Anybody familiar with North Carolina vehicle title/sale procedures?

I'm considering buying a used car in North Carolina (I'm from Michigan).

Is North Carolina a simple state where the seller can sign off on the title and I can head home with a bill of sale and the title to transfer when I get back home in MI?

Or do you have some silly notary requirement or things of that nature.

I bought a car in NC about a year ago. NC titles require notarization.

cmcgregor is correct. All NC titles must be notarized. I helped my dad sell his truck and we had to go to the notary.

Also I bought a motorcycle in Asheville, NC and had to go back and meet the seller to get the title notarized.

I don't know how typical this experience is, but the seller (a board member) was able to get the title notarized with just his sections filled out, so he could mail it to me. I had it notarized again after filling out the buyer's portion - I don't know if that was necessary or not, and MA certainly didn't care, but I did it for the sake of completeness.

He was warned that mailing a notarized open title is just like signing your title in a state that doesn't require notarization - if anyone had intercepted the title, they could've made the car theirs.

When I bought my FD and had it shipped from NC, the seller filled out his portion of the title and had it notarized, then FedEx'd it to me. I have no idea if the CA DMV actually cared if it was notarized or not.

AIUI, North Carolina requires that the seller return the plates to the DMV, so you might be driving it home with no plates on it.

NC allows for each party's signatures to be notorized separately, so the seller can have that ready for you whenever you plan to meet. NC does require that the plate be returned to the DMV, but not on a specific day.

Thanks for the input!