Buy smart. Not just fast.
Nobody asked what you actually need. That is the problem I solve.
Start with a free conversation Run my numbers
Sell first or buy first. Cons first, each way. Sell first and you know your number, but you may need a short rental between homes and two moves. Buy first and you move once, but you carry two payments until the old house closes, and a sale contingency weakens your offer on a multiple offer week here. The middle path is a sale with a longer closing or a rent back, and it needs the selling side lined up the same week as the buying side.
The planning for that sits on the rightsizing page, and the selling half is the seller guide. Both halves run from one conversation.
What actually happens, step by step, money included
One timeline, start to keys, with the money told at the exact moment it moves. You never do any of these alone; running them is my job. Want the money first? See the five costs in one list.
- 1Get pre approvedabout a weekA lender puts your number in writing, and on Long Island that is what makes an offer real.
- 2Tour with a planweeks, sometimes monthsYou see homes before most buyers do, and the Long Island checks run before you fall in love.
- 3Offer, then inspectabout a weekA clean offer with the right terms, then the inspection within 24 to 48 hours, before anything is signed.
- 4Contract and attorneya few daysYour attorney writes in the contingencies, you sign, and the deposit goes into escrow.
- 5Loan to commitmentoften 30 to 45 daysApplication, appraisal, and the commitment letter that protects your deposit.
- 6Close and the keysoften 45 to 60 days from contractFinal walk through, the closing table, then the first thirty days as an owner.
You do not memorize these steps. Running them is my job. Picking the house is yours.
Call or text (631) 528-5786Take the one page version
The whole process on one printable page. It opens right here and lands in your inbox.
What comes out of your pocket
Five costs, in the order the money leaves.
3 to 5 percent of the price at the least, on most loans. It is paid in two parts. On contract: a deposit, usually 5 to 10 percent of the price, held in escrow. With a low down payment loan your attorney can ask for a smaller one. At closing: the rest of your down payment.
$650 and up. Paid to the inspector, within 24 to 48 hours of your accepted offer and before you sign the contract. A larger home or added tests, like a cesspool camera or an oil tank sweep, cost more.
$600 to $800. Your lender orders it. It counts as one of your closing costs.
$1,950 to $2,300 for a standard purchase. On Long Island your attorney writes the contract and sits beside you at the closing table.
About 3 to 5 percent of the purchase price, on top of the down payment. The appraisal and the attorney fee above are part of it, along with lender fees, the mortgage recording tax and title insurance.
These are general ballpark estimates from Team Muds, as of October 2026, and not a quote. Every deal is different. Please contact your lender for accurate numbers; the Loan Estimate they send prices your exact deal.
Get pre approved
About a week. The letter sets your budget and makes your offer real.
Get preapproved, not prequalified. Prequalification is a guess. Preapproval is a verified written commitment from a lender. On Long Island sellers know the difference, and so do the buyers you are competing against. It usually costs nothing but a conversation, and it happens before the first tour.
Nothing, or close to it. Some lenders charge for the credit pull, most do not. The application fees come later, under contract.
A letter that expires mid search, or finances that change after it is written. Both are fixable, and both are cheaper to fix before an offer than after.
Nothing yet. The letter is the lender's word, not yours. The one paper that comes before the first tour is the written buyer agreement, and it names what your agent is paid and who pays it.
Nothing yet. The letter is the lender's word, not yours. If you last bought before 2024, this changed: a written buyer agreement now comes before the first tour, it states what your agent is paid, and the seller can still cover that amount. Ask me how it works.
Run my numbers The lenders who answer
Pre approval, the questions everyone asks eventually
These come up in week one or week six, but they always come up. Here they are before they cost you a house.
The lenders who answer their phones for my clients are on the resources page. Use them or use anyone else; the shopping advice stands either way. Short on the down payment? Suffolk, Nassau, Brookhaven, the state and two nonprofits all have programs, with the catch on each, on the down payment help page.
Tour with a plan
Weeks, sometimes months. Town, commute, the must haves, the timeline. The wrong house is not a win.
See homes before they hit the market. OverSouth is the top ranked brokerage on Zillow in the Northeast, so through Zillow Preview your search starts before most agents know a listing exists.
Then we tour with a plan: town, commute, the must haves, the timeline, priced against real numbers, never against the sticker.
Nothing. Touring is free, and so is the phone call before you offer.
Touring a house three times before offering, and skipping the checks that only matter here: the tank, the cesspool, the panel, the flood zone. All six are below.
The written buyer agreement, if it is not already signed. Nothing else.
See your town first What is on this week
Things that only matter here
Long Island homes come with homework most markets never assign. Every item below is manageable when it is caught before you sign, and catching it is my job. Cons first, always.
Already eyeing a house? Call me before you offer. The tank and cesspool questions cost nothing on the phone.
Call or text (631) 528-5786Offer, then inspect
About a week. The offer that wins, then the inspection, before anything binds you.
Inspect within 24 to 48 hours of your accepted offer.
In New York an accepted offer binds nobody. The seller can keep showing the home until contracts are signed, and the buyer who lost to you is still waiting. Buyers who lose a home after an accepted offer almost never lose on price. They lose on days. So we book the inspector the same day your offer is accepted.
Build an offer that wins without overpaying. Price matters, but a clean offer with the right contingencies beats a higher offer with messy terms. We study the seller's motivation and days on market before writing a single number. And breathe: in New York an accepted offer binds nobody. Three steps in, not a dollar has moved.
Inspect BEFORE you sign anything. This surprises people from other states. On Long Island the inspection package, general plus tank sweep plus cesspool camera plus radon, happens before contracts. This is the first money you spend, a few hundred dollars at the time of service, and it is spent on purpose: you find the six figure problem while walking away still costs nothing but this bill.
The inspection package, a few hundred dollars at the time of service, done within 24 to 48 hours of the accepted offer. This is the first money you spend, and it is the cheapest exit real estate sells.
Waiving the inspection to win, lowballing a correctly priced home, or posting the house on social media before the keys. The full list is below.
Nothing binding. In New York an accepted offer binds nobody until contracts are signed.
Buyer behavior that costs you the house
Real things buyers do that weaken offers and lose houses. Every one of them is avoidable, and now you know.
Contract and attorney
A few days. The deposit moves, and the contingencies are what protect it.
Attorney review. Never skip it. In New York the seller's attorney drafts the contract and your attorney negotiates it, writing in the contingencies that will guard your money. Signing is the moment your deposit, typically 10 percent, goes into the seller attorney's escrow account. From here you are bound, and the contingencies are the deposit's protection. What happens next, all ten lender stages and where each one breaks, has its own page.
The contract deposit, typically 10 percent, into the seller attorney's escrow account. Your attorney's fee comes at closing, usually.
Skipping attorney review, or signing a contract without the contingencies that guard the deposit.
The contract of sale. From here you are bound, and the contingencies are the deposit's protection.
Under contract, the full stage map The closing dictionary
The money at risk, item by item
The stops above say when each dollar moves. This ledger says what happens to it if the deal dies before closing, because that is the question every buyer eventually asks.
| The item | Who pays | When | If the deal dies before closing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inspection package (general, tank sweep, cesspool camera, radon) | Buyer | At the inspection, before contract | Spent, and that is its job: a few hundred dollars to find the expensive problem while walking away is still free. |
| Contract deposit, typically 10 percent | Buyer | At contract signing, into escrow | Returned when you exit through a contingency: mortgage denied, title defect, or an appraisal clause if your attorney wrote one in. At risk only when you walk without one. |
| Appraisal | Buyer | After contract, through the lender | Spent once performed. This is the main sunk cost of a dead deal. |
| Application and credit fees | Buyer | At application | Spent, small. |
| Title search and title insurance | Buyer | Ordered after contract, collected at closing | Most charges never come due; a search or cancellation fee can. Your attorney can name that number before ordering. |
| Your attorney | Buyer | At closing, usually | Many Long Island attorneys charge little or nothing on a deal that dies. Ask when you hire; get the answer before you need it. |
| Lender closing costs and mortgage recording tax | Buyer | At the closing table | Never owed on a deal that does not close. |
| Transfer tax | Seller | At closing | Not your money at any point. |
The sum of it. On most deals the truly sunk money if you back out is the inspection package plus the appraisal plus small application fees. Every dollar of it exists to protect the deposit, which is many times bigger, and the house decision, which is bigger still. Paying a modest amount to walk away from the wrong house is not wasted money; it is the cheapest exit real estate sells.
When the seller kills the deal. Your remedies live in the contract your attorney negotiated; reimbursement of your costs is a term to bargain for, never something to assume. One more reason the attorney step is not a formality here.
Costs vary by deal, lender, and attorney. The Loan Estimate prices your exact loan, and your attorney prices the rest. This page is the map, not the invoice.
Loan to commitment
Often 30 to 45 days. The paper that prices everything, and the date that protects your deposit.
Mortgage application, and the paper that prices everything. Within three business days of applying, federal rules require your lender to hand you a Loan Estimate: every fee on your exact deal, itemized on one standard form. When you want to know what all of this costs, that document is the answer, not a rule of thumb. The application, credit, and appraisal fees land here, the modest sunk costs of a deal that dies.
The application, credit and appraisal fees. Small, and the main sunk cost of a deal that dies.
Protect your deposit at the mortgage contingency. Your lender has a set window, often 30 to 45 days, to issue a written commitment, the commitment letter. This is the most litigated clause in NYS real estate, and missing the deadline by one day puts your deposit at risk. I track it so it never gets missed.
Appraisal, and the three doors if it comes in low. The lender orders it, you pay for it, and the lender will not fund more than the number it returns. If it lands under your price, three doors open: the seller drops the price, you cover the gap in cash, or, only if your attorney wrote a separate appraisal clause into the contract, you exit with the deposit returned and the appraisal fee spent. Most Long Island contracts do not carry that clause, and a low value does not by itself trigger the mortgage contingency, so ask before you count on that door. The under contract page walks the whole appraisal stage.
The loan application, then the Loan Estimate, then the commitment letter. Read all three.
Close and the keys
Often 45 to 60 days from contract. The walk through, the table, then the first thirty days as an owner.
Insurance and utilities, lined up early. The lender requires homeowners insurance before closing, and Long Island premiums range widely; the affordability tool carries the real local figures. Utilities are PSEG Long Island for electric and National Grid for gas across most of the island; schedule the switch for closing day.
Final walkthrough and closing. You verify condition within 24 hours of closing and review the closing disclosure line by line. Every remaining check, title, lender, taxes, attorney, is cut at this table, which means a deal that never reaches it never owes them. Then the keys.
Cash to close runs about 3 to 5 percent of the price on top of the down payment: lender closing costs, the mortgage recording tax, title, your attorney. The Loan Estimate prices your exact deal.
A last credit pull that finds a new car or a new card. Your lender checks again before closing.
The closing disclosure, line by line, then the deed.
Closing day and the first thirty days, by county
After the keys
The sale ends at the table. Ownership starts there, and the first moves matter. County specifics below come from the state and county offices, and each names its source.
The longer answers
Everything above is the journey. Open only what you want; the rest waits.
I have been in all three of these seats
You have probably been looking for a while. You found a house you loved. You made an offer. You lost it. Maybe more than once. And somewhere in that process someone told you to just offer more, go higher, move faster, waive the inspection. Nobody asked what you actually need. Nobody explained why you keep losing or what the winning buyers are doing differently. That is the problem I solve.
You are not doing anything wrong. The market is not rigged. But the process is designed for people who already know how it works. I know because I have been exactly where you are. I moved to this country in 2002. I relocated my family from California to Long Island. I rented first, then bought my first home in a market I did not fully understand. And before real estate I spent 25 years in technology building systems where real people's money was on the line. I bring that same standard to every deal I touch.
First time buyers
You grew up renting and nobody in your family explained what a mortgage contingency is, or why it is the most litigated clause in New York State real estate contracts. I explain everything before you sign anything.
Relocating families
You are moving to Long Island from another state or country. You do not know yet what makes Smithtown different from Nesconset, or why the same price buys very different homes depending on the tax district and the lot. I moved here from California. I know exactly what you need to know first.
Move up buyers
You are selling your starter home and buying bigger. You have done this once, so you think you know the process. But the stakes are higher, the decisions are more complex, and the margin for error is smaller. I help you upgrade without the second time mistakes.
The numbers most buyers never run: what actually sets your rate, and where it sits today
What actually sets your rate
Your mortgage rate does not follow the Federal Reserve. It follows the ten year Treasury. That surprises people, and it is the reason a Fed cut can land on the news while your quote does not move at all, or moves the wrong way.
The reason it is the ten year and not the thirty is that a thirty year mortgage almost never lasts thirty years. People sell or refinance, so the average loan lives about seven to ten years, and investors price it against the Treasury that matches that life.
Your rate is that Treasury yield plus a spread. The spread is what investors charge for the awkward fact that a mortgage goes wrong for them in both directions: when rates fall, borrowers refinance and the investor loses a high paying loan early, and when rates rise, borrowers sit still and the investor is stuck holding a low paying one. They want to be paid for that, and they want more when rates are jumpy. The Fed matters here too, but indirectly, through how much mortgage debt it is buying or letting run off.
The practical use for you: the ten year is public and moves daily. When it jumps, mortgage rates usually follow within days. It is the closest thing to a free early warning that exists in this process.
Where the two sit today
2026-10-07
week of 2026-10-01
long run average about 168
The spread is running about 32 basis points wider than its long run average. On a $600,000 loan, an ordinary Suffolk number, that gap alone is roughly $130 a month, about $15,600 over ten years. That cost has nothing to do with your credit and nothing to do with the house. It is the bond market charging more to hold mortgages right now.
Thirty year average from the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, week of 2026-10-01. Ten year yield from the United States Treasury daily yield curve, 2026-10-07. These are national market figures, published here as market data. They are not a quote, and your own rate comes from your lender.
Shop three or more lenders. On a $700,000 Suffolk County home, a one percent rate difference is roughly $350 to $450 a month. Accepting the first quote leaves real money on the table for 30 years. And always compare APR, meaning the true cost including lender fees, not just the rate.
Know your deposit exposure. A typical Long Island deposit is 10 percent, so $70,000 on a $700,000 home sits in escrow. Your contingencies are what protect it. Understanding them is not optional.
Ask about SONYMA. New York State's program gives first time buyers below market rates and down payment help, and most Long Island buyers have never heard of it. Ask your lender about eligibility before accepting a standard rate.
Lock your rate once in contract. Floating in hopes of a better number is a gamble you do not need.
The biweekly payment trick, done the free way
The biweekly payment trick, done the free way. Cons first: never pay a lender or a third party for a biweekly payment plan. Some programs charge setup and monthly fees for arithmetic you can do yourself, and some simply hold your half payment until the full month arrives, which delivers nothing. The math underneath is real, though: half your payment every two weeks makes 26 half payments, which is 13 full payments a year, and that extra payment lands on principal. On a 30 year loan at today's rates that shaves roughly five to six years and a large slice of lifetime interest. The free version: divide your monthly payment by 12, add that amount to every payment, marked principal only. Same extra payment per year, zero fees, and you can stop any month money gets tight. Two checks first: confirm the loan has no prepayment penalty, and confirm on your statement that the extra actually lands on principal, not on next month's bill.
Your county's grievance window
Free to file, and the assessment can only go down or stay put, never up, because you filed.
Suffolk County
You file with your town, not the county. Form RP-524 goes to your town's Board of Assessment Review, filings open May 1, and Grievance Day is the fourth Tuesday of May in most towns. Miss it and the next chance is a year away. Per New York State's grievance procedures at tax.ny.gov; confirm dates with your town assessor.
Nassau County
You file with the county's Assessment Review Commission, form AR1 for houses, online through AROW or at 240 Old Country Road in Mineola, 516 571 3214. The window opens January 2 and typically runs to early March, and extensions are common, so check the commission's page for the current year's deadline. Per the Nassau County Assessment Review Commission.
Short sale, bank owned, and the other words on a listing
Seeing words like short sale or bank owned on a listing? Those change who has to approve your offer and how long you wait. Here is what each one means.
My commitment to you
You will never feel lost in your own transaction. I explain every step before we take it. I track every deadline so your deposit is never at risk. I run every number before you fall in love with a house. And if a home does not make sense for your actual life, I will say so, even if we have been looking for six months, even if you love it. The wrong house is not a win for either of us.
If at any point you feel like you do not understand what is happening or why, that is on me, not you. That is my commitment every time.
Start with a free conversation See your town first The closing dictionary
Take the one page version
The whole process on one printable page. It opens right here and lands in your inbox.
