New Development Closing Costs NYC - 2025 Guide
By Thomas Kutzman on December 31, 2024
If you are buying in a new development or a conversion, watch out - the new development closing costs NYC buyers pay can be significantly higher than buying other existing apartments in the city.
NYC real estate transactions often involve various costs such as attorney fees, mansion tax, mortgage recording tax, transfer taxes, and title insurance. Most buyers don’t know that there are additional points to be negotiated. It’s like Vegas, if you fail to ask for something, you rarely get it, and you may be shocked after you sign a contract.
Below, the team from Prevu Real Estate highlights what buyers need to know before purchasing a condo in a new development.
What are the extra closing costs with a new development?
Most of the extra closing costs are in the form of transfer taxes. These taxes are typically paid by the seller, but new developments and conversions are the exceptions. In these cases, the default is for the buyer to pay the transfer taxes.
If you don’t negotiate in your offer that the sponsor (seller) pays them, then guess what you are going to pay them twice - once when you buy, and again when you sell. They quickly add up! You will also be expected to pay the seller’s attorney fees unless separately negotiated.
How much should I expect to pay?
If the sponsor isn’t willing to negotiate, the buyer closing costs could exceed 5% of the purchase price, especially if you are getting a mortgage. Most of this is made up of transfer taxes plus seller attorney fees of an additional $3,000 or more.
For example, when buying a $2,000,000 apartment in a new development you should put aside roughly $110,000 for closing costs (you can estimate your costs with Prevu’s NYC buyer closing cost calculator). These are only the closing costs to buy, you will have to pay hefty costs when you sell as well.
New York Real Property Transfer Taxes
- $500,000 or less: 1% of purchase price to NYC
- Over $500,000: 1.425% of purchase price to NYC
- All properties: Additional 0.40% of purchase price to New York State
To learn more about transfer taxes, you can reference: New York City Real Property Transfer Tax.
Can these closing costs be negotiated?
Absolutely! Depending on the strength of the market and demand for the unit, these transfer taxes can be negotiated with the sponsor. Strong real estate agents will help you navigate the relative pricing and strength in the market. If it’s a hot market, you’ll likely have to bite the bullet and pay all of them. In a neutral to buyer’s market, most developers are more reasonable.
If you are early to a building, many times you may get special incentives for a period of time because a developer is trying to get the building a certain percentage sold, after which they can raise prices and bargain less on other things.
Offset closing costs with a commission rebate
The extra closing costs you encounter when buying in a new development in NYC are less than ideal, however you are able to offset these fees by receiving a commission rebate. Modern, tech-enabled platforms like Prevu enable NYC homebuyers to get up to 1.5% of their purchase price cash back in the form of a buyer commission rebate. Prevu offers the largest commission rebate in NYC and is able to pass along such high savings thanks to technology that enhances your customer experience and increases our agents' efficiency.
When are developers most willing to negotiate on new development closing costs in NYC?
While every real estate developer has their own strategy, they are more willing to negotiate during a buyer's market.
When the inventory of apartments for sale in a market rises and prices begin to fall due to a lack of corresponding demand, negotiation power shifts in favor of buyers. In situations like this, real estate developers have increased competition from other developers to sell their inventory of new development condos to a smaller pool of potential buyers.
As a result, developers are willing to offer even greater incentives to buyers. In addition to negotiating and paying for the classic new development closing costs, developers offer additional financial incentives - including credits toward several months of common charges or property taxes.
Besides money, what developer concessions should I negotiate?
The possibilities are endless but we have had clients ask for storage units, parking spaces, custom closets, or bespoke improvements over stock finishes. Again, if you don’t ask for it, you will not get it! We have had customers get custom California closets throughout the apartment and others have received free storage units that are worth six figures.
Between you and your broker gauge the level of interest in the building and negotiate accordingly.
Below is an example of what you can expect to pay if you are unable to negotiate concessions from the sponsor.
NYC New Development Closing Costs ($1,950,000 price, 20% down payment)
- Attorney Fees — $3,000
- NYC Mansion Tax — $19,500
- Title Insurance — $8,775
- Bank Attorney — $1,500
- Mortgage Recording Tax — $30,030
- Other Closing Costs — $4,000
- NY State Transfer Tax — $7,800
- NYC Transfer Tax — $27,788
- Seller's Attorney Fee — $3,000
- Total — $105,393
Interested in buying a condo in a new development? Browse listings and see how much you can save with Prevu's Smart Buyer Rebate.
