A bill of sale deals with personal property, not real estate. The New York booklet defines it as the written instrument given to pass title to personal property from vendor to vendee. In everyday transactions, that might cover equipment, furniture, business assets, or other movable property.
The term matters because New York glossary work often places it beside conveyance (deed). The two are cousins, but they are not the same. A bill of sale transfers ownership of personal property; a conveyance or deed transfers an estate or interest in real property. When notaries work with purchase documents, that distinction helps keep the vocabulary straight.
Practical note: A bill of sale may still need a notarial act if the parties or receiving institution require one, but the term itself refers to the underlying transfer document, not the certificate attached to it.
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