By Eric Berman, REALTOR® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
TL;DR:
Yes, and it happens regularly — most of the transaction can be handled electronically, and a properly executed power of attorney lets the seller skip the closing entirely. Two things deserve attention before anything else. New York requires nonresident sellers to make an estimated payment at closing of 8.82% of net gain on Form IT-2663, which is a prepayment rather than an added tax but reduces the wire, and sellers who have already committed those funds elsewhere get caught. And on this peninsula, whatever an out-of-state seller can't see — an unclosed permit sitting in a village building department — still surfaces during the buyer's municipal searches.
The Tax Item That Reduces the Wire
Start here, because it's the piece most likely to produce an unpleasant surprise at closing.
New York requires sellers who are no longer state residents to make an estimated income tax payment at the time of sale. It's filed on Form IT-2663, submitted along with the deed, and calculated at 8.82% of the estimated net gain on the sale.
Two clarifications that matter. It is not an additional tax. It's a prepayment against the seller's actual New York State income tax liability for the year, and if the real liability comes in lower — which it frequently does — the difference is refunded when the return is filed. And it's calculated on gain, not on the sale price, so a seller with modest appreciation pays modestly.
What catches people is the timing. The payment comes out at closing, which means the wire is smaller than a seller expecting proceeds-minus-costs would have modeled. Someone who has already committed those funds to a purchase in Florida or the Carolinas finds themselves short at exactly the wrong moment.
Certain exemptions and reduced-rate situations exist depending on circumstances, including where the property qualified as a primary residence within relevant timeframes. That's a CPA question and it should be asked before a closing date is set rather than discovered at the table. The broader picture of how a home sale is taxed covers the underlying gain calculation.
The Attorney Is Your Presence in New York
Every New York residential sale involves an attorney, because contract drafting and negotiation are legal work reserved to licensed counsel. For a remote seller, that role expands considerably beyond the contract.
The attorney coordinates the title search and payoff, handles whatever the municipal searches turn up, prepares and reviews the power of attorney if one is used, and executes at closing on the seller's behalf. Practically, they become the seller's hands in a state the seller no longer lives in.
Which means engaging one early matters more for an out-of-state seller than for anyone else. A local seller can absorb a two-week delay while counsel gets up to speed. A remote seller cannot easily solve problems personally, so anything that surfaces late has fewer available responses. The case for engaging an attorney before listing applies with more force here — a title review completed before the property goes on the market is worth substantially more when the seller can't drive over to sort something out.
Closing Without Being There
Three mechanisms exist, and the first one should be arranged in advance rather than invoked in a hurry.
Power of attorney is the most common approach and the most reliable. The seller executes a document authorizing their attorney to sign closing documents on their behalf. Two requirements people underestimate: it has to be properly drafted for a real estate conveyance, since a general POA may not be sufficient, and the buyer's title company has to accept it. Title companies have their own standards, and a POA they won't accept is a POA that doesn't work. Both of those are resolvable weeks ahead and difficult to resolve days ahead.
Mail-away closings are the alternative. Documents are sent to the seller, executed and notarized locally, and returned before the closing date. It works reliably but requires building shipping time into the schedule, and any error in execution means another round trip.
Remote notarization has become available in New York and can simplify parts of the process, though what's acceptable varies by document and by the parties involved. Worth asking the attorney what applies rather than assuming.
Most of the earlier paperwork — the listing agreement, disclosures, offer responses — is routinely handled electronically and presents no obstacle. Proceeds are wired to the seller's account at closing regardless of where they are.
The Peninsula Problem, at a Distance
This is the part that most often disrupts a remote sale here, and it's specific enough to deserve its own attention.
After contracts are signed, the buyer's attorney orders municipal searches. Whatever the governing authority has on file comes back in writing — an unclosed permit from 2011, a finished basement never permitted, a certificate of occupancy that no longer describes the house.
Port Washington makes this harder than most places because it isn't one jurisdiction. Baxter Estates, Manorhaven, Flower Hill, Sands Point, and Port Washington North are incorporated villages with their own building departments, alongside unincorporated areas under the Town of North Hempstead. The first task is determining which office governs the address, and the second is dealing with that office — both from wherever the seller now lives. The breakdown of which rules apply where sorts out the layers.
Resolving an open permit typically means an application, an inspection someone has to be present for, corrective work, and a sign-off — on the municipality's schedule. A local seller finds this annoying. A remote seller finds it genuinely difficult, and doing it under a contract deadline is worse.
The preventive step is a phone call, and it's the highest-value thing a remote seller can do before listing. Identify the jurisdiction, call, ask what's on file. The full picture of how permit issues resolve covers what each type costs.
Disclosure With Knowledge Gaps
The Property Condition Disclosure Statement has been mandatory since the March 20, 2024 amendment — 56 questions, with the prior five hundred dollar credit alternative eliminated.
For a seller who moved out two years ago, some questions are genuinely unanswerable. This causes more anxiety than it should, because the form asks what the seller knows, and "Unknown" is a permitted and appropriate answer where they don't. There is no duty to investigate, inspect, or return to the property to fill it out.
The failure mode for remote sellers runs toward over-answering — guessing at conditions rather than saying so. A guess is a statement that can be disputed later; an honest "Unknown" carries no such exposure. Where a seller knows something, they disclose it; where they don't, they say so. The full treatment of what the form asks covers this in detail, including the seven flood questions added in the amendment that matter on this peninsula.
Keeping the Property in Selling Condition
A vacant home is different from an occupied one, and remote sellers underestimate this.
Insurance treats vacancy differently. Most standard homeowner's policies contain provisions limiting or excluding coverage once a property has been unoccupied beyond a stated period. A seller who has moved out should call their carrier and ask directly what their policy provides and whether a vacancy endorsement is needed. Discovering a coverage gap after a pipe fails is expensive.
Someone needs eyes on the property. Heat maintained through winter, mail collected, landscaping kept up, and periodic interior checks. This can be a property management service, a trusted neighbor, or the listing agent coordinating vendors — but it has to be somebody, on a schedule.
Access has to be reliable. Lockbox or keypad, and someone available to let in an inspector, an appraiser, a photographer, and contractors. Each of those requires a person on site, and a missed appointment costs days when everything else is running on a contract clock.
A Worked Example
Consider a composite case — a former Port Washington homeowner who relocated to North Carolina eighteen months earlier and left the house vacant.
Three things shaped the sale. She engaged a New York attorney before listing, who ran an early title review and found a satisfied mortgage from 2004 never formally discharged. Resolving it took five weeks — entirely before a buyer existed, which is the only comfortable time to handle it remotely.
She called the village building department and learned a 2015 deck permit had never been closed out. The inspection required someone present, which her attorney coordinated. About six weeks and $1,900.
And her CPA flagged the IT-2663 before she set a closing date. On her gain, the estimated payment came to roughly $34,000 — money she had assumed would be in the wire and had loosely earmarked for her North Carolina purchase. Knowing in advance let her plan around it rather than scramble.
She executed a power of attorney six weeks before closing, drafted for the conveyance and confirmed acceptable to the buyer's title company. She never returned to New York.
Where to Start
Engage a New York real estate attorney before listing and ask for an early title review. Determine which village or town governs the property and call that building department to find out what's on file. Talk to a CPA about the IT-2663 obligation before setting a closing date. Call the insurance carrier about vacancy coverage. Arrange reliable property access and someone checking on the house. Prepare the power of attorney weeks ahead, drafted for the conveyance and confirmed with the buyer's title company. Complete the disclosure form honestly, using "Unknown" where it applies.
Sellers wanting a current read on where the property sits can start with a quiet look at present value.
The Honest Bottom Line
Selling from out of state works, and the mechanics are well established — electronic signatures, a power of attorney, a wire at closing. Distance is not the obstacle people expect.
What distance actually does is remove a seller's ability to solve problems personally. A local seller who learns about an open permit drives to the village. A remote seller makes calls and waits. That difference means everything that can be handled before listing should be handled before listing — the title review, the permit check, the tax conversation, the insurance question.
Sellers who front-load that work generally find the process straightforward. Sellers who wait find that every problem takes three times as long. For anyone working through a specific situation from a distance, with no pressure attached, that conversation is available whenever the timing suits.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Nonresident withholding requirements, exemption eligibility, power of attorney execution, and insurance coverage all turn on specific facts. Consult a licensed New York real estate attorney and a CPA about your circumstances.
FAQs
Do I have to pay New York tax if I sell while living in another state?
New York requires nonresident sellers to make an estimated income tax payment at closing, filed on Form IT-2663 and submitted with the deed, calculated at 8.82% of the estimated net gain. It is not an additional tax — it's a prepayment against actual New York State income tax liability for the year, refundable when the return is filed if the real liability comes in lower. It's calculated on gain rather than sale price. What catches sellers is timing: it reduces the wire at closing, which surprises anyone who has already committed those proceeds elsewhere.
Can I close on my Port Washington home without traveling to New York?
Yes, most commonly through a power of attorney authorizing your attorney to sign on your behalf. Two requirements are easy to underestimate: the document must be properly drafted for a real estate conveyance, since a general power of attorney may not suffice, and the buyer's title company has to accept it. Both are straightforward weeks ahead and difficult days ahead. Mail-away closings and, for some documents, remote notarization are alternatives. Proceeds are wired to your account regardless of where you are.
How do I handle permits and inspections from out of state?
Through the attorney and the listing agent, and by starting early. The buyer's attorney will order municipal searches after contracts are signed, and an unclosed permit surfaces regardless of where the seller lives. Port Washington complicates this because several incorporated villages maintain their own building departments alongside unincorporated town areas — the first task is identifying which office governs the address. Resolving an open permit typically requires an inspection someone must attend, which is far easier to coordinate before a contract deadline exists.
What if I can't answer the disclosure questions about a home I no longer live in?
"Unknown" is a permitted and appropriate answer. The Property Condition Disclosure Statement asks what the seller actually knows and imposes no duty to investigate, inspect, or return to the property. A seller who moved out two years ago genuinely doesn't know the current condition of some systems, and saying so is correct rather than evasive. The common mistake among remote sellers is over-answering — guessing at conditions rather than acknowledging the gap. A guess is a statement that can be disputed; an honest non-answer carries no such exposure.
Does homeowner's insurance still cover a vacant home?
Often not fully, and this catches remote sellers. Most standard policies contain provisions limiting or excluding coverage once a property has been unoccupied beyond a stated period, which varies by carrier. A seller who has moved out should call their carrier directly, ask what the policy provides, and find out whether a vacancy endorsement or a separate policy is needed. Beyond coverage, a vacant home needs heat maintained through winter, mail collected, and periodic interior checks — which requires someone on a schedule.
By Eric Berman, REALTOR® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
Eric Berman | Long Island & Queens Associate Broker | Compass
1468 Northern Blvd, Manhasset, NY 11030
(917) 225-8596 | eric@ericbermanre.com | theericbermanteam.com
