How Long does it take to Sell a Property in Queens?

One of the questions that we get a lot from potential sellers and Queens’ homeowners is, “How long does it take to sell?”. If you’re thinking of selling your property in Queens, then you probably want to get an idea of how long it’s going to take to find a buyer, and how long it will take to close once you find a buyer.

Whenever we speak with people either who live out of state, haven’t sold a property in NY before, or haven’t bought or sold in a long time, they sometimes think that they will be able to find a buyer and close within 30-60 days. The truth is that this timeline is very unrealistic, especially here in Queens. Now, can you find a buyer and close in 15-30 days? Definitely. The only problem is that the buyers who can close that quickly are investors and being that they NEED to make a profit, their offers will typically be significanly below market value, usually $100K-$200K below.

So, the timeline we will be covering in this post is the typical timeline for a standard sale where the property hits the market, gets full exposure, and sells to a buyer who is obtaining a mortgage or paying all cash.

So how long does it take to sell a property in Queens? The first thing you need to know is how long it takes to find a buyer. Here in Queens average days on market is between 90-120 days. However, a good agent will have an average days on market between 30-60 days. For our team in particular, we generally find a buyer within 30-60 days. This is assuming that the property is priced right and does not any internal or external obsolescence that can affect days on market. Ultimately, as long as your property is priced right and is in the market, then you should be able to find a buyer within the first one to two months.

So let’s say it takes 30-60 days for you to find a buyer, the next step is for the buyer to do their due diligence (i.e. home inspection, financial review, etc). Once due diligence is complete, the next step is to get the attorneys involved so that they can draft and finalize the contract. Once attorneys begin speaking to each other, it can take a week or two for the contract to be finalized because they usually go back and forth on the terms, language, conditions, etc. Once the contract is finalized, the buyer’s attorney will call the buyers in to review and sign. After the buyers sign, the contract is sent back to the seller’s attorney and then the sellers go in to review and sign. If the sellers live out of town the contract is usually mailed for signature. Once the seller signs, you have a fully executed contract if sale. The entire process, from accepted offer to fully executed contract, can typically take between 2-3 weeks.

Once you go into contract, you enter the second phase of the process which is the contract-to-close phase. After speaking to a lot of people from different states, it’s pretty clear that the process here is a lot longer than most states. We have attorney on both sides, very old homes, and strict city & state requirements so this may be a why we have a longer contract-to-close process.

Now, generally speaking, if you were to find a buyer within 30 to 60 days, then you go into contract. Once you’re in contract, if the buyer is taking a mortgage and it’s a residential house or a condo, then you can typically expect to close in 2-3 months. So, for a residential or condo sale where the buyer is obtaining a mortgage, you can expect to close about 60-90 days from the fully executed contract date. Some people think that it’s possible to close in less than 60 days, but we can tell you from our own experience selling 300+ homes, that it is very rare for a property to close in less than 60 days.

There are a lot of things that go into a real estate transaction in Queens, so realistically speaking, the quickest you can expect to close on a residential or condo property is about 2-3 months. And if you want to be conservative, plan for three months.

The other sales scenario which has a different timeline is for coops. If you are priced right and marketed well, you should still be able to find a buyer within 30 to 60 days and the accepted offer to contract phase will still be about 2-3 weeks. However, the contract to close phase for coops will usually include a coop application and board interview process as well so this can add another 30-60 days to the timeline depending on the coop itself. So instead of expecting to close in 60-90 days from executed contract, when selling a coop you can realistically expect to close in 90-120 days from fully executed contract.

Now that you understand the timeline from listing-to-contract and timeline from contract-to-close, you should have an idea of how long it will take you to sell your property.

…For residential properties and condos, the total timeline from listing to contract to close should take about 4-5 months (1-2 months to find a buyer and 2-3 months to close).

…For coops, the total timeline from listing to contract to close should take about 5-6 months (1-2 months to find a buyer and 3-4 months to close).

These are general timelines that you can expect for standard sales where there are big issues that cause longer delays but there are a lot of things that come up that lead to a longer closing timeline. Some of the main issues that cause delays for residential properties are things like tenant issues, mortgage issues, title issues, and survey issues. Some of the main issues that can cause delays with coops and condos are things like lengthy applications, slow management company reviews, slow board reviews, minimal board interviews, and much more. Ultimately, in addition to all the things that can delay a residential sale, a coop or condo sale can also be delayed as a result of the development itself.

Hope this all makes sense and gives you a good idea of the timeline to sell here in Queens. There are several factors that can cause delays in closing but if you hire an experienced agent, they should be able to give you right expectations so that you aren’t caught off guard.

If you have any questions regarding how long it takes to sell a property in Queens, or if you have any other question, feel free to Contact Us anytime 🙂