So how long does the leasing/purchasing process take?
So I completely understand that seeing a move-date and potential homelessness staring at you long-range, through the barrel of a gun is absolutely terrifying. To all you poor, poor men out there who have crippling commitment phobia, check this: according to the Washington Post, there are 3.8 million Wedding Boards on Pinterest, the majority of which are secret. This meaning there are a TON of women anxiously planning love in reverse and you’re the final piece to the puzzle. Go into your next Tinder date with the mentality that your face is being superimposed in a barn, with a hazardous level of tea lights, and into painfully curated group configurations that you and your drunk wedding party will have to execute…then try being anxious about your May 1 move.
So I field the whole gamut of emotional volatility but my forte is talking people off the cliff who legitimately think that they will be sleeping on their futon on the sidewalk in the East Village if they don’t lock down something 45 days in advance.
So to give everyone a good rule of thumb as to when it’s acceptable to slip into a paralyzed state of crippling anxiety, let’s crash course the rental and sales timelines:
Rentals
I would say on average, 60-70% of the rental market is listed for immediate move-in. This is predominately because showing apartments with tenants in place is beyondfrustrating (and at times, exceptionally awkward and uncomfortable). Many landlords wait until a tenant vacates so they can clean the apartment, quickly list it, and accommodate around the clock showings to fill the vacancy swiftly. The other 30-40% of the market are hard set move-in dates. Since current tenants have until 30 days to give notice of vacancy, most execute that right and wait until the last minute. The landlord then needs to contact his or her agent, sign the exclusive, the agent needs to properly list the property after preparing the listing…the process can take anywhere from a day up to a week. For example, while rentals for June 1 may start creeping onto the market April 24th, the bolus of the hard-June-1 inventory will come during the first, really into the second, week of May. For individuals trying to push out the lease start date for an immediate move-in apartment, you have more muscle the closer you get to your ideal date. If you’re hitting the pavement on July 3rd looking for an August 1 and put an offer on an immediate-move property, the landlord will most likely counter with July 15th. If you’re out on the 14th and offer August 1, he or she may meet you at the 21st or closer to that proper August 1. If you’re looking for the proper timing to maximize flexibility on the immediate move-in and capture the most 1st of the next-month move in’s, my personal recommendation for when to actively start looking will be three, maximum four, weeks before you want to be dragging your prized possessions across the city.
Sales
The first basic steps in purchasing include retaining an attorney, getting a pre-approval letter (if using financing), filling out the REBNY financial and setting your search parameters. Once you have all that squared away, it’s time to hit the ground running and see properties. This aforementioned process can take a varying amount of time, depending on how quickly you want to or are able to purchase, what property type you are purchasing, and what time of year it is (holidays tend to throw a wrench in things). After you make a proper offer on a home, the timeline becomes much more predictable, as in most cases it takes an average of 60-120 days from preparation of the offer to the closing table. Below is the ballpark timeline but keep in mind that there is no such thing as a seamless transaction so while everyone is usually doing everything to keep things on track, unforeseen issues can always arise and delay closing.
| Step | Duration |
| Prepare the offer | 1 day |
| Negotiate the offer and acceptance | 2-5 days |
| Sign contract/escrow deposit, loan application and appraisal, loan approval and commitment letter, | 2-4 weeks |
| Co-op board package andinterview/condo application | 4-6 weeks |
| Bank and attorney prep closing | 1-2 weeks |
| Final walk through | Day of closing |
| Transaction closing | 3 hours |