I grew up in Merrick, and my family has a summer home on the water in Montauk, so waterfront homes are close to home for me. Selling one takes more paperwork than selling a house inland. Here's what I'd have ready before it goes on the market.
- Since March 20, 2024, New York's disclosure form includes flood questions, and sellers can no longer skip it by giving the buyer $500 at closing.
- Look up your FEMA flood zone and find or order an elevation certificate.
- Gather the state and town or village permits for your dock and bulkhead.
- If the house comes with beach or association rights, gather the deed language and the association's papers.
- Price from comparable waterfront sales, not the house a block inland.
1. The disclosure form's flood questions
Sellers of most one- to four-family homes in New York must give the buyer a Property Condition Disclosure Statement before the buyer signs a contract. A seller used to be able to give the buyer $500 at closing instead. Chapter 484 of the Laws of 2023 ended that option and added flood questions, effective March 20, 2024. The form now asks whether:
- the property is in a FEMA floodplain, including the 100-year Special Flood Hazard Area or the moderate-risk 500-year area;
- it's subject to a federal requirement to carry flood insurance, and whether there is flood insurance (attach the policy);
- you, or any previous owner you know of, received FEMA or other federal assistance for flood damage, or you ever filed a flood claim with any insurer;
- a FEMA elevation certificate is available (attach it), and whether any of the property is in a designated wetland.
Answer from documents, not memory. If your home was repaired or raised after Hurricane Sandy, find that paperwork now, and ask your attorney about any question you're unsure of.
2. Flood zone and elevation certificate
Look up your address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov). Zones beginning with A or V are in the Special Flood Hazard Area; a shaded X zone is the moderate-risk area. Maps are revised from time to time, so check the current one when you list.
An elevation certificate is the FEMA form that records your home's elevations, such as the lowest floor. Buyers on the water ask for it. Check your closing file and flood insurance papers, then your town; in Huntington, Maritime Services keeps floodplain records. If you don't have one, a land surveyor, engineer or architect licensed to certify elevations can prepare it. Order it early.
3. State permits for docks and bulkheads
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) requires a permit for almost any activity that alters a tidal wetland or its adjacent area, which generally extends up to 300 feet inland and can end sooner at the 10-foot elevation line or a substantial bulkhead or road. Docks, bulkheads, sea walls and boat slips are all regulated. Replacing a few broken boards on a working dock generally isn't, but changing its length, width or position is. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may require its own permit.
Gather your DEC and Army Corps permits, or a DEC letter saying none was needed, plus the plans and the contractor's paperwork and dates for the bulkhead and dock. A buyer's attorney will ask, and a buyer's inspector will look closely at the bulkhead.
4. Town and village permits
- Town of Huntington, including Huntington and Cold Spring Harbor: the town calls its Marine Conservation Permit essentially a building permit for the waterfront. Maritime Services and the Building Department issue permits and certificates of completion.
- Town of Hempstead, including Merrick, Bellmore and Wantagh: docks and bulkheads need a Structures in Waterways permit from the Department of Conservation and Waterways, with a DEC approval letter, and the permit is closed out once the work is done.
- Town of Oyster Bay, including Massapequa: the town code covers any dock, pier, float, mooring or bulkhead built or modified in town waterways, through the Department of Planning and Development.
- Villages such as Lloyd Harbor have their own codes, including coastal erosion and coastal overlay rules.
If a dock or bulkhead was built without a permit, or a permit was never closed out, talk to your attorney before you list.
5. Beach and association rights
Many North Shore neighborhoods have a private beach of their own, such as the association beaches at Bay Crest, Bay Hills and Wincoma in Huntington Bay, Knollwood in Huntington and Eagle Dock in Cold Spring Harbor. Some villages keep beaches for residents: Laurel Hollow issues beach parking permits only for cars registered to a Laurel Hollow address, and Bayville's beaches are for village residents only. If your home comes with beach rights, buyers will want to know exactly what they are.
- Rights in the deed. Find the language. In a 2022 decision, a New York appeals court held that beach rights written into a deed passed to later owners as part of the land, and read the deed's own wording to decide how far they went.
- Rights through an association. Gather the bylaws, the current dues and how membership transfers to a new owner. In the same case, a dock privilege that came only with association membership wasn't part of the deed.
- Village beaches. These come with living in the village, not with the deed, so describe them that way in the listing.
Have your attorney confirm what transfers with the house before you list, so the listing describes it accurately.
6. Price it from waterfront sales
When I pull comparable sales for a waterfront home, I look at the type of water (bay, harbor, creek or canal), depth at the dock, the run to open water and any fixed bridges, the bulkhead's age and condition, the dock and its permits, frontage, views, beach or association rights, flood zone and elevation. Waterfront sales are a smaller pool, so comparables need careful adjustment. Start with a free home valuation and I'll walk you through the sales behind it, or see how I sell homes.
Sources: New York Real Property Law Section 462, as amended by Chapter 484 of the Laws of 2023 (signed September 22, 2023; effective March 20, 2024); New York State Bar Association; FEMA Flood Map Service Center and Elevation Certificate instructions; NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Tidal Wetlands permit program and 6 NYCRR Part 661; Town of Huntington Maritime Services and Code Chapter 137; Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways; Town of Oyster Bay Code; Village of Lloyd Harbor Code, Chapter 205; Village of Laurel Hollow information guide; Village of Bayville; Suffolk County beach listings as reported by Huntington Now and The Huntingtonian; Witecki v. Saratoga Lakeside Acres Association (N.Y. App. Div., 3d Dept., 2022). This isn't legal advice: confirm the specifics for your property with your attorney and your town or village.
