How to Lock Your Mortgage Rate: What to Ask Before You Do
A mortgage rate lock holds your rate until closing if nothing in your application changes. Here is how it works, what can still move your rate, and the questions the CFPB suggests you ask.
Buyer Tips
Practical buying guidance — inspections, contracts, contingencies, offer strategy
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How to Find Your Suffolk County Tax Map Number (and Read It)
Your Suffolk County tax map number is a four-part code that identifies your parcel. Here is where to find it, how to read District, Section, Block and Lot, and why deeds, surveys and records requests ask for it.
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How to Make an Offer on a House in New York: What Binds You and When
An accepted offer in New York binds no one yet. Follow the steps from offer letter to signed contract, with the deposit, disclosure form and rate math.
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How to Get a Copy of Your Deed From the Suffolk County Clerk
A step-by-step guide to ordering a plain or certified copy of a recorded deed from the Suffolk County Clerk by mail or in person, with the fees and details the Clerk publishes.
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How to Read Your New York Property Tax Bill, Line by Line
A plain walk through a New York property tax bill: tax map number, assessed and full value, exemptions, rates, due dates, and who to call about errors.
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Co-op or Condo in New York? Seven Tests That Settle It
Co-op or condo in New York? Seven tests on cash, approval, monthly costs, and resale, plus what NYC’s new co-op timeline law changes for buyers.
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How to Find Out If a Long Island Home Is in a Flood Zone, and What Flood Insurance Costs
Look up a Long Island address on FEMA flood maps, read New York’s seller flood disclosure, and see what NFIP flood insurance costs and covers before you sign.
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Reading a Property Survey Before You Buy a Long Island Home
How to read a property survey before buying a Long Island home: the dates, boundary lines, corner markers, fences, easements, and setbacks to check.
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Title Insurance in New York: Who Each Policy Protects and How the Price Is Set
Title insurance on Long Island: who owner’s and lender’s policies protect, how New York regulates rates, Zone 2 discounts, and the October 2024 changes.
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Home Inspection Day in New York: How Buyers Should Prepare
How New York buyers can prepare for a home inspection: choosing an inspector, a day-of checklist, Long Island add-on tests, and what Albany’s pending bills mean.
