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The sale price is not what lands in your account. Here are the line items Long Island sellers should expect, so the closing statement holds no surprises.
Answered by Donna Barilla, Long Island Realtor with Signature Premier Properties since 2007. Updated November 2026.Most Long Island sellers should budget for agent commission, the New York State transfer tax, their own attorney's fee, and payoff of any mortgage or liens, plus smaller title and recording items.
Commission is the largest piece and is always negotiable. Your attorney and your agent can give you an estimated net sheet before you list, so you know what you will walk away with at different sale prices.
New York State charges a real estate transfer tax of $2 for every $500 of the sale price, which works out to 0.4 percent, and the seller customarily pays it.
On a $700,000 sale, that is $2,800. In most of Donna's market there is no additional county transfer tax; the Peconic Bay transfer tax applies only in the five East End towns.
The buyer pays New York's mansion tax, which is 1 percent of the purchase price on residential sales of $1 million or more.
Sellers do not pay it, but it matters when pricing near the $1 million mark, because a buyer at $1,000,000 owes $10,000 more in tax than a buyer at $999,999.
Yes, in practice. On Long Island the buyer and the seller each hire their own real estate attorney, who drafts or reviews the contract and handles the closing.
Most residential attorneys charge a flat fee for a sale. Ask for the quote in writing up front. Donna can share the names of attorneys her clients have worked with.
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Office: Signature Premier Properties, 750 Route 25A, East Setauket, NY 11733
