Assessments and property taxes for new homebuyers

Before you buy a home

When you’re thinking of buying a new home, online real estate listings can provide a great deal of detail about the houses you’re considering, the neighborhoods, and the local school district.

We suggest you also use the Sales Web tool in our Municipal Data Portal to review the sales prices of similar properties. Sales Web provides ten years of property sale information outside of New York City. (For New York City sales, except on Staten Island, visit the city’s Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS).)

Once you’ve narrowed down your search, contact your realtor or the assessor where the property is located for an estimate of the property taxes.

You can find assessor contact information in the Municipal Data Portal. 

For general information, see Learn about assessments and property taxes. 

At the closing

When you buy your new home, there are three New York State taxes and fees that will generally be collected at the closing:

• filing fee for Form RP-5217-PDF, Real Property Transfer Report (or on Staten Island, Form RP-5217-NYC);
• real estate transfer tax, required on property sales greater than $500; and
• mortgage recording tax, a tax on the recording of real property mortgages.
  • In addition, New York City, Yonkers, and various counties also impose local taxes on mortgages recorded in those jurisdictions.

After the closing

Register for the STAR credit

When the home becomes your primary residence, you should register for the STAR credit online. As long as you remain eligible, the Tax Department will issue you a STAR credit to you by mail or direct deposit each year. See STAR resource center for eligibility and other information.

Note: Depending on when you bought your home, in the first year, you may receive the prior owner’s STAR exemption instead of the STAR credit. In future years, as long as you’re eligible, you'll receive your STAR credit. 

See if you're eligible for a property tax exemption

In addition to the STAR credit, you may be eligible for one or more property tax exemptions. Most exemptions are offered at the discretion of your taxing jurisdiction (municipality, county, or school district). Check with your assessor to see what exemptions are available in your community.

For descriptions of the most common exemptions, see Property tax exemptions.

Understand your assessment

As a homeowner, you should become familiar with your property’s assessment. Your assessment is one of the factors used by your local governments and school district to determine the amount of your property taxes. Below are some key pages to help get you started.

• Learn about assessments and property taxes. Develop a basic understanding of how the assessor determines your assessment and how taxes are calculated by taxing jurisdictions. You should also be familiar with the property tax calendar for your municipality. 
• Check your assessment. We encourage you to review your assessment annually to:
  • ensure your assessment is fair, and
  • make sure you'll receive the exemptions you believe you're entitled to.
• Contest your assessment. Learn how to tell if your property is assessed fairly and, if it isn’t, how to grieve (or challenge) your assessment.