Long Island First-Time Home Buyer Guide and Checklist

I help first-time buyers on Long Island and across downstate New York get from a first budget to the closing table. This guide covers the whole path, with a checklist. For help with the cash, see how down payment assistance works on Long Island.

Who counts as a first-time home buyer?

There is no single definition of a first-time home buyer on Long Island: each program sets its own, and many down payment assistance programs count you as one if you have not owned a home in the past three years. If you owned years ago, you may qualify again, and some programs make exceptions for veterans or for purchases in targeted areas.

For the mortgage itself, the label usually matters less than your income, credit, savings and the property. Where it matters most is in assistance programs. If you have owned before, or you are buying with someone who has, tell me when you last owned, and I will check how each program you are considering treats it.

Your loan options: FHA, conventional and VA

FHA, conventional and VA loans all finance first homes on Long Island. I price them side by side, and each has its own guide; here is the short version.

Credit still being rebuilt? Start with my guide to getting mortgage-ready with a low credit score. To compare every option, see all Long Island loan programs, and for each stage from pre-approval to closing, read my guide to how a Long Island home purchase mortgage works.

Down payment help

The down payment assistance I can offer comes from private programs available through lenders I work with. They are not New York State, county or town programs, and they are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency. I match you with a lender and a program that fit your situation. Terms, eligibility and availability vary by program and lender, are subject to credit, income, property and underwriting guidelines, and can change or end without notice. Not everyone will qualify.

Assistance has to be paired with the right first mortgage, because not every first mortgage accepts every program. Raise it at the start, and I will check the fit before you write an offer, not after. If family is helping instead, or as well, see the gift question in the FAQ below. Ask me which private programs you may qualify for.

What it costs to buy on Long Island

Per OneKey MLS, the August 2026 median single-family price was $911,000 in Nassau and $760,000 in Suffolk, and the down payment is only part of the cash you need. Start with your attorney’s fee and title insurance; the NYS Department of Financial Services says the buyer generally pays for both the lender’s and the owner’s title policy. New York also charges a mortgage recording tax when your mortgage is recorded, and some purchases carry other state or local taxes at closing. Add the appraisal, inspection, homeowners insurance and, on many loans, an escrow deposit for property taxes.

See what price range fits your income and debts with the how much can I afford calculator, and test monthly payments in the mortgage payment calculator. My home purchase guide lists the closing costs to budget for, and my Long Island housing market page tracks prices month by month. Your closing attorney confirms the exact figures.

Property taxes and STAR

Property taxes are part of your monthly housing cost, so the tax bill on a specific house shapes what you can afford. They vary house by house: Nassau has 56 school districts and about 200 special taxing districts, and its county Department of Assessment sets the assessed value of each of its roughly 416,000 parcels, while in Suffolk each town’s assessor sets assessments. Ask for the current tax bill on any house before you offer, and budget on that bill, not a hoped-for reduction.

STAR is New York’s school tax relief. Owners who’ve had it since 2015 may still see it as an exemption on the school tax bill. New buyers don’t get that. You register with the state for the STAR credit, and it sends you a check or a direct deposit each year you qualify. The Basic STAR credit has a $500,000 income limit, counting the owners and spouses who live in the house. Two timing rules catch people. The state looks at who owned the home and lived in it on July 1, so if you close after July 1, your first credit is next year’s. And if the seller had the exemption, it may stay on your first bill, then it’s gone. I budget on the bill without it. On Long Island the checks follow the school tax bills: the state starts sending Nassau credits in October and Suffolk credits in December.

If you later think your assessment is too high, Nassau owners file with the Assessment Review Commission (the next window runs January 4 to March 1, 2027), and in Suffolk the town Boards of Assessment Review meet on the third Tuesday in May; confirm the date and filing rules with your town assessor. My Nassau County and Suffolk County guides have more local detail. I don’t give tax advice, so talk with your attorney or a tax professional about your own situation.

A 90-day plan to buy your first home

Here is how I would lay out the next three months if you are starting today. Many loans close in roughly 30 to 45 days from application, so an offer accepted near the end of month two can close around day 90. If the house takes longer to find, the middle stretch runs longer; keep your documents fresh. If your start date is flexible, my look at the best time to buy a house on Long Island shows which months have had the most homes for sale and the fastest sales.

Documents to gather

Most mortgage applications need income, asset and identity documents, plus details on your debts. Gather them in the first month of your plan, and your pre-approval, and later your underwriting, will move faster. For a list built around your situation, with the reason for each item, use my printable mortgage document checklist: check what applies to you, like self-employed income, gift funds or a co-op, then print it or save it as a PDF.

Proof of income

• Your last 30 days of pay stubs.
• W-2s for the past two years.
• Federal tax returns for the past two years, all pages and schedules.
• Documentation for any other income you want counted: bonus, commission, child support, Social Security, pension or rental income.

Proof of funds

• Two months of statements for every account you will use for the down payment and closing costs, all pages.
• Retirement or investment statements if you plan to draw from them.
• A gift letter and proof of transfer if a relative is helping.

Underwriters trace where the money came from. Money that appears without a paper trail has to be explained, and that explanation is often what holds up a file in the final week.

To see how much cash a given price and down payment would take, and roughly what the monthly payment would be, run the numbers in the mortgage payment calculator. If you are hoping to use down payment assistance, tell me at the start. The programs I can pair with your loan are private programs available through lenders I work with, not state or county programs, and each one should be matched with your first mortgage before you write an offer. Terms, eligibility and availability vary by program and lender, and not everyone will qualify.

Identity and the rest

• A government-issued photo ID.
• Your Social Security number and current address history.
• The fully executed contract of sale once you have one, plus your attorney's information.
• Homeowners insurance quote for the property you are buying.
• For veterans, your Certificate of Eligibility or DD-214. See VA loans on Long Island for how eligibility and entitlement work.

If you're self-employed

Add your business tax returns if you own 25% or more of a partnership, S corp or corporation, and some lenders also ask for a year-to-date profit and loss statement. If your returns show heavy write-offs, tell me early. Through lenders I work with, I also offer bank statement and 1099 loans, which count your income another way, and knowing that up front saves everyone a round of frustration. My guide to self-employed mortgages on Long Island shows how a lender figures your income from your returns.

Your credit

Check your report before you apply so surprises surface early. If something is wrong, there is usually time to correct it. If a score is close to a pricing threshold, small moves like paying down a card can make a real difference in your pricing.

What to avoid once you apply

• Do not open new credit cards or finance a car.
• Do not move large sums between accounts without telling me first.
• Do not change jobs mid-process if you can avoid it.
• Do not deposit cash that cannot be documented.

None of these are rules I invented. They are the items that come back as conditions from underwriting, and each one costs days.

What happens after you send it

I review everything, run a soft credit check that won’t affect your score, and get you a pre-approval you can attach to an offer. From there, many loans close in roughly 30 to 45 days from application to closing, and files where the documents are ready move at the fast end of that range. Send me your documents and I will tell you exactly where you stand.

Long Island closing: attorney review and title

In New York, the buyer and the seller typically each hire their own real estate attorney. The attorneys negotiate and review the contract of sale before it is signed, and your attorney stays involved through closing.

A title search and title insurance are also part of closing. The search looks for anything recorded against the property, such as liens, that needs to be resolved before ownership passes to you. Keep the documents on this checklist handy until the day you close, because the lender may ask for updated pay stubs, statements or other items along the way.

First-time buyers in New York City, Westchester, Rockland and Putnam

The loans and steps above work the same way in New York City, Westchester, Rockland and Putnam, and so do the 2026 loan limits (see my New York loan limits by county). What changes is the home and the tax calendar.

In the city, a first home is often a co-op, which usually means a conventional share loan and a board package; my co-op loan guide explains both. A two- to four-family house in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island or the Bronx can work with a conventional loan, or with FHA if you live in one unit. In Westchester, Rockland and Putnam, tax bills run high, so budget on the actual bill.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. HUD, FHA Myths v Facts.
2. HUD, FHA Mortgage Limits lookup.
3. FHFA, 2026 conforming loan limits, full county list (spreadsheet).
4. CFPB, When can I remove private mortgage insurance (PMI) from my loan?.
5. VA.gov, Eligibility for VA home loan programs.
6. VA.gov, VA home loan limits.
7. VA.gov, VA funding fee and loan closing costs.
8. OneKey MLS, Footprint Round-Up, September 22, 2026 (August 2026 data).
9. NYS Department of Financial Services, Title Insurance.
10. NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, STAR eligibility.
11. NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, School Tax Relief (STAR) frequently asked questions.
12. NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, It’s getting easier to qualify for STAR (STAR program changes).
13. NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Property owners (STAR credit calendar).
14. NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Grievance procedures.
15. Nassau County, Popular Annual Financial Report FY2024.
16. Nassau County, What the Department of Assessment Does.
17. Nassau County, Assessment Review Calendar.
18. Suffolk County Real Property Tax Service Agency, FAQs.
19. New York State Attorney General, Homeowners.
20. New York State Attorney General, Cooperatives.
21. Fannie Mae, Selling Guide B4-2.3-04, Loan Eligibility for Co-op Share Loans.
22. FTC, Free Credit Reports.
23. CFPB, How do I dispute an error on my credit report?.
24. CFPB, What’s the difference between a prequalification letter and a preapproval letter?.