By Eric Berman, REALTOR® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
TL;DR:
Selling a Long Island home carries a predictable set of costs that come out of the sale price — brokerage commission, NY State Transfer Tax, real estate attorney fees, the mortgage payoff, and a few smaller items. Adding them up before listing is what lets a seller plan around real net proceeds rather than a headline number.
Why the Total Matters More Than Any Single Cost
Most sellers think in terms of sale price, but the number that actually funds their next move is what's left after every cost comes out. Those costs are predictable enough to total up before a home is ever listed, and doing that math early is the difference between a seller who plans confidently and one who's surprised at the closing table. The point of understanding costs isn't to dwell on them — it's to know the real net so the rest of the plan is built on a solid number.
That's the lens this overview takes: not the mechanics of each line item, but how they add up to a seller's bottom line. For a closer look at how each individual cost is handled and where there's room to negotiate, the overview of how closing costs are handled for sellers on Long Island breaks the mechanics down in detail. Here, the focus is the total — and what it means for the seller's net.
The Big Two: Commission and Transfer Tax
For most sellers, two costs dominate the total. The brokerage commission is usually the largest single line item, agreed to in the listing agreement and paid from proceeds at closing. Following the 2024 industry changes, the way buyer-side compensation is handled is more openly negotiated than it once was, which makes an early, clear conversation about commission structure worthwhile. Because it's the biggest number, it's also where a seller's attention naturally goes — though it's best understood in terms of the marketing, pricing, and negotiation it buys.
The second is the NY State Transfer Tax, which the seller pays on most residential sales at a rate of $4 per $1,000 of sale price — $4,000 on a $1,000,000 home. At the upper end of the market, the Mansion Tax of 1% also enters the picture on sales of $1 million or more; it's paid by the buyer, but it affects what buyers in that range can afford to offer, so sellers in Manhasset, Port Washington, Garden City, and Roslyn should factor it into strategy. The overview of taxes when selling on Long Island covers the full tax picture.
Attorney Fees, Mortgage Payoff, and the Smaller Items
New York is an attorney state, so a real estate attorney — not a title company or closing agent — handles the legal side of the sale, and their fee is a known, quotable cost a seller can lock in before listing. When it comes time to pay off an existing mortgage, it's the seller's attorney who coordinates the payoff figure with the lender, calculating the remaining principal, accrued interest, and any administrative charges into the final closing statement.
Beyond those, a handful of smaller costs round out the total: recording fees, any agreed repairs or buyer credits, and prorated property taxes settled between buyer and seller based on the closing date. None of these rivals commission or transfer tax in size, but together they shape the final net — which is exactly why a complete net sheet before listing is worth the few minutes it takes. Seeing how all of it nets out is the whole goal, and the overview of how to net the most from a sale puts the total cost in the context of maximizing what a seller keeps.
Planning Around the Number
Knowing the total cost of selling does two things for a seller. It makes the net sheet accurate, so the proceeds figure a seller carries into their next purchase is real rather than optimistic. And it removes the single most common source of closing-table stress — the surprise of a smaller-than-expected check — by replacing it with a number the seller has known and planned around from the start.
The sellers who come out ahead are rarely the ones who found some trick to avoid costs; they're the ones who understood the costs early and built their plan around the real net. A net sheet prepared before listing turns a vague worry into a concrete, plannable figure, and it's one of the simplest, highest-value steps a seller can take before a home ever goes on the market.
FAQs
Q: What are the main costs of selling a home on Long Island?
A: The largest are brokerage commission and the NY State Transfer Tax, followed by real estate attorney fees and the payoff of any existing mortgage. Smaller items include recording fees, any agreed repairs or buyer credits, and prorated property taxes. All come out of the sale proceeds at closing.
Q: How much is the NY State Transfer Tax?
A: New York charges $4 per $1,000 of the sale price, paid by the seller on most residential sales — so a $1,000,000 sale carries a $4,000 transfer tax. On sales of $1 million or more, the buyer also pays a separate 1% Mansion Tax, which can affect affordability at the top of the market.
Q: Who handles the mortgage payoff when selling?
A: In New York, the seller's real estate attorney coordinates the payoff with the existing lender, confirming the remaining principal, accrued interest, and any administrative charges. That figure is built into the final closing statement and deducted from the seller's proceeds at closing.
Q: Can a seller estimate their costs before listing?
A: Yes. A net sheet outlines the expected commission, transfer tax, attorney fees, and mortgage payoff against the projected sale price, producing an estimated net before the home is listed. Preparing one early helps a seller plan their next purchase budget with a realistic number.
Q: Which selling costs are negotiable?
A: Commission structure, buyer credits, and repair concessions all have room for negotiation, while fixed costs like the transfer tax and government recording fees do not. Focusing on the flexible items is where a seller can most directly influence their final net proceeds.
The costs of selling a Long Island home aren't mysterious or avoidable — they're a known set of numbers that can be totaled well before a home goes on the market. The sellers who plan for them end up with no surprises and a net they can count on. For anyone wanting to see where their own numbers might land, a quiet look at current home values is a useful starting point, and putting together a net sheet together anytime is welcome too.
By Eric Berman, REALTOR® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
Eric Berman | Long Island & Queens REALTOR® | Compass
1468 Northern Blvd, Manhasset, NY 11030
(917) 225-8596 | eric@ericbermanteam.com | theericbermanteam.com
