Forsyth's fiscal 2025 assessed value [11], and personal property is appraised every year as of January 1 [3], so equipment-heavy projects carry a tax line that moves each year rather than only at revaluation.

Durham-Chapel Hill: Durham, Orange, Chatham and Person counties

The Durham-Chapel Hill metro had 625,485 residents on July 1, 2025, up 6.2% since 2020 [27]. Durham holds 347,240, Orange 152,498, Chatham 85,111 and Person 40,636 [27]. Of the 7,328 residents added in the latest year, only 663 came from domestic migration and 4,791 from international migration [27]. Income is $91,715, and the renter share of 40.5% is the second highest of the ten metros, with rent at $1,632 [19][16][20]. Durham city has 305,561 residents, up 7.6%, and Chapel Hill 63,565 [25].

Durham's taxable sales reached $11,168,109,318 in fiscal 2025-2026, up 4.7% from $10,669,278,628 [28][29], or $32,163 per resident, the second highest in Table 9 [28][27]. Visitors spent $1,170.15 million in Durham in 2025, up 0.9%, and $278.58 million in Orange, down 0.5% [7]. UNC-Chapel Hill enrolls 24,375 and North Carolina Central University 7,023, together 31,398 [31]. Durham and Orange both levy 7.5% including transit [1], and Durham is Tier 3 [4]. Durham city and county records are not among this page's sources, so a Durham study collects local permit and property records itself.

What this means for asset types active in Durham-Chapel Hill:

• Apartments and student housing. A 40.5% renter share and two campuses with 31,398 students [16][31] make rental demand the metro's core, but the near-zero domestic migration of 663 [27] means growth in the latest year rested mostly on international arrivals, a mix a study tests before projecting it forward.
• Retail and restaurants. The 7.5% rate is the second highest in the state [1], and Durham's per resident taxable sales show the county drawing spending from outside it [28][27].
• Hotels. Durham's visitor spending is close to New Hanover's and Brunswick's [7], but lodging is only 20.7% of it, against 24.9% in Wake [7], so a Durham hotel study builds room demand from its own segments rather than from the county's visitor total.
• Rehabilitation. As a Tier 3 county, Durham gets the base historic credit without the bonus unless the development is on an eligible targeted investment site [4][13].

Wilmington: New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties

Wilmington is the fastest-growing metro of the ten: 492,772 residents on July 1, 2025, up 16.6% since 2020 [27]. New Hanover holds 245,959, Brunswick 174,702 and Pender 72,111 [27]. Domestic migration of 12,719 in the latest year exceeded the metro's total gain of 12,398 [27], so people moving in from elsewhere in the country account for all of the growth. The State Demographer projects Brunswick adding another 36,000 residents, or 20.5%, by 2030 [17]. Income is $84,837, rent $1,625, and only 28.0% of households rent [19][20][16]. Wilmington city has 126,809 residents, up 9.8% [25].

The Port of Wilmington moves more than 320,000 TEU a year, with 4 million+ tons of general cargo and 5,000+ container gate moves a week [30]. Visitors spent $1,245.89 million in Brunswick in 2025, up 1.3%, and $1,206.11 million in New Hanover, up 5.8% [7], so Brunswick now draws more visitor spending than New Hanover. New Hanover's taxable sales were $7,991,180,622 in fiscal 2025-2026 [28], the highest per resident in Table 9 [28][27]. UNC Wilmington enrolls 17,087 [31]. New Hanover's combined rate is 7%, and it is Tier 3 [1][4]. SBA has an office in Wilmington, which serves Brunswick and the other coastal and southeastern counties on its list [32].

What this means for asset types active in the Wilmington metro:

• Senior housing and care. Growth carried entirely by domestic movers [27], and Brunswick's projected 20.5% gain [17], make age-specific demand worth testing county by county.
• Industrial and cold storage. Port volumes support distribution and storage demand near the port [30], and inventory carries no property tax in North Carolina [13].
• Hotels and vacation rentals. Both counties drew more than $1.2 billion of visitor spending [7], and lodging, at 24.6% of Brunswick's total and 25.8% of New Hanover's [7], includes second homes.
• Marinas and docks. The general permit for piers and docking facilities in estuarine and public trust waters sets the small-project path [34], and larger marinas need permits outside it.
• Self-storage and apartments. Owner-heavy households, with a 28.0% renter share [16], and rapid in-migration point a study toward storage and for-rent demand from movers rather than from an existing renter base.

Asheville: Buncombe, Henderson and Madison counties

The Asheville metro had 422,345 residents on July 1, 2025, up 3.8% since 2020 but down 634 in the latest year, with domestic migration of -734 [27]. Buncombe holds 277,417, Henderson 122,375 and Madison 22,553 [27]. Income is $77,010, the renter share 29.5% and rent $1,535 [19][16][20]. Asheville city fell 1.3% from the 2020 base to 93,523 [25], the only place above fifty thousand residents in the state to shrink.

The Commerce memo says Hurricane Helene affected the 2026 rankings: Buncombe moved from Tier Three to Tier Two and Madison from Tier Two to Tier One [12]. The City of Asheville adopted a $275.8 million budget for fiscal 2027 on June 9, 2026, citing continued Helene recovery, with a property tax rate of 37.69 cents, 4.80 cents above revenue neutral [41]. Asheville Regional Airport counted 2,240,877 passengers in 2025, up 3.1% from 2,174,125 [42]. Buncombe's taxable sales reached $8,122,075,218 in fiscal 2025-2026, up 6.5% from $7,629,694,658 [28][29], while visitor spending fell 2.1% to $2,590.15 million, 7.0% of the state, with $755.68 million on lodging [7]. Henderson's visitor spending rose 3.6% to $453.34 million [7]. UNC Asheville enrolls 2,393 [31], and Buncombe's combined rate is 7% [1].

What this means for asset types active in the Asheville metro:

• Hotels and short-term rentals. Visitor spending of $9,337 per Buncombe resident is the highest of any county in Table 8 except Currituck [7][27], and lodging is 29.2% of it [7]. A study sets 2025's 2.1% decline beside the airport's 3.1% gain [7][42] and explains which one the projection follows.
• Restaurants and breweries. Visitor food and beverage spending of $712.01 million in Buncombe [7] is the demand pool, and the ABC permit sequence sets the opening date.
• Rehabilitation and data centers. Buncombe's 2026 move to Tier 2 meets the county test for the historic credit bonus, and the tier test, one of four conditions, for the eligible internet data center exemption [12][13]; since tiers are reset every year [4], a study confirms which year's designation governs.
• Every income property. A city rate set above revenue neutral [41] means a projection carries the fiscal 2027 rate, not an older one.

Fayetteville: Cumberland and Hoke counties

The Fayetteville metro had 395,412 residents on July 1, 2025, up 2.2% since 2020, with 2,505 added in the latest year despite a domestic migration loss of 1,381 [27]. Cumberland holds 338,473 and Hoke 56,939 [27]. Its renter share of 40.7% is the highest of the ten metros, rent is $1,391 and income $65,382 [16][20][19]. Fayetteville city grew 0.3% to 209,120 [25].

Cumberland is Tier 1 for 2026 [4]. Visitors spent $682.60 million there in 2025, down 2.2% [7], taxable sales were $6,397,670,036 in fiscal 2025-2026 [28], or $18,902 per resident, the lowest in Table 9 [28][27], and the combined rate is 7% [1]. Fayetteville State University enrolls 6,460 [31]. SBA's Wilmington office serves Cumberland and Hoke [32]. Fayetteville city and Cumberland County records are not among this page's sources, so a study here collects local permit, budget and occupancy tax records directly.

What this means for asset types active in Fayetteville:

• Apartments. A 40.7% renter share with rent below the state median [16][20] supports rental demand, but a domestic migration loss [27] means the projection rests on the existing renter base, not on newcomers.
• Industrial, rehabilitation and data centers. Tier 1 status meets the county test for the historic credit bonus and the tier test, one of four conditions, for the eligible internet data center exemption, and lets local governments seek building reuse grants [4][13][43].
• Retail. Low per resident taxable sales [28][27] show spending leaving the county, which a retail study either captures or treats as a limit.

Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton: Catawba, Burke, Caldwell and Alexander counties

The Hickory metro had 376,890 residents on July 1, 2025, up 3.2% since 2020 [27]. Catawba holds 170,172, Burke 88,655, Caldwell 81,105 and Alexander 36,958 [27]. Net migration of 4,937 in the latest year exceeded the total gain of 3,529 [27], so the metro grows only by attracting people. It has the lowest income, $62,089, the lowest renter share, 27.3%, and the lowest rent, $979, of the ten metros [19][16][20].

Catawba is Tier 2, and Burke moved from Tier Two to Tier One for 2026 [4][12]. Visitors spent $363.42 million in Catawba in 2025, up 3.5% [7], and its taxable sales were $4,056,068,415 in fiscal 2025-2026 [28]. The City of Hickory's budget for the year that began July 1, 2025 totals $159,075,833 [44]. Catawba's combined rate is 7% [1]. County property and permit records are not among this page's sources, so a study here gathers them directly.

What this means for asset types active in the Hickory metro:

• Manufacturing and industrial. Mill machinery, which generally includes manufacturing machinery, is exempt from sales and use tax, and inventories carry no property tax [13]; Burke's Tier 1 and Catawba's Tier 2 status open the tier-limited programs [4][12].
• Manufactured housing. Manufactured and modular homes are taxed only at the 4.75% state rate, with no local or transit rate [45], which lowers the cost of a home sale in a community study.
• Apartments. Rent of $979 [20] sets a low ceiling for new construction, so an apartment study here tests rents against cost before demand.

Which North Carolina rules change the numbers for each asset family?

The rules that move a North Carolina projection are mostly applied locally: a tax levied by a county or city, a permit tied to a local election, a license tied to a certificate for a service area, or a permit tied to a stretch of coastal water. Each family below lists the rules a study builds into its numbers.

Lodging and short-term rentals: one tax base, two collectors

The Department of Revenue taxes the gross receipts from renting an accommodation at the general state rate plus applicable local and transit rates, and adds any local occupancy tax [33]. An accommodation includes a hotel room, motel room, residence, cottage or similar lodging [33], so a vacation house is taxed like a hotel room. Charges and fees by a retailer or accommodation facilitator, including cleaning, pet and reservation fees, are part of gross receipts [33], while banquet room rental with no food, separately stated, is not subject to sales tax [33]. The local occupancy tax applies to the same gross receipts and is calculated the same way, but it is paid to the county or city that levies it [2]. The Department's fact sheet states no rates [2], so Table 12 uses the two county-wide rates in this page's sources.

Table 12. Taxes on a room night in Wake and Guilford counties

Source: Department of Revenue county rates and occupancy tax fact sheet [1][2]; City of Raleigh financial report for the Wake rate [38]; Guilford County financial report for the Guilford rate [39]. The sums add listed county-wide rates; a city levy, if any, is not among these sources [1][38][39].

On a $100 room charge the listed taxes are $13.25 in Wake and $9.75 in Guilford [1][38][39], a 3.50 point gap that a comparison of guest-paid prices across the two counties would mistake for a difference in room rates. Lodging spending statewide was $8,467.8 million in 2025 [23], and the Census counted 1,928 hotels and motels and 146 RV parks and campgrounds [24]. What changes the study is the county: Currituck's lodging is 47.3% of its visitor spending, Mecklenburg's 23.7% [7], and in Raleigh a convention hotel of about 600 rooms is planned beside an expansion expected in 2028 [38]. A study states which taxes sit on the folio, removes them from revenue, includes fees in taxable receipts, and leaves out a separately stated banquet room rental.

Food and beverage: an election, a 15-day window and a six-month clock

Local prepared food and beverage taxes exist where an act of the General Assembly authorizes them, apply to the sales price of prepared food and beverages sold for consumption on or off the premises, and are paid to the local government [2]. The Department's county rate table excludes them [1], and in Wake the county's prepared food and beverage tax helps fund the convention center expansion [38]. Alcohol adds a permit sequence, set out in Table 13.

Table 13. ABC retail permit steps and clocks

Source: ABC Commission, Retail Permit Information [14].

The Commission counts approximately 50,000 retail permits in the state [14]. On the production side, North Carolina is a three-tier state with no direct shipment to consumers, spirituous liquor is sold only in local county or municipal ABC stores, and a commercial permittee needs a federal basic permit or brewers notice before operating [46]. For a study the sequence sets three numbers: the earliest month of alcohol revenue, the yearly renewal fee for a mixed beverages permit, and, for an acquisition, a gap before the buyer's own permit issues, since the seller's permit expires at the change of ownership [14]. A brewery taproom projection also separates on-site sales from distribution, which passes through the three tiers [46]. Visitors spent $1,923.44 million on food and beverage in Mecklenburg and $1,020.60 million in Wake in 2025 [7], and the state has 21,985 food service and drinking places [24].

Fuel and auto: a commercial tank fund and fixed well setbacks

The Underground Storage Tank Fund reimburses the cost of cleaning up soil and groundwater contamination from a petroleum release from a commercial tank [47]. The Department of Environmental Quality counts farm or residential motor fuel tanks above 1,100 gallons, and heating oil tanks above 1,100 gallons unless they serve four or fewer households, as commercial [47]; the Non-Commercial Trust Fund has been phased out by Session Law 2015-241 [47]. Since November 19, 2020, every intermediate risk release from a commercial tank must proceed with cleanup [48]. Under 15A NCAC 02N .0301 no tank system may be installed within 100 feet of a public water system well or within 50 feet of any other well supplying drinking water [49], and 15A NCAC 02N .0201 adopts the federal applicability rule with state additions [50]. The Census counted 4,001 gasoline stations with convenience stores and 615 car washes in 2023 [24].

For a gas station or truck stop study, the well setbacks are a site test before any market test: a parcel with a drinking water well within the 50 or 100 foot distance cannot take a new tank where the plan shows it [49]. On an existing station, an intermediate risk release found at acquisition must proceed to cleanup [48], so the study notes the tank record and fund eligibility. The fund's deductible and limits are not on the pages used here, and a study takes them from the Department for the site.

Housing: revaluation years and a lower tax on factory-built homes

Manufactured and modular homes are subject only to the general 4.75% state rate, with local and transit rates not applying [45], which matters to a manufactured housing community that sells homes. Rental housing feels the county property tax cycle most: Raleigh's taxable assessed value rose 44.8% in its revaluation year [38], Forsyth's 39.9% [11], and Guilford reappraises in 2026 for fiscal 2027 [39]. Builders authorized 19,458 units in buildings of five or more units and 65,303 single units in 2025 [21], and 33.0% of the state's households rent at a median of $1,412 [16][20]. Commerce reports approval of 204 census tracts in the state as Opportunity Zones, effective January 1, 2027 [51], so a housing study checks whether its tract is on the new list. For an apartment study in North Carolina, the property tax line is set by the county's revaluation year first and its rate second, and the demand case is set by the county, since growth is concentrating in urban and suburban counties [17].

Storage and distribution: no inventory tax and a certified fulfillment class

North Carolina and its local governments levy no property tax on inventories [13]. Personal property is appraised each year as of January 1 at its true value, using a trending method based on original cost by year of acquisition [3], and the listing period is January, with extensions for good cause to April 15 [52]. A large fulfillment facility qualifies for a sales tax exemption only after certification of $100 million of investment and employment of at least 400 within five years, and electricity is not eligible [13]. The Census counted 645 self-storage operators and 580 warehousing and storage establishments in 2023 [24]. A cold storage or distribution study therefore taxes the building and the equipment but not the goods on the racks, and a self-storage study models its own racking and equipment on the January listing cycle.

Care: certificates of need, license terms and child care ratios

An adult care home licensed under 10A NCAC 13F has a licensed capacity of seven or more residents, its beds and services must comply with the certificate of need issued under G.S. 131E, Article 9, and the Department may not license more beds than the rules permit [15]. A nursing home license under 10A NCAC 13D runs up to 12 months and ends earlier on closure, change of ownership, change of site or change of bed complement [53]. A certificate of need application is due by 5:00 p.m. on the 15th day of the month before the review period begins, and two or more applications in the same period for the same new service in the same service area make the review competitive when the CON Section determines that approving one may require denying another [54]. The State Demographer projects 2.4 million residents aged 65 and older by 2030 [17], and the Census counted 552 assisted living facilities for the elderly in 2023 [24].

Child care centers are staffed by rule, as Table 14 shows.

Table 14. Staff to child ratios and group sizes in North Carolina centers

Source: 10A NCAC 09 .0713, single-age groups in centers [55].

When age groups are combined, the ratio for the youngest child applies to the whole group [55]. For a care study the consequences are a bed count tied to a certificate, a license that ends at a sale, and, for child care, a payroll set by the age mix and the room plan. Illustrative model A shows how far the room plan alone moves DSCR.

Education: charter renewals and the UNC campuses

Charter schools are public schools of choice run by independent non-profit boards under Article 14A of Chapter 115C; they cannot discriminate in admissions or be religiously affiliated, and they hold lotteries when applicants exceed seats [56]. Under G.S. 115C-218.6(b) the Charter Schools Review Board renews a charter for subsequent periods of 10 years unless audit, academic or compliance conditions apply, and renewal carries a $500 fee [57]. Applications go to the Review Board in a window from the last Friday in January to the last Friday in April, January 29 to April 30 in the 2027 cycle [58]. A charter school facility study therefore matches its lease or loan term to the charter term and renewal conditions, and starts from the application calendar. Higher education demand starts from Table 15.

Table 15. Enrollment at UNC System campuses in the metro areas on this page

Source: UNC System, North Carolina 2026 factsheet, institutional enrollment, undergraduate and graduate; the factsheet does not state the term [31].

The State Demographer expects the college age population to grow by 21,000 to 1.1 million in 2030 and then decline [17], so a student housing study whose loan runs past 2030 rests on the campus's own enrollment plan.

Recreation and marinas: submerged land and a general permit

The State Property Office administers North Carolina's unappropriated and submerged lands [59]. For piers and docking facilities in estuarine and public trust waters, 15A NCAC 07H .1200 provides a general permit [34] with a $474.00 fee [35]; under it a structure may extend up to 400 feet waterward of the normal high water line, and shading from docks and mooring facilities is limited to 8 square feet per linear foot of shoreline, with a maximum of 800 square feet [36]. Larger marinas need other permits that this page does not cover. Visitors spent $872.60 million on recreation in Mecklenburg, $320.64 million in Buncombe and $185.40 million in Brunswick in 2025 [7]. A marina study sizes slips against the shoreline length the shading cap allows and records who holds the submerged land; an RV park or attraction study starts from county visitor spending, since the 146 RV parks and campgrounds the Census counted [24] say nothing about any one trade area.

Industrial and data center: tier-gated exemptions and competitive grants

North Carolina's industrial incentives fall into two kinds: exemptions any qualifying project receives, and grants awarded only in competition. Table 16 lists both with their conditions.

Table 16. North Carolina incentives and their conditions

Source: Department of Commerce, Tax & Other Cost Savings [13]; Job Development Investment Grant [60]; One North Carolina Fund [61]; Building or Site Funds [43].

The JDIG page carries an older modification date, so its terms are read as a program description rather than current award terms [60]. For a data center or plant, the tier is the first filter: Mecklenburg, Wake, Durham and New Hanover are Tier 3 in 2026, while Guilford, Forsyth, Buncombe and Catawba are Tier 2 and Cumberland Tier 1 [4]. A study keeps JDIG, OneNC and building reuse money out of the base case until awarded, and shows exemptions only when the determination or certification they require is in the file.

How do North Carolina taxes, revaluations and tiers move DSCR?

They move it through three channels: county rates and local levies that sit on revenue but never belong to the operator, a property tax line that steps at each county revaluation, and incentives whose value depends on the county's tier. Table 17 lists the property tax mechanics, Table 18 the local evidence of revaluation, and the three illustrative models after them do the arithmetic.

Table 17. How North Carolina property tax reaches a projection

Source: Department of Revenue, Types of Property to be Taxed, Listing Requirements, Property Tax Appeal Process and How To Calculate A Tax Bill [3][52][62][63]; Department of Commerce for inventories [13].

Table 18. Revaluation and rate evidence from North Carolina local governments

Source: City of Raleigh financial report [38]; Forsyth County financial report [11]; Guilford County financial report [39]; City of Asheville budget release [41].

The Department's tax bill method multiplies the combined county and municipal or district rate by the appraisal [63], so every rate in Table 18 is one layer of a property's bill, not the whole of it. In a revaluation year values jump and rates are reset; Forsyth and Asheville both report their new rates against a revenue neutral rate, and both set them above it [11][41]. A North Carolina projection therefore carries the property tax line at the current value only until the county's next revaluation and then re-bases it.

Each model below starts from a North Carolina rule or rate with its citation. Every other input is an assumption, labeled in each table, and the coverage ratios are arithmetic on those inputs; they describe no actual property or market.

Illustrative model A: a child care center's room plan under the state ratios. The model takes an assumed center with five rooms at or below the maximum group sizes in Table 14: 10 infants, 12 children aged 12 to 24 months, 20 two-year-olds, 15 three-year-olds and 20 four-year-olds, 77 children in all [55]. Applying the ratios gives 8 positions in ratio [55]. Weekly tuition is assumed at $340 for infants, $320 for toddlers, $290 for twos, $265 for threes and $250 for fours, over 52 weeks at an assumed 92% average enrollment [55]. Each position in ratio is assumed to cost $60,000 a year to cover the full operating day, administration and support staff $120,000, other operating costs $200,000, and debt service $195,000 [55]. Two alternatives change only the room plan: the same 35 three- and four-year-olds placed in two combined rooms of 17 and 18, where the youngest child's 1 to 15 ratio applies to each room, and a second infant room in place of the threes room [55].

Table 19. Illustrative model A: one center, three room plans

Source: ratios, group sizes and the youngest-child rule from 10A NCAC 09 .0713 [55]. Enrollment, tuition, cost and debt figures are FSC assumptions; the other lines are arithmetic on them.

The same building and the same 77 children produce coverage of 1.30 or 0.68 depending only on how the threes and fours are grouped, because combining them moves the fours onto the 1 to 15 ratio and adds two positions [55]. The infant room is the other lesson: an assumed infant room brings in $3,400 a week with two positions, while a threes room brings $3,975 with one [55], so a center whose market study shows strong infant demand still has to show that the tuition covers the staffing. A North Carolina child care study therefore presents the room plan, the ratio count for each room and the age mix it expects, before it presents a coverage ratio.

Illustrative model B: a Forsyth County property through the revaluation. The model takes an assumed commercial property assessed at $9,000,000 before the revaluation, with net operating income before county property tax of $720,000 and debt service of $500,000 [11]. Before the revaluation the county rate was 0.6778 per $100; after it, $0.5352, against a revenue neutral rate of $.4904, while the county's total assessed valuation rose 39.9% [11]. That 39.9% measures the $18.6 billion increase against the whole base, which in fiscal 2025 was $46,628,874,088 including personal and public service property, with real property at $36,356,840,560 [11], so it is not the average change in a real property value. The model shows the county levy only; city and district levies, which a real bill adds [63], are left out so the county effect stands alone. Three cases are assumed for the property's own value change: 39.9%, the same as the county's total, 60%, and 10% [11].

Table 20. Illustrative model B: county property tax and DSCR across the Forsyth revaluation

Source: rates, revenue neutral rate and the change in total assessed valuation from the Forsyth County financial report [11]; tax bill method from the Department of Revenue [63]. Assessed values, NOI of $720,000 and debt service of $500,000 are FSC assumptions; the other figures are arithmetic on them.

The county cut its rate by 21.0% [11], yet a property whose value rose 39.9%, as the county's total assessed valuation did, pays 10.5% more county tax, and one whose value rose 60% pays 26.3% more [11]. The break-even is a value increase of 26.6%: below it the property's county tax falls, above it the tax rises [11]. The DSCR moves are small here, 0.01 to 0.03, because the model carries the county levy only and a modest tax relative to income [11]; a property with city and district levies on top, or thinner coverage, feels the same reset more. The lesson for any North Carolina study is about timing and dispersion: the stabilized year must sit after the county's next revaluation, and the property's own value change, not the county's total, decides whether its tax rises.

Illustrative model C: a historic rehabilitation in a Tier 2 county and a Tier 3 county. The model takes an assumed rehabilitation of an income-producing certified historic structure with $14,000,000 of qualifying expenses inside a total cost of $16,500,000 [13]. The state credit is 15% of expenses up to $10 million and 10% from $10 million to $20 million, for rehabilitations that qualify for the federal credit, with a 5% bonus on expenses up to $20 million in a Tier 1 or Tier 2 county or on an eligible targeted investment site [13]. Forsyth is Tier 2 and Durham Tier 3 in 2026 [4], and the Durham column assumes the site is not an eligible targeted investment site. The loan before credits is assumed at 75% of cost, each credit dollar is assumed to bring $0.85 of equity that replaces debt, debt service is an assumed 7.8% constant, and net operating income is an assumed $1,100,000 [13][4]. When the credit is claimed and how it is turned into cash are outside this page's sources, which is why the conversion is an assumption.

Table 21. Illustrative model C: the historic credit and the tier bonus

Source: credit levels and the tier bonus from the Department of Commerce, Tax & Other Cost Savings [13]; 2026 tiers from Commerce [4]. Expenses, cost, loan share, credit price, debt constant and NOI are FSC assumptions; the other figures are arithmetic on them.

The base credit lifts coverage from 1.14 to 1.31, and the tier bonus adds another 0.08, to 1.39, on the same building [13][4]. Because tiers are reset each year, the bonus is a county fact that can change: Buncombe gained Tier 2 status for 2026 [12], so a Buncombe County rehabilitation would now model the third column, and a county that moves the other way would lose it unless the development is on an eligible targeted investment site. A North Carolina study shows the tier designation it relies on, the year of that designation, and coverage without the credit as the downside case. The DSCR and debt yield calculator reruns any of the three models with a project's own inputs.

Which FSC pages cover North Carolina projects?

FSC has no page for a single asset type in North Carolina, so its national guides carry each asset's method and this hub carries the county rates, revaluation years, tiers and permits that the projection needs. For a sense of how an SBA file reads in this state, see the quick-service restaurant portfolio model study in North Carolina. The national guides, grouped by the families above:

• Lodging, recreation and venues: hotel, RV park, glamping, marina and wedding venue, read with the county occupancy tax, the fee rule and the coastal dock permit.
• Food and beverage: restaurant and brewery, read with the ABC election, objection and six-month rules.
• Fuel and auto: gas station, truck stop and car wash, read with the well setbacks and the commercial tank fund.
• Housing and mixed projects: multifamily, manufactured housing community, mixed-use and retail, read with the county revaluation year and the state-only sales tax rate on factory-built homes.
• Storage and industry: self-storage, RV and boat storage, cold storage, industrial and data center, read with the inventory exclusion and the tier-gated exemptions.
• Care and education: assisted living, senior housing, skilled nursing, daycare, medical office and charter school, read with the certificate of need, the license term and the center ratios.

For the choice between an SBA loan and a bank loan, SBA vs conventional feasibility studies explains how the two reviews differ.

Who prepares a North Carolina feasibility study, and who decides the dated items in it?

A consultant independent of the borrower prepares the study, and any appraisal the lender orders is a separate assignment under the North Carolina Appraisers Act. G.S. 93E-1-4 defines an appraisal as an analysis, opinion or conclusion as to the value of identified real estate performed for compensation, and an appraisal assignment as one where the appraiser acts as a disinterested third party [64]. The Act makes it unlawful to act as a real estate appraiser without a registration, license or certificate from the Appraisal Board, lets a licensed broker give a broker price opinion without appraiser licensure so long as the broker does not present as an appraiser, and issues credentials to individuals, not firms [64]. The Board's rules in 21 NCAC 57, as published, are marked effective September 1, 2026, and each licensee's 28 hours of continuing education include the seven-hour national USPAP course [65]. A feasibility study reaches no opinion of value; it tests whether projected income carries the debt. Where a lender also needs a value, that belongs to a credentialed appraiser, and feasibility study vs appraisal and feasibility study vs market study explain where each report stops.

For SBA files, one district office serves the entire state from offices in Charlotte and Wilmington; the Wilmington office serves a list of coastal and southeastern counties beginning with Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Duplin and Hoke, and the Charlotte office serves the rest [32]. USDA rural determinations come from the Rural Development State Office, as 7 CFR 5001.3 provides [26]. FSC's SBA feasibility study and USDA feasibility study pages cover each program's file. Table 22 lists the bodies whose decisions become dates in a North Carolina projection.

Table 22. Who decides the dated items in a North Carolina study

Source: Department of Revenue [1][33][2][3][62]; Department of Commerce [4][13]; ABC Commission [14]; 10A NCAC 14C .0202, 13F .0206 and 13D .2103 [54][15][53]; 10A NCAC 09 .0713 [55]; Department of Public Instruction [57][58]; 15A NCAC 07H .1203 and State Property Office [35][59]; Department of Environmental Quality [47]; Appraisal Board [64]; SBA [32]; 7 CFR 5001.3 [26].

What should a North Carolina feasibility study file contain?

It should hold the county documents that date each rate, value and approval the projection uses: the county's combined rate, the local occupancy or meal tax ordinance, the county's revaluation schedule and the current assessment, the tier designation for the year relied on, and each permit, license or certificate with its status. Table 23 pairs each document with the North Carolina source behind it. FSC's general document checklist and its SBA and USDA checklist generators turn this into a list for a single loan.

Table 23. Documents a North Carolina study file should contain

Source: as cited in each row: Department of Revenue [1][10][2][33][3][63][52]; Guilford County [40]; Department of Commerce [4][12][13]; ABC Commission [14]; Administrative Code [15][53][54][55][49][36]; Department of Public Instruction [57]; Department of Environmental Quality [47][48]; State Property Office [59]; SBA [32]; GovInfo [26].

What drives the cost and timeline of a North Carolina feasibility study?

The number of counties and local governments whose records the study must gather drives both, and this page quotes no fee or schedule figure. Feasibility study cost in 2026 explains pricing in general, the cost estimator gives a range for a specific project, and the market vs feasibility decision tree shows when a market study should come first. In North Carolina the scope grows with five things.

• A trade area that spans two counties. Each county brings its own combined rate, tier and revaluation year [1][4][3], so a trade area that takes in both Mecklenburg and Union is two tax studies in one.
• A revaluation inside the projection. A study in Guilford, which reappraises for fiscal 2027 [39], or any county near its cycle, models the tax line on both sides of the reset.
• Local taxes that the state does not publish. Occupancy and prepared food tax rates come from each county or city [2], and several large cities' and counties' own records are not among this page's sources, so their budgets, permit records and rates are gathered by hand.
• Permits and certificates with their own clocks. An ABC permit, a certificate of need review period or a charter application window adds a dated step [14][54][58].
• A tier-limited incentive. The eligible internet data center exemption requires the year's tier and a Commerce determination in the file, and the historic credit bonus requires the year's tier unless the development is on an eligible targeted investment site [13][4].