StreetEasy shows you what's on the market. The Condo Book shows you what's inside the book.

Every NYC condo sponsor files an offering plan (the "condo book") with the New York Attorney General's Real Estate Finance Bureau. A sponsor can't take deposits or sign contracts until the plan is accepted for filing. "Accepted for filing" means the disclosure is complete. It is not the state's approval of the building, the price or the deal. More on offering plans.

Schedule A lists every unit with its bedrooms, approximate size, offering price, share of the common interest, projected monthly common charges and real estate taxes. Schedule B is the first-year operating budget: staff, insurance, utilities, repairs and reserves. A thin budget means common charges rise later. How to read both.

Special risks, near the front, disclose what could cost you money: tax abatements that phase out, a sponsor that keeps unsold units, nearby construction, litigation. Amendments carry price changes, budget updates, closing dates and the declaration that the plan is effective; the newest one is the current deal. Finding amendments. You can search inside any plan from the home page.

• Time to review: at least 3 business days with the plan before you sign, or at least 7 days to cancel after you sign.
• Escrow: your deposit goes into a New York bank escrow account within 5 business days. If you aren't told where within 15 business days, you may cancel within 90 days.
• Adverse changes: if an amendment makes a material change that hurts buyers, or the projected first-year budget rises 25% or more, you must be offered the chance to cancel, with at least 15 days to decide.
• Effectiveness: a plan can't be declared effective until contracts are signed for at least 15% of the units offered. If it never becomes effective, deposits are returned.
• Delays: if the first closing slips 12 months or more past the date in the plan, buyers must be offered the right to cancel.

Roughly 4–6% of the price in a new building with a mortgage. The big items are taxes: the mansion tax, the mortgage recording tax and, in a new building, the city and state transfer taxes, which the purchase agreement usually shifts from the sponsor to you. In a resale the seller customarily pays transfer taxes. Use the calculator above.

• Mansion tax (paid by the buyer, on the whole price, from $1 million): 1% under $2M; 1.25% $2M–3M; 1.5% $3M–5M; 2.25% $5M–10M; 3.25% $10M–15M; 3.5% $15M–20M; 3.75% $20M–25M; 3.9% from $25M.
• Mortgage recording tax on the loan: 1.8% under $500,000 and 1.925% from $500,000 (the buyer's share). Co-op loans don't pay it.
• NYC transfer tax: 1% at $500,000 or less, 1.425% above. NYS transfer tax: 0.4%, or 0.65% for NYC homes of $3 million or more.

Your mortgage, plus common charges (your share of running the building), plus real estate taxes billed to you directly. Three things change them later:

• Tax abatements ending. Many new buildings carry a 421-a exemption that steps down over time. Ask what the tax will be without it. 421-a closed to new projects in 2022; its successor, 485-x, includes a homeownership option outside Manhattan.
• The co-op/condo abatement. A primary residence can get a city tax abatement of 17.5% to 28.1%, but not while the building has 421-a or J-51 benefits, and LLC owners don't qualify.
• A low first-year budget. Compare with the common charge benchmarks and read how much common charges should be.

• What you own: a condo is the apartment itself, by deed; a co-op is shares in a corporation plus a lease.
• Board approval: condos usually have a right of first refusal, rarely used; co-op boards require a full application and can say no.
• Down payment: often 10–20% for a condo; often 20–25% or more for a co-op, set by the board.
• Renting it out: usually allowed in a condo; often limited in a co-op.
• Closing costs: higher for a condo (title insurance and mortgage recording tax); lower for a co-op.
• Monthly cost: condo common charges plus your own tax bill; one co-op maintenance payment that includes taxes and the building's mortgage.

Lenders review the building as well as you. For a conventional loan sold to Fannie Mae, at least half the units in a new project (or its phase) must be sold or under contract to people living there or using it as a second home. Conventional lenders also won't lend when, for example, one owner holds more than 20% of the units (in buildings of 21 or more), more than 35% of the space is commercial, or there's major litigation over the building's safety. Ask the sales office which lenders have already approved the building.

It's a companion. StreetEasy and Zillow show listings: what's for sale now, asking prices and past sales. The Condo Book Project shows each condo's offering plan: the sponsor's price for every unit, projected common charges and taxes, the first-year budget, special risks and amendments. Use a listing site to find a home; use this guide to check the building.

No. They're the sponsor's offering prices from Schedule A of each plan as filed, and later amendments can change them. Some plans include income-restricted affordable homes, priced far below the rest. Nothing here is estimated.

From 2027, an annual surcharge applies to some NYC homes worth $1 million or more that aren't the owner's primary residence. Ask your attorney if you're buying a second home or an investment.