← All episodes · Episode 22
28:04 · Published August 28, 2026
Teresa Overcash, a 30-year top 1 percent NC agent, Broker/Owner of Realty ONE Group Results, and NCREC Licensed Instructor, walks through the 3-3-3 rule she uses with every buyer before they write an offer in the Triad or NC High Country. Three months of living-expense reserves. Three months of mortgage-payment reserves at the full PITI number, not the base loan amount. Three real, in-person property comparisons of the same ZIP, same type, and same age band. Photos and Zillow tabs do not count. This is how a protected buyer walks into a Boone or Winston-Salem closing without a repair-bill surprise or a data-center-adjacent shock in year two.
The full article with the PITI reserve tables at 6.50 percent for $300K, $400K, and $560K Boone price points, the comparison-test rules, the seller diagnostic version of 3-3-3, and every source is at homesintriadnc.com/blog/3-3-3-rule-real-estate-nc-buyer-readiness-triad-2026.