When a buyer's offer gets accepted on Long Island, there is a moment of celebration, and then a long stretch of quiet where it feels like nothing is happening. Clients call me during that stretch asking what is going on.
Quite a lot, as it turns out. New York is an attorney state, meaning real estate transactions here are handled by lawyers rather than title companies or escrow agents, and the weeks between accepted offer and closing are when the actual protection gets built. For most people, this is the largest financial transaction of their life. Here is what should be happening in the background.
The Contract Is Where Your Protection Lives
The accepted offer is not binding. Nothing is binding until a contract of sale is signed by both parties and delivered.
On the seller's side, the attorney drafts the contract. On the buyer's side, the attorney reviews and negotiates it. This is not a formality, and it is not a matter of skimming a standard form. The contract sets the closing timeline, defines exactly what personal property stays with the house, allocates responsibility for repairs and violations, establishes what happens if either party cannot perform, and controls what your remedies are if something goes wrong later.
Buyers sometimes ask me to review a contract they have already signed. At that point my options are dramatically narrower. The time to shape the terms is before signature, not after.
The Down Payment and Escrow
At contract signing, the buyer typically delivers a down payment, commonly around 10 percent of the purchase price, which is held in the seller's attorney's escrow account until closing.
That money sits there for weeks or months, and the contract terms determine the circumstances under which it comes back to the buyer if the deal does not close. Getting those terms right is one of the more consequential things that happens in the transaction, and it is invisible to most buyers until the moment it matters.
The Mortgage Contingency and Its Deadline
If the purchase depends on financing, the contract will contain a mortgage contingency giving the buyer the right to cancel and recover the down payment if a loan commitment cannot be obtained within a specified period.
Two things matter here. First, the length of the period must be realistic for how the buyer's lender actually operates. Second, the deadline has to be tracked and extended in writing when needed. A contingency that quietly expires because nobody was watching the calendar can leave a buyer obligated to close without financing, or exposed to losing the down payment. Monitoring those dates is squarely the attorney's job.
Title, Survey, and the Searches That Matter on Long Island
Once the contract is signed, a title search goes out. It confirms the seller actually has the right to sell, and it surfaces anything attached to the property, including liens, judgments, unpaid taxes, easements, and rights of way.
Municipal searches run alongside it, and on Long Island these are where problems tend to surface. Older housing stock across Suffolk and Nassau has accumulated decades of finished basements, decks, dormers, sheds, pools, and converted garages, and a meaningful share of that work was never permitted or never properly closed out. An open permit or a structure that does not appear on the certificate of occupancy becomes the buyer's problem after closing unless it is identified and resolved before.
The survey shows the actual boundaries and locations of structures, which is how encroachments, fence disputes, and setback issues get caught. Depending on the property and the town, there may also be questions around cesspools and septic systems, oil tanks, flood zone designation, or wetlands. Each of these is far cheaper to address before closing than after.
Your attorney reviews the title report and searches, raises objections, and works with the other side to get problems cleared or appropriately addressed in the contract.
The Costs That Surprise People
Closing costs on Long Island are not trivial, and clients appreciate seeing the full picture early rather than at the closing table.
Sellers pay New York State transfer tax. Buyers purchasing at or above one million dollars owe the state's additional tax on that transaction, and given Long Island prices, that threshold catches more buyers every year. Purchases in the East End towns carry the Peconic Bay Community Preservation
Fund transfer tax paid by the buyer, plus an additional community housing fund charge in the towns that have adopted it.
Add title insurance premiums, recording fees, mortgage related taxes, adjustments for prepaid taxes and fuel, and the total moves well beyond what most buyers budget for. Knowing the number in advance is part of what you are paying an attorney for.
Walkthrough and Closing Day
Shortly before closing, the buyer walks through the property to confirm it is in the condition the contract requires, that agreed repairs were made, that included appliances are present and working, and that the sellers actually removed what they were supposed to remove.
If something is wrong, that is the moment to address it, while there is still leverage. Once the deed is delivered and the money changes hands, the practical ability to fix things drops considerably.
At closing, your attorney reviews the closing statement and adjustments, reviews the lender's documents, confirms the deed and transfer documents are correct, and handles the disbursement of funds. Then you get the keys.
Sellers Need the Same Attention
Everything above applies on the seller's side too. Sellers face title objections they did not know existed, open permits from work done by prior owners, disclosure obligations, payoff coordination with their lender, and contract terms that can leave them exposed if the buyer walks. Being on the selling side does not mean the transaction is simple.
Protect the Biggest Investment You Will Make
A house on Long Island represents years of work and most of what a family has built. The legal work behind the purchase or sale should reflect that.
I have handled residential real estate for buyers and sellers across Suffolk and Nassau Counties for decades, and I bring the same approach to a closing that I bring to everything else: pay attention to the details early, so there are no surprises later.
Call me at (516) 847-0267 for a free consultation before you sign anything. I work directly with every client, never a paralegal, and my office is in Hauppauge. Visit
tregliaattorney.com to learn more.
Attorney Advertising. This is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney regarding your specific situation.
