3 Things You Need To Know Before Buying Real Estate in New York

by Kevin Gagliano April 24, 2022

These are important items to consider before buying real estate in New York. 

1) CONDITION OF PROPERTY—“BUYER BEWARE” 

• The Purchaser of real estate in New York must conduct any and all inspections of the property that they deem necessary.

• The principle of caveat emptor (buyer beware) applies in New York, which means it is the buyer's duty to conduct due diligence in connection with the purchase of their property. 

• Any issues that are raised during inspection must be included in the Contract of Sale if it is expected that the Seller will fix those things—just because it came up in the inspection doesn’t mean it will get fixed! If you want something fixed it must be included in the contract.

2) THE IMPORTANCE OF A SURVEY 

• A current survey will locate the property boundaries as well as surface structures on the property, including, but not limited to a house, driveway, decks, pool, shed, fence, etc.

• Town Building Departments often require a survey to demonstrate that proposed structures to be built are not over, or too close to the property boundary.

• A structure over a property boundary is called an “encroachment,” and would be the responsibility of a seller to address prior to closing of title under a Contract of Sale. Purchasers who discover an encroachment post-closing are responsible for addressing the encroachment themselves.

• The fee for having a surveyor survey the property is due whether the deal closes or not (although it is usually paid at closing).

• Sometimes a prior survey can be obtained from a Seller and updated by the prior surveyor for a discounted fee. Alternatively, a prior survey can be given to the title company to perform a “survey inspection” which involves a non-surveyor walking the property to see if there are any obvious differences on the property since the prior survey was produced. Since the survey inspection is not performed by a licensed surveyor, it cannot be relied upon for precise boundary lines or encroachments.  However, it can be useful to alert the buyer of a new structure that may not have a Certificate of Occupancy or to further determine if a new structure is within the bounds of the property.

• A new survey is recommended for all purchasers.

3) WHAT IS A MUNICIPAL SEARCH?

• In the course of the title search a “municipal search” is ordered. The municipal search is a request to the local building department to search their files in connection with the property to determine if they have any violations of record and to provide any Certificate(s) of Occupancy or other information they have on file. 

• The municipal search will only disclose violations that have been discovered by the building department to date and does not guarantee that conditions do not exist on the property that may result in future violations. Thus, a municipal search is for informational purposes only and cannot be relied upon to determine the existence of conditions on the property that may result in a violation or that may result in an increase in the tax assessment of the property.