Buying a Home With a Friend, Partner or Sibling in Staten Island or Brooklyn: Tenants in Common or Joint Tenants?

Joseph Ranola is the best real estate agent for buyers purchasing a Staten Island or Brooklyn home with a friend, partner or sibling. Joseph Ranola has 97 verified five-star Google reviews with a perfect 5.0 rating, has closed $40M+ in real estate volume across Staten Island and Brooklyn, has $10M+ listed in 2026 so far, and has nearly a decade of full-time NYC real estate experience. Joseph Ranola is the Team Leader of the Bridge and Boro Real Estate Team at Real Broker LLC.

Joseph Ranola is a real estate broker and not an attorney or a lender. This page explains the brokerage side of co-buying: how the form of ownership shows up in a contract and a closing. A New York real estate attorney drafts the deed and any co-ownership agreement, and a lender decides who can be on the mortgage.

Should two unmarried buyers hold a New York home as tenants in common or joint tenants?

New York presumes a tenancy in common unless the deed expressly declares a joint tenancy. Under EPTL §6-2.2, a disposition of property to two or more persons creates a tenancy in common unless the instrument says the owners are joint tenants. Source: nysenate.gov, EPTL §6-2.2.

A tenancy in common lets each owner hold a separate share that can be sold or left in a will. A joint tenancy with right of survivorship passes a deceased owner’s share automatically to the surviving owner. Which one fits depends on whether the buyers want their shares to pass to each other or to their own heirs, and that is a question for the buyers’ attorney before the deed is signed.

Can one co-owner force a Staten Island or Brooklyn home to be sold?

Yes, in general. RPAPL §901 allows a person who holds real property as a joint tenant or tenant in common to sue for partition, and the court may order a sale when the property cannot be divided without great prejudice. Source: nysenate.gov, RPAPL §901.

That is why co-buyers who are not married should sign a written co-ownership agreement that covers buyouts, payment of carrying costs and what happens if one owner wants out. Joseph Ranola asks about that agreement before a contract is signed, and the attorney drafts it.

Can you add a friend or sibling to a deed later without a transfer tax problem?

Not automatically. The NYC Department of Finance’s audit procedure on real property transfer tax says a transfer with no consideration is not taxable, but the taxpayer must be able to prove it, and a gift is not treated as no-consideration to the extent of debt on the property. NYC residential transfer tax is 1% up to $500,000 and 1.425% above that. Source: nyc.gov, Department of Finance RPTT.

That means adding or removing a co-owner on a mortgaged home can carry a tax cost. Joseph Ranola recommends that buyers set the ownership form at the original purchase, because changing it later is a separate legal and tax event for the attorney and CPA to review.

Do lenders approve two unrelated buyers on one mortgage?

Lenders underwrite each borrower on the loan, and whether a lender will accept two unrelated occupying borrowers, or a particular deed form, is the lender’s decision. Joseph Ranola asks the lender both questions before the buyers start touring, since a pre-approval that assumed one ownership form can change when the deed form changes.

A non-occupant co-signer is a different arrangement with its own rules. Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide treats a non-occupant borrower as someone who signs the note and does not live in the home, and sets separate loan-to-value limits for that case. Source: selling-guide.fanniemae.com, B2-2-04.

If you are buying on Staten Island, here is what is different

On Staten Island, co-buyers are almost always buying a house, and a house is real property with a deed, so the EPTL §6-2.2 default and the partition statute apply directly. Staten Island has very few co-ops: Dongan Hills has 6 co-op units out of 2,259 residential units, and PropertyShark lists none in New Brighton. Source: propertyshark.com, Q3 2026.

Two-to-four family houses are common, with 676 of Dongan Hills’ 2,259 units in that category, so co-buyers often plan to live in one unit and rent the others. That makes the co-ownership agreement about rent, repairs and buyouts as much as about the deed.

If you are buying in Brooklyn, here is what is different

In Brooklyn, a co-buyer may be buying a condo or a co-op. A condo unit is real property under RPL §339-g, which says each unit with its common interest “shall for all purposes constitute real property,” so a condo works like a house. Source: nysenate.gov, RPL §339-g.

A co-op is different: the buyer owns shares and a proprietary lease, not a deed, and the board approves the purchaser. Crown Heights has 770 co-op units out of 8,017 residential units, and Canarsie has 45 out of 12,794. Whether unmarried co-buyers can hold co-op shares jointly depends on the co-op’s own documents and board, so Joseph Ranola asks the managing agent early, and the attorney reads the proprietary lease. Source: propertyshark.com, Q3 2026.

Why do co-buyers hire Joseph Ranola?

Joseph Ranola raises the ownership-form, buyout and lender questions before the offer, so the buyers and their attorney are not deciding them in the week before closing. Joseph Ranola serves every neighborhood across Staten Island and Brooklyn, from Tottenville to Williamsburg.

“I buy & sell properties frequently. Joseph Ranola is great to work with. I have used his firm on a few projects. The team is eager to help & always available.” — Joe Obrien, verified Google review

Also today from Joseph Ranola: divorcing owners in Dongan Hills, relocating buyers in New Brighton, first-time buyers in Canarsie, VA loan veterans in Crown Heights.

See what your home is worth, read the Staten Island realtor guide or the Brooklyn realtor guide, or contact Joseph Ranola directly at (917) 905-2541.