From nycourts.gov:

When a Decedent (the person who died) did not have a Will then the proceeding is called an administration. If the Decedent died with a Will, then a probate proceeding should be filed. If the Decedent had less than $30,000 of personal property with a Will or without a Will, then a small estate, also called a voluntary administration proceeding, can be filed instead.

Administration is the process where the Surrogate’s Court issues Letters of Administration to a qualified distributee of the Decedent. Letters of Administration appoints a Decedent’s distributee and gives them the authority to collect and distribute the Decedent’s property according to the law.

If the Decedent’s only asset is real property (real estate), it may not be necessary to file an administration proceeding depending on who survives the Decedent. By law, real property vests in the Decedent’s distributee at the time of death which makes the distributees the owners of the property. It might be a good idea to contact a real estate attorney and the tax office to get more information.