Closing Day Checklist for NYC Buyers

In the 72 hours before an NYC closing, review your Closing Disclosure, confirm your funds by phone (never by email), bind your homeowners or HO-6 insurance, and do a final walkthrough. After closing, register for the STAR credit and check that your deed or co-op paperwork is recorded or filed.

Below is a timeline, then a checklist you can tick off as you go. Your progress stays in this browser. Your attorney runs the closing itself; this list covers what's on you.

The timeline

1. 3+ business days before

   Closing Disclosure arrives

   Lenders must give you the Closing Disclosure three business days before closing. Compare it line by line with your Loan Estimate: rate, loan amount, cash to close, and fees.

2. 72–48 hours before

   Confirm the money

   Get the final cash-to-close figure and payee list from your attorney. Confirm wiring instructions or bank-check payees by calling a number you already have.

3. 48–24 hours before

   Insurance and utilities

   Send your lender the insurance binder (HO-3 for a house, HO-6 for a condo or co-op interior). Schedule electric, gas and internet to start on closing day.

4. Closing day, before you sit down

   Final walkthrough

   Walk the home, ideally the morning of closing or the day before, after the seller has moved out.

5. Closing

   Sign, pay, get keys

   Sign loan documents and transfer forms. In a co-op, you receive the stock certificate and proprietary lease instead of a deed.

6. First weeks after

   Register, record, protect

   Register for STAR, confirm recording on ACRIS, sign up for recorded-document alerts, and file your change of address.

Before closing: your Closing Disclosure

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says lenders must provide your Closing Disclosure three business days before the scheduled closing. Use that time. If anything differs from what you expected, ask your lender why before closing day, not at the table. Our guide to the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure shows what to compare.

In NYC, your attorney will also send a closing statement with items the Closing Disclosure may not show in full, such as co-op transfer fees, building move-in deposits and title charges. Check every number with the NYC closing cost calculator. Co-op buyers won't see a mortgage recording tax: loans on individual co-op apartments aren't subject to it.

Funds and wire fraud

Closing day is the moment criminals target. They spoof the emails of attorneys, title companies and agents and send "updated" wiring instructions. The CFPB's advice is simple:

• Pick two trusted people (the CFPB suggests, for example, your agent and your settlement agent; in NYC that is often your attorney) and confirm payment instructions with them by phone or in person, using numbers you already have.
• Never follow wiring instructions that arrive by email, and never send financial details by email.
• Don't click links or open attachments in closing emails until a trusted contact confirms them.

Ask your attorney how each payment should be made. Some closing costs are paid by wire ahead of time and others by official bank check at the table, and payees (the seller, a transfer tax payee, the title company, the managing agent) each need the exact name. Get the list in writing, then verify it by phone.

The final walkthrough

The walkthrough isn't a second inspection. It confirms the home is in the condition your contract promises, that the seller left what they agreed to leave, and that nothing has broken since you last saw it. Bring your contract, a phone charger to test outlets, and a list of the items included in the sale.

• Run every faucet and shower, flush toilets, look under sinks for leaks.
• Turn on the stove, oven, dishwasher, washer and dryer, and the heat or AC (depending on the season).
• Test lights and outlets; open and close windows and doors; check that window guards are in place if required.
• Check that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are present and working.
• Look for new damage from the move: walls, floors, doorframes.
• Confirm agreed repairs were done, with receipts.
• Make sure it's empty (or that agreed items remain) and broom-clean.

If something is wrong, tell your attorney before you sign. Problems are usually handled with a holdback in escrow or a credit, but that has to be negotiated before the money moves.

What to bring

• Government-issued photo ID (bring two forms if your attorney asks).
• Any bank checks your attorney told you to bring, payable exactly as instructed.
• Your checkbook for small last-minute adjustments.
• Proof of insurance if the lender asks for a copy.
• For a co-op: anything the managing agent requested (move-in forms, deposits, recognition agreement items your lender handles).

Interactive checklist

After closing

Register for STAR

New homeowners can't get the old STAR exemption; it's closed to new owners. Instead you register with New York State for the STAR credit, which arrives as a check or direct deposit. To qualify, the home must be your primary residence and the combined income of owners and their spouses must be $500,000 or less. Register through the NYS Tax Department's STAR page once you own the home. Check eligibility with our STAR credit checker and read STAR credit vs exemption.

Confirm your deed is recorded

For a house or condo, your title company sends the deed and mortgage to be recorded. Recording isn't instant. After a few weeks, search your property on ACRIS (Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens) or the Richmond County Clerk's site (Staten Island) and confirm the deed shows you as owner. Our guide on finding your deed on ACRIS walks through it. Co-op transfers aren't deeds: you get a stock certificate and proprietary lease, so ask the managing agent to confirm you're on the co-op's books as the new shareholder.

Protect yourself from deed fraud

The Department of Finance recommends checking your property records at least once a year and signing up for its Notice of Recorded Document program, which mails you a notice when a new document is recorded against your property. See deed theft protection.

Everything else

Update your address, set up your property tax and water accounts, and file away your closing package. The next steps are in after closing: first steps for new NYC homeowners and the change of address checklist.