One of the most common questions I get asked when meeting with a home owner who is thinking about selling their property, is what are all the expenses involved in selling a property.

Below is a breakdown of the expenses you will come across when selling a home here in New York.

If there was an agent involved in your sale, this will most likely be the largest expense. This will be a percentage of the sales price or it could also be a fixed amount. Commission fixing is against the law, so there is no “regulated” fee. Every agent gets to decide what they will charge.

Although there is no law that requires you to hire a real estate lawyer, hiring an attorney is standard. Attorneys will write the contract, hold escrow money, and if something goes wrong during the sale, they are there to protect your interest in the transaction. Attorney fees can range from a discount rate of $750 up to a regular fee of between $1,500-$1,600 is the average.

This is paid by the seller when they sell a condo or a house, this does not get paid during a coop sale. This $500 fee is paid to the buyer for not disclosing anything that may be wrong with the property. This assures the seller that after the closing the buyer cannot go after the seller if anything is wrong with the property after the closing.

This is a tax/transfer fee paid to New York State of four dollars for every thousand dollars and it is paid on all sales.

Each city/town can choose to charge their own tax/transfer fee. Below are the amounts charged by the cities and towns where we work in.

NYC charges 1% on 1-3 family homes, coops and condos with a sales price of $500,000 or less. On sales over $500,000 the tax/transer fee is raised to 1.425%.

On properties with four units or more, commercial and vacant land NYC charges 1.425% on sales of $500,000 or less and they charge 2.625% if the sales price is above $500,000.

Yonkers charges a tax/transfer fee of 1.5%.

Mount Vernon charges a tax/transfer fee of 1% but the first $100,000 in the sales price is exempt. Meaning if you sell a $500,000 home you pay taxes of 1% on $400,000 or $4,000.

Peekskill charges a 1% tax/transfer rate.

This is only paid if you have an existing mortgage. This is a fee paid to the title closer to verify with the city/town that you have a mortgage and that it will be erased after the closing.

This is a fee paid to the town to record the information for a new sale.

If you still have a mortgage you will need to request a “pay off” letter from your mortgage company. This letter will state how much is owed and how to send the final payment to the bank. Payoff letters are normally good for 30 days so this usually requested once you are scheduling a closing.

As part of the sale, the buyer attorney will order a title report which will research all expenses attached to the home. Any unpaid taxes, utilities, sanitation tickets or other expenses that are associated with the property will be revealed in the title report.