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Purchaser cost assumptions
Gofer Law PLLC
Estimated Purchaser's Statement
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Estimate only. Excludes property taxes, escrow reserves, prepaid interest, and closing adjustments. Not a title bill or a lender's Loan Estimate.
New York buyer closing costs, estimated before you sign.
This buyer closing costs calculator is designed for New York purchasers who want a practical estimate of the cash needed to close before the contract, loan, or title bill is finalized. It is especially useful for buyers comparing a New York City purchase with a purchase elsewhere in New York State, or for buyers deciding how much financing changes the closing table number.
The estimate focuses on costs that frequently surprise purchasers: mansion tax, mortgage recording tax, title insurance, recording charges, lender-related items, attorney fee assumptions, and sponsor-sale transfer taxes when a new development contract shifts those charges to the buyer.
What the buyer closing costs calculator includes
- New York mansion tax
- Net mortgage recording tax by location
- Contract deposit credit toward cash to close
- TIRSA-rate title insurance estimates
- Owner's and lender's title policy assumptions
- Sponsor-sale transfer tax shifts
- Condo creation fee assumptions
- Buyer attorney fee input
- Estimated total cash to close
When to use it
Use this calculator when you are evaluating an offer, preparing for contract review, comparing financing options, or budgeting for the funds that must be available at closing. For a full transaction picture, compare it with the Seller's Closing Costs Calculator, the overall closing costs calculator, and the Capital Gains Calculator.
This is a planning tool, not a closing statement. Final numbers depend on the contract of sale, lender, title company, municipality, property type, loan terms, sponsor offering plan, tax adjustments, and the actual title bill.
How the numbers are derived
Mansion tax. A purchaser charge on residential conveyances (including co-ops) of $1M or more. Outside NYC: a flat 1%. Inside NYC: the eight-tier progressive schedule from 1.0% to 3.9%, applied to the entire price, with a true cliff at each threshold. Commercial property is exempt.
Contract deposit. Enter the amount the purchaser already paid when the contract was signed. The calculator credits that deposit against the down payment or all-cash purchase-price balance before calculating cash to close; it does not reduce taxes or closing costs.
Mortgage recording tax (financed deals only). NYC: 2.05% (loans under $500K) or 2.175% ($500K+) on 1–3 family/condo; outside NYC the rate is set by county — Rockland 1.30%, the downstate MCTD counties 1.05%, much of upstate 1.00%. The statement displays the purchaser's net mortgage recording tax: the full statutory tax less the portion the lender is required to pay. On a mortgage of six or fewer residential dwelling units, Tax Law § 253(1-a)(a) places the 0.25% "special additional tax" (the "quarter point") on the lender, not the borrower, and a related exclusion under § 253(2)(a) exempts the first $10,000 of debt from part of the tax — worth $25 to $30 depending on the county. Commercial borrowers and institutional entities do not receive this statutory offset. Co-ops carry no mortgage recording tax at all — the loan is secured by shares, not a recorded mortgage.
Title insurance (real property only). Premiums are computed from the TIRSA Rate Manual (7th Revision) on the declining per-$1,000 bracket schedule. All five boroughs and the lower-Hudson / Long Island counties sit in TIRSA Zone 2: an owner's policy runs $402 on the first $35,000, then $6.67/$1,000 to $50K, $5.43 to $100K, $4.36 to $500K, $3.98 to $1M, $3.66 to $5M, and lower brackets above. When financed, the lender's policy is issued simultaneously at the discounted rate — 30% of the loan-policy schedule. Co-ops carry no title insurance. Final premiums may include search continuations and endorsements; treat it as an estimate.
Transfer taxes are the seller's — except in a sponsor sale. In a first sale from a sponsor, the contract customarily shifts the sponsor's NYC RPTT and NYS transfer tax to the purchaser, though this is a negotiated term, not a rule — some sponsors, particularly when moving unsold inventory, retain the obligation themselves. The "Is the purchaser paying the sponsor's transfer taxes?" toggle controls which scenario the estimate reflects; set it to "customary" for the default case or "sponsor pays" to see the estimate without that shift. When shifted, because the purchaser's payment of those taxes is itself additional consideration, the base is "grossed up." Per NYC Department of Finance guidance and Tax Law §1402, for residential property (1–3 family, condo, co-op) only the RPTT is grossed up — the NYS transfer tax is excluded from the gross-up, and the absorbed tax is excluded from the mansion-tax base, which stays on the contract price. For commercial property the RPTT and NYS tax are grossed up together. Toggle the gross-up off to see the un-grossed shift. Confirm the actual allocation against the specific purchase agreement or offering plan.
Condo creation fee (sponsor sales only). Also called a condo formation fee or sponsor reimbursement fee, this is a separate charge — distinct from the transfer-tax shift and the sponsor's attorney fee — by which the purchase agreement requires the buyer to reimburse the sponsor for the cost of forming the condominium: preparing and filing the offering plan, declaration, and by-laws. It is not a tax and has no fixed rate; it is a negotiated contract term, and offering plans vary widely on whether it is charged at all. Confirm the figure, if any, against the offering plan's schedule of closing costs before relying on it.
Threshold Watch. New York's mansion tax is a "cliff" tax — the higher rate reaches the entire price once a line is crossed. When a price sits just over the $1M threshold, or an NYC tier at $2M/$3M/$5M and up, the panel quantifies the exposure so it can be weighed in negotiation.
What this does not include. Property taxes and school/village taxes, tax and insurance escrow reserves, prepaid interest and points, HOA or condo/co-op application and move-in fees, and per-diem adjustments are excluded. It is a planning tool, not a title company's title bill and not a lender's Loan Estimate or Closing Disclosure; those documents control.
2026 legislative note. Spring 2026 proposals to raise the NYC mansion tax and lower its threshold were not enacted; the eight-tier schedule remains the law. A separate pied-à-terre surcharge has been reported as advancing — but that is a recurring annual tax, not a closing cost, and is not included here.