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  • Nassau & Suffolk County
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516-695-9512
Find Your Dream Home

First-Time Home Buyer Long Island, NY

Your First Offer Might Be Your Only Shot

Long Island’s housing market doesn’t wait. With a certified buyer’s agent who knows Nassau and Suffolk counties inside out, you’ll be ready to move when the right home hits the market.
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516-695-9512

Certified Buyer Broker

A CBB designation means Lisa is trained specifically to represent buyers, not sellers, with a fiduciary duty to protect your interests at every step.

Licensed Broker Associate

A Broker Associate license in New York requires additional education, a separate exam, and at least two years of active experience beyond a standard agent license.

17+ Years on Long Island

17+ years of experience specifically across Nassau and Suffolk counties, not general real estate experience, but deep knowledge of the communities where you want to buy.

Available Seven Days a Week

Reachable Monday through Sunday, 9am to 9pm. In a market where listings move fast, you need an agent who picks up when it matters.

Spacious Long Island home with lush front yard and classic architecture.

First-Time Buyer Agent Long Island, NY

Long Island Is A Different Kind Of Market

The national headlines about home prices don’t apply here. Nassau County’s median sale price recently hit $835,000, more than double the national median. Suffolk County isn’t far behind.

With only around 3,200 homes on the market across all of Long Island in late 2024, the lowest inventory figure since 2003, competition is real and it moves fast. If you’ve been doing your research and feeling like the numbers don’t add up, you’re not wrong.

But that doesn’t mean buying your first home on Long Island is out of reach. It means you need to go in prepared: with the right realtor, the right lender, and a clear picture of what you’re working with.

That’s exactly what we do at Lisa Caputo Sells Long Island. We work exclusively with buyers across Nassau and Suffolk counties, helping first-time buyers understand the process, access available programs, and compete without second-guessing every decision.

What Would My Home List For?
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Buying Your First Home Long Island, NY

What Changes When You Have The Right Buyer's Agent

From understanding your budget to closing on a home you love, here’s what working with a dedicated buyer’s agent looks like in practice.
  • You'll know exactly how much house you can afford before you ever walk through a door, no surprises.
  • You'll understand what contingencies protect you and when it makes sense to use them in a competitive offer situation.
  • You'll have a vetted lender referral who understands Long Island's high-cost market and how to pair financing with county down payment programs.
  • You'll know the permit history of any home you're serious about. We pull town files as a standard part of our process.
  • You'll walk into every showing knowing the school district, the flood zone status, and the property tax picture for that specific address.
  • You'll have someone in your corner who has been professionally trained to negotiate, not just licensed to facilitate a transaction.

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Down Payment Assistance Long Island, NY

There May Be $50,000 Waiting For You

Most first-time buyers on Long Island don’t know this, but Nassau County offers up to $50,000 toward your down payment and closing costs through the HOME Down Payment Assistance Program, administered by the Long Island Housing Partnership. Suffolk County has its own program offering up to $30,000 through a zero-interest deferred loan that’s forgiven after ten years of residency.

These programs have income limits, eligibility requirements, and application windows that open and close. They’re not widely advertised, and the application process isn’t always straightforward. We know which programs are currently open, whether you’re likely to qualify based on your household size and income, and how to work the timeline so you don’t miss a window.

If you’re budgeting for a down payment and assuming you need to come up with every dollar yourself, it’s worth a conversation before you rule anything out. Many buyers who think they’re years away from being ready are closer than they think once they understand what’s available to them here on Long Island.

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First-Time Home Buyer Guide Long Island, NY

What The Process Actually Looks Like Here

Buying your first home on Long Island involves a few moving parts that are specific to this market and to New York State. You’ll need a real estate attorney. New York requires attorney representation at closing, and that’s a cost to budget for. You’ll want to understand closing costs, which typically run 3% to 5% of the loan amount and include legal fees, inspection fees, title costs, and transfer taxes.

You’ll also want to think about property taxes early, not after you’re under contract. Nassau and Suffolk counties rank among the highest-tax counties in the country. The good news is that as a homeowner in New York, you may qualify for the STAR exemption, which reduces your school tax bill. We’ll walk you through what to expect for any specific property before you make an offer.

Long Island’s older housing stock, much of it built in the 1950s through 1970s, also means permit history matters. Finished basements, added dormers, and backyard decks are common, but they’re not always permitted. We research town files on every property our buyers are serious about, because an unpermitted addition can affect your mortgage approval and your ability to sell the home later.

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First Time Home Buyer FAQs

Common Questions About Our Service

No — and this is one of the most common misconceptions we hear from first-time buyers. FHA loans require as little as 3.5% down, and some conventional loan programs go as low as 3%. On top of that, Nassau County offers up to $50,000 in down payment assistance, and Suffolk County offers up to $30,000 through a zero-interest deferred loan program. The key is knowing which programs you qualify for and how to time your application. Many buyers who think they’re years away from being ready are actually much closer once they understand the full picture of what’s available to them here on Long Island.
A Certified Buyer Broker, or CBB, is an agent who has completed specialized training in representing buyers — not sellers. In New York State, dual agency is legal, which means an agent can technically represent both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction. That creates a conflict of interest that most first-time buyers aren’t aware of going in. When you work with a Certified Buyer Broker, you have someone who is professionally and contractually obligated to represent your interests exclusively — your budget, your timeline, your concerns. In a competitive market like Long Island, where the stakes are high and the decisions move fast, that distinction matters more than most buyers realize until it’s too late.
From the time you’re pre-approved to the day you close, the process typically takes anywhere from two to four months depending on how quickly you find the right home and how smoothly the transaction moves. We’ve helped first-time buyers find a home and close in as little as two months. The bigger variable on Long Island right now is inventory — with only around 3,200 homes on the market across Nassau and Suffolk counties, well-priced homes move quickly and often go into bidding wars. Getting pre-approved, having your documentation ready, and working with an agent who can move fast when the right listing hits the market are the factors that compress that timeline most.
Plan for 3% to 5% of the loan amount in closing costs. On Long Island, that adds up quickly given the price of homes in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Closing costs here include your real estate attorney’s fee — New York State requires attorney representation at closing, which surprises a lot of first-time buyers — along with title insurance, inspection fees, survey fees, land transfer taxes, and prepaid items like homeowner’s insurance and property tax escrow. It’s important to build this into your budget from the start, not discover it two weeks before closing. We walk every buyer through a realistic cost estimate early in the process so there are no surprises.
Property taxes on Long Island are among the highest in the country — Nassau and Suffolk counties consistently rank in the top five highest-tax counties in the United States. The exact amount varies significantly by municipality, school district, and the assessed value of the specific property. It’s not unusual to see annual property tax bills of $12,000 to $20,000 or more on a typical single-family home in Nassau County. The good news is that as a New York homeowner, you may qualify for the STAR exemption, which reduces your school tax bill. We review the property tax history and any available exemptions for every home our buyers are considering before they make an offer, so you know exactly what you’re committing to.
It depends on your budget, school district priorities, and commute needs. Long Island has over 120 school districts, and the quality and tax rates vary dramatically even between neighboring towns. South Shore communities like Massapequa, Massapequa Park, and East Islip tend to offer strong LIRR access on the Babylon Branch, proximity to the Great South Bay, and a range of price points that can work for first-time buyers. Generally speaking, western Suffolk County offers more accessible entry-level pricing than Nassau County, while Nassau communities closer to the Queens border tend to carry higher price tags. We help you map out which areas fit your budget, your commute, and your priorities — before you fall in love with a neighborhood that doesn’t work for your numbers.

01

Get Pre-Approved First

We connect you with a vetted lender who knows Long Island's market before you start touring homes, so your offer carries real weight.

02

Search With a Strategy

We narrow your search by school district, commute, price point, and neighborhood, so you're not wasting weekends on homes that don't fit.

03

Offer, Negotiate, and Close

We prepare your offer, research the property's permit history, coordinate inspections, and stay with you through every step until you have keys in hand.