When a leased building in New York is sold, General Obligations Law section 7-105 gives the seller five days after delivery of the deed to turn every tenant's security deposit over to the buyer and to tell each tenant, by registered or certified mail, the buyer's name and address. That is one of several obligations that follow a rental property to the closing table no matter where the owner lives. Living elsewhere changes only how you meet them.
Across three full market cycles in NYC real estate, the out-of-state sales that close cleanly have one thing in common: the paperwork reaches the listing broker before the listing goes live. An owner a flight away cannot run to the building to find a lease, so what is normally handled in person has to be handled on paper, early.
This guide covers the mechanics for a two to four family house or a small walk-up in Brooklyn or Queens: access and showings, the tenant rules that travel with the sale, the documents to gather, and how a remote closing works. If you are still deciding whether to sell at all, the sell, hold, or exchange guide for long-held 2 to 4 family buildings covers that question first.
Access and showings in an occupied building
New York has no statute that sets a fixed number of hours of notice before a landlord shows an apartment to a buyer. The New York Attorney General's Residential Tenants' Rights Guide describes the rule this way: a landlord may enter with reasonable prior notice, at a reasonable time, and with the tenant's consent, either for repairs or services or in accordance with the lease. If a tenant unreasonably withholds consent, the landlord's remedy is to ask a court for an order. So the lease governs, and reasonable notice is the practice.
For an owner who is not local, that means three practical decisions before the first showing:
- Read the access clause in every lease. Some leases address showings to buyers directly. Send copies to your broker so every request is made under the terms each tenant actually signed.
- Name one person who holds keys. Your managing agent, a local super, or your broker. Tenants should know who is coming and who to call. Nobody enters a unit without the notice and consent the lease and the Attorney General's guidance describe.
- Put every request in writing and keep it to business hours. Group showings into set windows so each tenant is asked as few times as possible. HPD lists repeated contacts or visits during non-business hours, when a tenant has not indicated a willingness to have them, among its examples of harassment. A clear written schedule protects everyone.
What travels with the sale
A buyer of a rental building buys the tenancies along with the bricks. Real Property Law section 223 gives the grantee of leased property the same remedies the seller had under each lease, and gives each tenant the same remedies against the grantee for a breach of the lease that the tenant had against the original landlord. In plain terms, the leases keep running after the deed changes hands.
Security deposits
Section 7-105 requires the seller to turn the deposits over to the buyer at delivery of the deed or within five days after, and to notify each tenant by registered or certified mail. Section 7-108 then makes the buyer liable to the tenant for any deposit, plus accrued interest, that the buyer has actual knowledge of, including any deposit acknowledged in a lease in effect at closing. Where there is no record of a deposit, the same section lets the buyer demand that the seller set up an escrow equal to one month's rent for that unit.
Rent-stabilized units
A sale transfers the stabilized units with their regulated status. The state's Division of Housing and Community Renewal requires a change in ownership to be reported on Form RA-44 within 30 days under section 2523.8 of the Rent Stabilization Code, and the form's own instructions tell a new owner to acquire the building's rental history and bring the registrations up to date. Owners file annual registrations by July 31 for each stabilized unit. Pull that history yourself before listing and fix any missing years before a buyer finds them.
Occupied units sell occupied
A buyer may prefer vacant units, but a contract between you and the buyer cannot end a tenant's lease, and rent stabilization guarantees lease renewals. The seller must not pressure anyone to leave. HPD's tenant harassment page is direct: it is illegal for building owners to force tenants to leave their apartments or surrender their rights, and its examples include repeated buyout offers to rent-regulated tenants. Price the building as it stands, with its leases.
If a unit goes vacant during the sale on its own and you re-let it, NYC's FARE Act governs who pays the broker on that new lease, which the FARE Act page explains.
See what the building is worth with its current leases in place
Get a Home ValueThe paperwork to gather before you list
Registration comes first. HPD requires owners of residential buildings to register every year if the property is a multiple dwelling with three or more units, or a one or two family house where neither the owner nor the owner's immediate family lives. An out-of-state owner of a two-family where no family member lives is inside that rule. The state notes that owners of non-registered buildings cannot certify violations, request a code violation dismissal, or bring a nonpayment case in court, which is a problem you want solved before a buyer's attorney finds it.
Open violations are the second thing a buyer's attorney checks. Run the address through the building check tool to see what the public record shows before your listing does.
| Document | Where it comes from | Why the buyer asks |
|---|---|---|
| Every current lease, renewal, and rider | Your files or your managing agent | The leases bind the buyer under RPL 223 |
| Rent ledger for each unit | Your records or your manager's | Shows what is actually collected, not only what the lease says |
| Security deposit list, with amounts and where each is held | Your bank records and the leases | Deposits transfer under GOL 7-105 and 7-108 |
| DHCR registration history, if any unit is stabilized | hcr.ny.gov | Confirms each registered rent and any missing years |
| Current HPD registration | HPD online registration | Required annually for 3+ units and for non-owner-occupied 1 to 2 family houses |
| Open HPD and DOB violations | Public record, see the building check tool | Violations surface in the buyer's title and municipal searches |
| Last property tax bill | NYC Department of Finance | Expense side of the buyer's numbers, plus closing adjustments |
| Last water and sewer bill | NYC Department of Environmental Protection | Expense figure and a closing adjustment |
| Certificate of occupancy, if one exists | NYC Department of Buildings | Confirms the legal unit count being sold |
| Contact for whoever holds keys | You | Showings, inspections, and the appraisal all need access |
Multi-Family Buildings for Sale in Brooklyn and Queens
2 to 4 unit properties currently listed in Brooklyn and Queens
50-38 47TH Street
Sunnyside
381 Manhattan Avenue
East Williamsburg
Listing information provided courtesy of the Real Estate Board of New York's Residential Listing Service (RLS). Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Sale listings verified. ©2026 REBNY. RLS data displayed by Keller Williams NYC.
Closing without flying in
There are two ways to sign from somewhere else, and many sellers use both.
A power of attorney. New York's statutory short form power of attorney is set out in General Obligations Law section 5-1513, part of Title 15, and section 5-1502A defines the real estate powers it can grant. To be valid under section 5-1501B, it must be signed and dated by the principal, acknowledged the way a deed is acknowledged, and witnessed by two people who are not named as agents in it. Real Property Law section 294 allows a power to convey real property to be recorded in the county where the property sits. Have your attorney draft it and send it to the buyer's title company well before closing, because the title company decides whether it will insure a deed signed under it.
Electronic notarization. Since January 31, 2023, New York has permitted electronic notarization under Executive Law section 135-c. A New York notary registered for electronic notarial acts can notarize over audio-video technology while located in New York, regardless of where the signer is, and the statute says that satisfies any legal requirement to appear in person. Ask the title company early whether it will accept electronically notarized closing documents for your deal.
Your attorney prepares the deed and the transfer tax returns: the city's NYC-RPT, which the Department of Finance requires within thirty days of the transfer and which is created through ACRIS, and the state's combined return, which for New York City property is Form TP-584-NYC.
New York collects its tax at the closing
Nonresident individuals, estates, and trusts selling New York real property must estimate the state income tax on the gain with Form IT-2663 and pay it when the deed is presented for recording, unless the transfer is exempt. The form computes the estimate from the gain at the highest rate for the year. It is a prepayment, not the final bill: you account for it on your New York nonresident return, and any refund is claimed there. The state's instructions say IT-2663 payments cannot be refunded before that return is filed. The form may be signed by an authorized agent.
Federal tax and your home state
The gain is still subject to federal income tax, and your state of residence may tax it too, generally with a credit for tax paid to New York, so confirm your own position with a tax professional before you set a price you need to net. The capital gains guide explains how the gain is measured, the 1031 exchange guide covers deferral if you plan to buy another investment property, and the seller net proceeds calculator puts the closing costs next to the price.
A workable order of operations
- Hire a New York attorney first. The attorney drafts the power of attorney, reviews the leases, and handles the deed and the returns.
- Gather the table above. Send it to your broker in one package before pricing.
- Fix registrations. HPD, and DHCR if any unit is stabilized.
- Set the access plan. One key holder, written notice, set showing windows.
- Price with the leases in place. The buyer is buying the rent roll you actually have.
- Line up the closing method. Power of attorney, electronic notarization, or both, confirmed with the title company.
Selling a Brooklyn or Queens rental from out of state?
Milton Coste, Licensed Real Estate Associate Broker, licensed since November 2001 with more than 1,100 transactions across the five boroughs. I am not your attorney or your accountant, but I can tell you what the building is worth with its current leases and what a buyer will ask to see.
Get a Home ValueThis is planning context, not legal or tax advice. Citations are to NY General Obligations Law sections 7-105, 7-108, 5-1501B, 5-1502A and 5-1513, Real Property Law sections 223 and 294, Executive Law section 135-c, Rent Stabilization Code section 2523.8, NYC Administrative Code section 11-2105, and NY Tax Law section 663 (Form IT-2663), with guidance from the New York Attorney General's Residential Tenants' Rights Guide, NYC HPD's property registration and tenant harassment pages, NYS Homes and Community Renewal, the NYC Department of Finance, and the NYS Department of State, all as of September 23, 2026. Confirm your own situation with a New York attorney and a tax professional before listing or signing anything.
