By Eric Berman, REALTOR® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
TL;DR:
Plan on six to ten percent of the sale price, with commission accounting for most of it. Levittown's cost profile is the most favorable of the Long Island markets — sellers pay only the state transfer tax at four dollars per thousand, with no New York City transfer tax, and most sales fall below the one-million-dollar Mansion Tax threshold, which leaves buyers more cash for the purchase itself. The line that has changed most is compensation: since August 2024 the buyer's side is a separate decision the seller makes rather than a posted percentage, and on a $650,000 sale that decision is worth roughly $16,000.
The Largest Line, and the One That Changed
Commission accounts for most of what comes off the top, and how it works is different from what most sellers remember.
Until August 17, 2024, buyer-agent compensation was posted on the MLS and offered essentially automatically as a condition of listing. That ended with the Sitzer/Burnett settlement. Compensation is now negotiated within each individual offer, and buyers sign written agreements with their agents before touring homes.
This wasn't a transparency improvement, whatever the coverage said at the time. It was a structural change that moved a decision onto the seller. A seller now chooses whether to contribute toward the buyer's agent, and how much. On a $650,000 Levittown sale, two and a half percent is roughly $16,250 — the second-largest line on the settlement statement after the listing commission itself.
The listing side is separately negotiable and always was, though the range has moved. Fee-negotiated listing commissions in the one and a half to two percent range have become common on Long Island.
Where the compensation decision matters most is exactly here. Levittown price points draw a deep pool of payment-sensitive buyers, many of them stretched on cash to close. A buyer who has committed to paying their agent and has little flexibility left needs the seller to contribute or the numbers don't work — which means offering nothing can produce fewer showings without the seller ever learning why. The framework for comparing what each offer actually nets works through how compensation stacks against price.
The Fixed Costs
New York State Transfer Tax runs four dollars per thousand of the sale price — 0.4% — paid by the seller and filed through Form TP-584. On a $650,000 sale that's $2,600. Unavoidable and easy to model.
Attorney fees generally run $1,500 to $3,500 for a standard residential transaction, higher where an estate, a divorce, an out-of-state seller, or complicated title history is involved. Worth noting that at Levittown price points this is proportionally more significant than it is on a Manhasset sale — the same fee against a smaller number.
Title, payoff, and recording run roughly $500 to $1,500 combined: the mortgage payoff statement, lien discharges, and recording fees. Where an old undischarged mortgage or a lien surfaces, resolving it adds attorney time.
Mortgage payoff comes off the top, though prepayment penalties are rare — federal law has prohibited them on residential qualified mortgages originated after January 10, 2014, so most Levittown sellers won't encounter one.
What Levittown Doesn't Pay
Two absences make this the most favorable cost profile among the markets covered here, and they're worth stating explicitly because sellers reading general Long Island content won't know the difference.
No New York City Real Property Transfer Tax. A Bayside seller pays roughly 1.425% on sales at or above $500,000, on top of the state tax. On a $900,000 sale that's about $13,500 — money a Levittown seller simply doesn't pay. The full breakdown of Bayside closing costs covers the Queens picture for comparison.
The Mansion Tax generally doesn't apply. New York imposes one percent on residential sales above one million dollars, paid by the buyer, and most Levittown transactions fall below that line. This helps the seller indirectly but genuinely: in Manhasset, where essentially every sale crosses the threshold, buyers surrender an additional one percent in cash at closing — money that would otherwise be available for the purchase. Levittown buyers keep it.
Sellers of substantially expanded homes approaching the million-dollar line should still model it, since crossing that threshold changes the buyer's math.
A $650,000 Levittown Sale
ItemAmountListing commission at 2%$13,000Buyer-agent compensation at 2.5%$16,250New York State Transfer Tax$2,600Attorney fee$2,000Title, payoff, and recording$750Subtotal$34,600
That's about 5.3% before anything discretionary. Add preparation, which most Levittown sellers put between $8,000 and $20,000, and a concession reserve, and the realistic total lands in the six to ten percent range.
Commission structure is where the range moves most. The same sale with no buyer-side contribution comes to roughly $18,350 — but that's a decision with consequences for the buyer pool, not free money.
The Costs That Aren't on Anyone's List
Three items account for most of the difference between a seller's model and the actual settlement statement.
Permit resolution. The most common unplanned expense in this market. Levittown homes have been expanded almost universally — dormers, extensions, garage conversions, finished basements — and a meaningful share of that work was never permitted or never closed out. The buyer's attorney orders municipal searches from the Town of Hempstead after contracts are signed, and whatever is on file comes back. Resolving it can run several thousand dollars and six to ten weeks, landing with a mortgage clock already running. The full picture of how permit issues resolve covers what each type costs. A phone call before listing moves this from a surprise to a line item.
Post-inspection concessions. Typically $3,000 to $15,000 on Long Island, negotiated after contracts are signed when the seller has less leverage than at the offer stage. A pre-listing inspection substantially reduces the exposure.
Carrying costs. A Levittown home carries roughly $4,000 to $5,500 a month all in — mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance. Three extra months on market is $12,000 to $16,500, which exceeds most sellers' entire preparation budget. That figure belongs next to every pricing conversation.
Two Situations That Change the Math
Sellers who have left New York. A nonresident seller owes an estimated payment at closing of 8.82% of net gain, filed on Form IT-2663 and submitted with the deed. It's a prepayment against actual New York State income tax liability rather than an additional tax, and it's refundable where the real number comes in lower — but it reduces the wire, and sellers who have already committed those proceeds to a purchase elsewhere get caught short.
Long-held homes. A Levittown home owned for decades may have appreciated past the primary-residence exclusion — $250,000 for a single filer, $500,000 filing jointly. Improvement records from across the ownership period add to basis and directly reduce taxable gain, which makes finding them worth real money. The full treatment of how gain is calculated covers the mechanics.
A Worked Example
Consider a composite case — a Levittown seller with an expanded cape that sold at $688,000.
His model accounted for commission, transfer tax, and attorney fees: roughly $36,600 at the structure he chose. What it didn't account for was the 2013 basement finish that had never been permitted, which the municipal search turned up. Legalizing it required an egress correction and ran about $9,400 across nine weeks.
The home also took eleven weeks to sell rather than the six he'd assumed, adding roughly $23,000 in carrying costs beyond his plan. Post-inspection concessions came to $4,200.
Against a $36,600 model, his actual total was closer to $73,200 — about 10.6%. Nothing about it was unusual. The permit was a phone call he never made, and the carrying-cost exposure was a pricing conversation he had optimistically.
Where to Start
Build the model with the state transfer tax, both commission decisions, attorney fees, and title costs. Add preparation and a concession reserve. Assume a longer listing period than you hope for and price carrying costs accordingly. Call the Town of Hempstead building department before allocating a preparation budget, since what it turns up may claim part of it. Decide the buyer-agent compensation question before offers arrive. And if you've left New York or owned the home for decades, talk to a CPA before setting a closing date.
Sellers wanting a current read on where the home sits can start with a quiet look at present value — the percentage matters less than the dollar figure on an actual price.
The Honest Bottom Line
Six to ten percent, with commission accounting for most of it and the range driven mainly by how the compensation decision goes.
Levittown's cost picture is genuinely favorable relative to the rest of the region. No city transfer tax, no Mansion Tax at typical price points, and a fixed-cost structure that's straightforward to model. What catches people isn't the fee list — it's the permit nobody checked and the months on market nobody budgeted.
Both are addressable before listing, and both cost more to discover later. Sellers wanting to work through what these numbers look like on their own property, with no pressure attached, are welcome to start that conversation whenever it suits them.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Transfer tax rates, thresholds, and transaction costs change. Confirm specifics with a licensed New York real estate attorney and a CPA.
FAQs
What percentage do Levittown sellers pay in total fees?
Six to ten percent of the sale price, with commission the largest component. On a $650,000 sale, a structure of two percent listing plus two and a half percent buyer-side, with state transfer tax, attorney fees, and title costs, comes to roughly $34,600 — about 5.3% before anything discretionary. Preparation spending, which most Levittown sellers put between $8,000 and $20,000, plus a concession reserve brings the total into the six to ten percent range. The commission structure is where the range moves most.
Is commission still split between the buyer's and seller's agents?
Not automatically, and this changed on August 17, 2024. Buyer-agent compensation is no longer posted on the MLS or offered as a condition of listing — it's negotiated within each offer, and buyers sign written agreements with their agents before touring. The seller now decides whether to contribute and how much, which on a $650,000 sale is worth roughly $16,250 at two and a half percent. The listing side is separately negotiable, with fee-negotiated commissions at one and a half to two percent increasingly common.
Do Levittown sellers pay the NYC transfer tax?
No. That tax applies only within the five boroughs. A Bayside seller pays roughly 1.425% on sales at or above $500,000 on top of the state transfer tax — about $13,500 on a $900,000 sale. Levittown sellers pay only the New York State Transfer Tax at four dollars per thousand, filed through Form TP-584. Most Levittown sales also fall below the one-million-dollar Mansion Tax threshold, which means buyers keep cash that Manhasset buyers surrender at closing.
What unexpected costs do Levittown sellers run into?
Three. Permit resolution is the most common — these homes have been expanded almost universally, often without permits or with permits never closed out, and the buyer's attorney orders municipal searches from the Town of Hempstead after contracts are signed. Post-inspection concessions typically run $3,000 to $15,000. And carrying costs, which run roughly $4,000 to $5,500 monthly all in, mean three extra months on market costs $12,000 to $16,500 — more than most preparation budgets.
Are staging and repairs required before selling?
No, and both are genuinely optional. What returns most reliably is narrow: interior paint, floor refinishing, updated lighting, and attention to the front of the house, with most Levittown sellers spending $8,000 to $20,000 total. Decluttering matters more here than in most markets because the original floor plans are compact. Full remodels cost more than they return before a sale. What isn't optional is anything an appraiser may flag — safety and habitability items can stop a financed deal regardless of how the home shows.
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
