What has to wait
When a home passes through probate (there is a will) or administration (there is not), the person who signs for the estate gets that authority from letters issued by Queens County Surrogate's Court: letters testamentary for an executor, letters of administration for an administrator. Until they issue:
- No listing agreement. A listing is a contract with the estate, and the estate has no signer yet.
- No contract of sale, and no accepted offer that binds anyone.
- For a co-op, no board package. The building will ask for the letters.
When several heirs own the home, the executor or administrator still signs for all of them. Selling inherited property with multiple owners stalls most often not at the court but in the family; the value letter and the timeline exist so that everyone argues from the same page.
Homes held in a trust, or passed by a transfer-on-death deed, follow a different path with no court appointment. That page is here.
What can start today
- The value as of the date of death. Settle Bayside builds it from recorded Bayside sales around that date, in writing, at no cost. The CPA will want it whether or not the home sells. Request it.
- The questions for the managing agent. What the board needs from an estate, whether there is a flip tax or transfer fee, and what the maintenance arrears position is. Asking now costs nothing and the answers set the timeline.
- The paperwork hunt. For a co-op: the stock certificate and proprietary lease, which the closing will need. For a house: the deed, the survey if there is one, and any open permits.
- The clearing plan. Who takes what, what gets donated, which cleanout crew, and what the home looks like empty. None of it has to happen this month; the decision on what to fix can wait for the value letter.
- The sale plan. Pricing from the same evidence as the value letter, the pace the executor wants, and how the home will be shown. All of it can be decided before letters and signed the day they issue.
What usually happens in Bayside
Estate transfers recorded in 2025
Bayside houses, condos and co-ops that changed hands out of an estate in 2025, in ZIP codes 11360, 11361 and 11364. A floor, not a ceiling.
Were sold by the estate
The executor or administrator sold the home directly: 54 houses and condos, 66 co-op apartments, and 3 more found by hand-checking abbreviated seller names.
Went to the heirs first
Transferred for nothing or a nominal amount. Of the 52 homes that went to heirs in 2025, 4 had been sold again by September 30, 2026.
Start here
Bayside only: 11360, 11361 and 11364. Text, call or email. The first conversation and the value letter cost nothing.
Helpful to have ready
- The property address, and the building and apartment for a co-op
- The date of death
- Whether the court has issued letters yet
- Your role: executor, administrator, heir, CPA or attorney
At the first real conversation you receive New York's required agency disclosure and housing discrimination disclosure forms.
Sources
- Sales counts and prices: NYC Department of Finance ACRIS records (NYC Open Data) matched to tax lots in NYC PLUTO, ZIP codes 11360, 11361 and 11364, compiled by Settle Bayside. A sale is a deed or co-op transfer tax filing of $25,000 or more. An estate sale is one where the recorded seller is an estate, executor or administrator; a few sales with abbreviated seller names may be missed, so estate counts are a floor.