Closing Help

Closing Checklists by Transaction Type

Nine checklists, one per kind of New York transaction: the steps in order, the documents each side produces, and the searches the file calls for.

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Which closing checklist applies to your transaction?

Quick Answer

New York closings are not one process with variations. A co-op transfers shares and has no title policy, a refinance conveys nothing and has no deed, an estate sale turns on the fiduciary’s authority, and a 1031 runs on two statutory clocks. Start from the checklist that matches your deal.

What does a buyer have to do on a New York house purchase?

Residential purchase closing checklistBuyer side. Every step in a financed NYC house purchase, from the contract rider through title clearance, lender conditions, closing day and recording in ACRIS.

What does a seller have to deliver?

Residential sale closing checklistSeller side. What a New York seller has to deliver: payoff letters, the deed, the affidavit of title, transfer tax returns, cured violations and marketable title.

What changes when the apartment is a co-op?

Co-op purchase closing checklistBuyer side. A NYC co-op closing transfers shares and a lease, not a deed. The lien search, UCC search, recognition agreement and board package replace title work.

What changes when the apartment is a condo?

Condo purchase closing checklistBuyer side. A NYC condo closing has a deed, an owner’s policy and a recorded mortgage, plus a right of first refusal waiver and a common charge arrears letter.

What does a refinance or a CEMA require?

Refinance and CEMA closing checklistBorrower side. A New York refinance has no deed and no owner’s policy. It turns on the payoff, lien priority, the lender’s policy and whether a CEMA is available.

What does a sponsor sale require?

New construction closing checklistBuyer side. A sponsor sale runs on the offering plan, not a standard contract. TCO versus final CO, mechanic’s lien risk and sponsor adjustments drive the closing.

What does a commercial deal add?

Commercial purchase closing checklistBuyer side. A NY commercial purchase adds entity diligence, an ALTA survey, Phase I environmental review, tenant estoppels, SNDAs and zoning endorsements.

What does an estate have to prove before it can sell?

Estate sale closing checklistSeller side. Selling a decedent’s New York property turns on the fiduciary’s authority: letters, the estate tax lien, the executor’s deed and Surrogate’s Court proof.

What does a 1031 exchange require, and when?

1031 exchange closing checklistEither side. A 1031 exchange runs on two clocks and one rule: the qualified intermediary must be engaged before the relinquished property closes, not after.

How early should you start working a closing checklist?

Before the contract is signed. Almost everything on these lists that goes wrong late, an open violation, a missing survey, an unreleased mortgage from a prior refinance, an estate that was never closed, is cheap to resolve while the terms are still being negotiated and slow to resolve once a mortgage commitment is running out behind you.

Why is the wire verification step on every one of these checklists?

Because it is the step that loses the money. Closing funds are redirected by an email that looks like it came from an attorney or a managing agent, usually at the last moment and usually with a plausible reason. A telephone call to a number you already had, with the account details read back out loud, is the ordinary safeguard against it.

Do these checklists replace having an attorney on the transaction?

No. They describe what a New York file ordinarily requires so you can follow along and ask better questions. They are general information rather than advice about your transaction, and reading them does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Where should you go next?

Have a closing coming up?

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Legal Disclaimer: These pages are general information about New York practice. They are not legal advice, they do not account for the terms of any particular contract, building or transaction, and reading them does not create an attorney-client relationship. This is attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.