glossary-property-sales

Department of Finance


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Glossary of Terms for Property Sales Files

The following alphabetical listing of terms is provided to help you understand property sales:

Borough

The name of the borough in which the property is located.

Neighborhood

Department of Finance assessors determine the neighborhood name in the course of valuing properties. The common name of the neighborhood is generally the same as the name Finance designates. However, there may be slight differences in neighborhood boundary lines and some sub-neighborhoods may not be included.

Building Class Category

This is a field that we are including so that users of the Rolling Sales Files can easily identify similar properties by broad usage (e.g. One Family Homes) without looking up individual Building Classes. Files are sorted by Borough, Neighborhood, Building Class Category, Block and Lot.

Tax Class at Present

Every property in the city is assigned to one of four tax classes (Classes 1, 2, 3, and 4), based on the use of the property.

Class 1: Includes most residential property of up to three units (such as one-, two-, and three-family homes and small stores or offices with one or two attached apartments), vacant land that is zoned for residential use, and most condominiums that are not more than three stories.

Class 2: Includes all other property that is primarily residential, such as cooperatives and condominiums.

Class 3: Includes property with equipment owned by a gas, telephone or electric company.

Class 4: Includes all other properties not included in class 1,2, and 3, such as offices, factories, warehouses, garage buildings, etc.

Block

A Tax Block is a sub-division of the borough on which real properties are located.
The Department of Finance uses a Borough-Block-Lot classification to label all real property in the City. “Whereas” addresses describe the street location of a property, the block and lot distinguishes one unit of real property from another, such as the different condominiums in a single building. Also, block and lots are not subject to name changes based on which side of the parcel the building puts its entrance on.

Lot

A Tax Lot is a subdivision of a Tax Block and represents the property unique location.

Easement

An easement is a right, such as a right of way, which allows an entity to make limited use of another’s real property. For example: MTA railroad tracks that run across a portion of another property.

Building Class at Present

The Building Classification is used to describe a property’s constructive use. The first position of the Building Class is a letter that is used to describe a general class of properties (for example “A” signifies one-family homes, “O” signifies office buildings. “R” signifies condominiums). The second position, a number, adds more specific information about the property’s use or construction style (using our previous examples “A0” is a Cape Cod style one family home, “O4” is a tower type office building and “R5” is a commercial condominium unit). The term Building Class used by the Department of Finance is interchangeable with the term Building Code used by the Department of Buildings. See NYC Building Classifications.

Address

The street address of the property as listed on the Sales File. Coop sales include the apartment number in the address field.

Zip Code

The property’s postal code.

Residential Units

The number of residential units at the listed property.

Commercial Units

The number of commercial units at the listed property.

Total Units

The total number of units at the listed property.

Land Square Feet

The land area of the property listed in square feet.

Gross Square Feet

The total area of all the floors of a building as measured from the exterior surfaces of the outside walls of the building, including the land area and space within any building or structure on the property.

Year Built

Year the structure on the property was built.

Building Class at Time of Sale

The Building Classification is used to describe a property’s constructive use. The first position of the Building Class is a letter that is used to describe a general class of properties (for example “A” signifies one-family homes, “O” signifies office buildings. “R” signifies condominiums). The second position, a number, adds more specific information about the property’s use or construction style (using our previous examples “A0” is a Cape Cod style one family home, “O4” is a tower type office building and “R5” is a commercial condominium unit). The term Building Class as used by the Department of Finance is interchangeable with the term Building Code as used by the Department of Buildings.

Sales Price

Price paid for the property.

Sale Date

Date the property sold.

$0 Sales Price

A $0 sale indicates that there was a transfer of ownership without a cash consideration. There can be a number of reasons for a $0 sale including transfers of ownership from parents to children.