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Selling on Long Island
Selling a house on Long Island
How the sale actually runs, and what 30 closed sales say about pricing it so it moves.
A sale is mostly decided before the photographs are taken. The price, the paperwork and the condition of the house are set in the first two weeks, and everything after that is consequence.
This is the sequence Danielle Sandella and Kim Fontanez run, and the figures from their own 30 closed listing sales where they make the point better than an assertion would.
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01
Price is the whole game
A correctly priced house draws enough attention in the first two weeks that buyers compete, and competing buyers bid. That is not a claim about negotiating. It is what the price does when it is right, and it is the only way a house ends up selling for more than it was asking.
The reverse is just as consistent. A house that sits gets treated as damaged by every buyer who sees it come up again. The first two weeks are the only two weeks where you have every buyer in the market looking at once, and an ambitious price spends them.
Expect a walkthrough before any number. A price given over the phone is a guess, and guesses cost sellers in both directions.
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02
Fix the paperwork before the photographs
Pull the certificate of occupancy and compare it against what is actually standing. Extensions, dormers, decks, finished basements and converted garages are the usual gaps. If something is unpermitted, you want to know in week one, because resolving it can take months and a buyer's attorney will find it.
Get the survey, any tank removal documentation and the utility history together in the same place. A file that is ready is a closing that does not slip.
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03
Fix what buyers price, skip what they do not
Buyers discount hard for anything that reads as expensive and structural. Roof, heating, electrical service, water intrusion. They discount very little for cosmetic dating, and they will not pay you back for a new kitchen put in to sell.
What is worth doing is cheap and universal. Clear the house out, clean it properly, fix what is visibly broken, cut the front. The middle house among these sales was built in 1956, so buyers here are not expecting new. They are expecting maintained.
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04
Launch once, and launch properly
Photographs get taken after the house is ready, never before. The listing goes live when the photographs, the copy and the paperwork are all done, because the first two weeks cannot be run twice.
A price reduction two weeks in is a much stronger move than launching high and reducing three times over three months. The first tells buyers the seller is serious. The second tells them to wait.
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05
Offers, and what to weigh besides the number
The highest number is not always the best offer. Weigh the mortgage amount, whether the buyer is pre-approved and with whom, the closing timeline, and whether the deal depends on the buyer selling something first.
In New York nothing is binding until both sides sign contracts, so the days between accepting an offer and signing are the ones where deals are lost. Moving quickly to contract is worth real money.
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06
Contract to closing
Your attorney prepares the contract and holds the deposit. The buyer inspects, their lender appraises, and the title search runs. Budget six to ten weeks from signed contracts, driven mostly by the buyer's lender.
Plan for the costs of selling in advance rather than at the closing table. Attorney fee, New York State transfer tax, any payoff on the mortgage, and the brokerage commission. Your attorney will give you the exact figures for your sale, and asking early means the net number is never a surprise.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Every figure on this page comes from Danielle and Kim's own closed listing sales, not from the whole market. It is 30 sales across 23 towns, which is enough to be useful and not enough to be the last word on any single street.
It is also a history of what has already happened. What a house sold for last spring is evidence about this spring, not a promise about it. Anybody who tells you what your house will sell for before walking through it is guessing.
Questions people actually ask
How long does it take to sell a house on Long Island?
That depends almost entirely on the price. A house priced to the market goes to contract within the first few weeks, and one priced above it sits until the price comes down. Add roughly six to ten weeks from signed contracts to closing, which is driven mostly by the buyer's lender.
Should I price high and leave room to negotiate?
It is the most expensive common mistake. Houses sell at or above asking when correct pricing draws competing buyers early, and almost never when the price was set high to leave room. An ambitious price spends the first two weeks, which are the only weeks when every buyer in the market is looking at once.
Do I need to renovate before selling?
Rarely, and almost never a kitchen. Buyers discount heavily for roof, heating, electrical and water problems, and very little for dated finishes. Clearing out, cleaning, and repairing what is visibly broken returns far more than a renovation done to sell.
What paperwork do I need before listing?
The certificate of occupancy checked against what is actually built, the survey, documentation for any oil tank removal, and permits for any work done. Unpermitted alterations are the most common reason a Long Island closing slips, and they take longest to fix when found late.
What does it cost to sell?
The usual items are the attorney fee, New York State transfer tax, the payoff on any mortgage, and the brokerage commission, which is negotiable and agreed in writing before listing. Your attorney will give exact figures for your sale, and it is worth asking for the net number at the start rather than at closing.
The first conversation is a walkthrough
If you are considering selling in the next year, the useful starting point is a walkthrough and a straight read on the number, including what to fix first and what to leave alone.
Talk to Danielle and Kim See recent sales
Figures are from Danielle Sandella and Kim Fontanez's own closed transactions, data courtesy of OneKey MLS as distributed by MLS GRID, covering June 2013 to September 2026.
