Buying an apartment in New York City, step by step

Before you make an offer

Work out two numbers first: what you can borrow and what you will need in cash. The cash is more than the down payment. Taxes and fees at closing add a large sum in New York, and a co-op board may want to see money left over afterwards. Check what you can afford and estimate the cash to buy for the price you have in mind.

Choose your own attorney before you need one. In New York both buyer and seller normally have one, and the steps below move quickly once an offer is accepted.

The offer: agreed, but not binding

Once you and the seller agree a price and the main terms, the deal goes to the attorneys. That agreement doesn't bind anyone. Until both sides sign a formal contract, either can walk away without breaching anything, and the seller can still take a higher offer. The New York City Bar discourages signing "binders" because they look binding but usually aren't (New York City Bar).

Attorney review and due diligence

It is customary in New York for the seller's attorney to draft the contract, usually on a standard form with a rider for terms particular to the deal; your attorney then negotiates it (NYC Bar; New York State Bar Association).

Meanwhile your attorney reviews the building. The NYC Bar's standard condo contract has the buyer confirm they have examined, or chosen not to examine, the offering plan and its amendments, the declaration, by-laws and house rules, the minutes of board and owners' meetings, the alteration policy, the purchase application and its fees, and the latest financial statement (NYC Bar condo contract form). A co-op review covers the same ground through the proprietary lease and the corporation's finances. Ask your attorney what they found, not just whether it was fine.

For a house (one to four families) the seller must give you a Property Condition Disclosure Statement before you sign a binding contract, including questions on flood zones and past flood claims. It doesn't apply to condo units or co-op apartments (Real Property Law §462). The current law makes a seller who wilfully fails to comply liable for the buyer's actual damages (RPL §465).

The buyer's attorney also orders a title report for a house or condo, which shows liens, judgments, open violations and unpaid taxes, so that problems are cleared before closing (NYSBA). A co-op has no deed to insure; a lien search on the seller's shares takes its place.

Signing the contract and the contract deposit

The deal becomes binding when both sides sign. At signing the buyer pays a contract deposit. By custom it is 10% of the price in New York, though the amount is whatever the contract says (NYC Bar). The check is usually payable to the seller's attorney, who holds it in escrow (NYSBA).

The contract deposit is part of your down payment, not an extra cost: it is credited to you at closing. But it is due weeks or months before the rest, so it has to be ready early. Whoever holds it must keep it apart from their own money, and the contract must name the escrow agent and the bank where it is held. It earns interest for you only if the contract says so (General Business Law §778-a).

If you back out for a reason the contract doesn't allow, the seller may keep the deposit (NYC Bar). That is why the contract's exits matter, chiefly the mortgage contingency.

Mortgage: from application to commitment

Most New York residential contracts depend on financing: if you can't get a mortgage commitment by a date set in the contract, you can cancel and get the deposit back (NYC Bar; NYSBA). Negotiate that date with your attorney and tell your lender what it is.

Apply to more than one lender. Each must send you a Loan Estimate within three business days of receiving your application (CFPB), which lets you compare the rate, fees and cash to close line by line. Compare mortgages, then put your Loan Estimates side by side.

The lender then underwrites the loan, orders an appraisal and, if it approves, issues a commitment letter, which may carry its own conditions. For a co-op the lender and the building also sign a recognition agreement.

Co-op board approval, or a condo's right of first refusal

Co-op. The sale is conditional on the board approving you. You submit a board package of financial and personal documents; each building sets its own list, so ask the managing agent for it as soon as you sign. Many boards then interview the buyer. Boards don't have to tell you why they turn you down: New York law doesn't require it, and a bill that would has not passed (NY Senate bill S6346, in committee). Courts generally defer to a board acting in good faith within its powers (Levandusky, Court of Appeals, 1990).

A board still can't reject you for a reason the New York City Human Rights Law forbids, such as race, creed, national origin, disability, family status, lawful occupation or lawful source of income (NYC Commission on Human Rights). Since 1 January 2025 the Fair Chance Housing Law also covers co-op and condo sales: a criminal background check may only be run after a conditional offer, and you must get a copy of what was found and five business days to respond (NYC Commission on Human Rights).

Condo. There is usually no interview. Where the declaration or by-laws give the board a right of first refusal, the sale depends on the board waiving it: you submit the building's application, and if the board instead buys the unit on your terms, the seller refunds your deposit and the contract is cancelled (NYC Bar condo contract form). In practice your attorney needs the waiver letter before closing.

Closing

At least three business days before closing your lender must give you the Closing Disclosure. Compare it with your last Loan Estimate: loan amount, rate, monthly payment, closing costs and cash to close, and ask about anything that changed (CFPB).

At closing you pay the rest of the down payment and the closing costs, and sign the mortgage. For a house or condo the deed passes to you and, afterwards, the deed and mortgage are recorded (NYSBA); the transfer tax returns are due within 15 days of the deed's delivery (NYS Department of Taxation and Finance), which the attorneys or title company file. For a co-op you receive the shares and the proprietary lease instead. Our closing-cost guide explains every tax and fee.

Cash due at each step

For a $1,500,000 Manhattan condo resale with 20% down (a $300,000 down payment and a $1,200,000 loan), assuming the customary 10% contract deposit:

The closing costs are the mansion tax and mortgage recording tax, which the law fixes, plus our calculator's estimates for lender, title, attorney and building fees and escrow, which are assumptions, not quotes. For a co-op the mortgage recording tax and title insurance fall away. Open this example in the calculator to change the price, down payment or building type.