Flatlands, Brooklyn, NY
Sell your house fast in Flatlands, Brooklyn.
We buy Flatlands houses as is for cash. Brick capes and semi attached houses from the 1940s and 1950s, two families off Flatbush Avenue, estates, houses with a converted attic or a basement tenant, any condition.
$810,000
Median Flatlands sale
82 days
Avg market days
+3.1%
YoY change
About the area
Why Flatlands sellers call us.
Flatlands is the flat, late built part of southeast Brooklyn between Midwood and Canarsie, with Kings Highway on the north, Avenue U and Marine Park on the south, Flatbush Avenue running through it to Kings Plaza and the Belt Parkway. Most of it was farmland until the 1930s and most of the houses went up between 1940 and 1960: brick capes on 20 and 25 foot lots, semi attached two story rows with a garage under, and two families along the avenues. It was Italian and Jewish through the 1970s and is largely Caribbean now, with families from Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana who bought in the 1990s and whose children are in Long Island or Georgia. The houses are newer than most of Brooklyn and the problems are different: a cape with a finished attic that became a third bedroom without a permit, a garage that became an apartment, a basement with a tenant, and a boiler from the year the family moved in.
The typical home value in Flatlands is around $810,000, up roughly 3.1% over the past year, with houses averaging about 82 days on the market.
The cape bought in 1994 and extended three times without a permit
A Flatlands cape has been changed more than most Brooklyn houses. The attic became two bedrooms with a dormer, the garage became a room for a parent, the basement got a kitchen for a nephew, and the back got a deck and a sunroom. None of it went through the Department of Buildings. A financed buyer’s appraiser counts the bedrooms, finds the certificate of occupancy says four rooms and sees nine, and the lender stops. We buy the house as the certificate describes it, price what is actually there, and take the permit work after closing.
The parent’s house with the children in Georgia and Long Island
Families who bought in Flatlands in the late 1980s and 1990s are retiring now, and many are going back to the islands or to Atlanta. The house has a tenant in the basement paying cash, a daughter in Valley Stream handling the paperwork, a son in Georgia on the deed with her, and a mortgage that was refinanced twice. We buy with the tenant in place, both owners signing where they live, and the payoff handled at the table.
Two families on Flatbush Avenue and Avenue N with a tenant in court
The two families along Flatbush Avenue and the avenues near Kings Plaza were bought for the income, and the income has not kept up. A tenant who stopped paying in 2021 and a Brooklyn Housing Court case that has been adjourned since. We buy occupied houses with the case open, on the rent actually coming in, and the next court date is ours.
The flood edge toward Mill Basin and Marine Park
The blocks south of Avenue U toward Mill Basin and Gerritsen Avenue are at the edge of the flood zone, and the houses closest to the water carry a premium the next lender will require. Most of Flatlands is above it. We know where the line runs and we price a house on the wrong side of it rather than walking away from it.
Where listing still wins in Flatlands
A cape or a row with a clean certificate of occupancy, a current boiler and no deadline should be listed, and we will say so. Flatlands has first time buyers with FHA loans waiting for exactly that house. Where a cash sale wins is the house with nine rooms on a four room certificate, the basement tenant paying cash, the parent’s house with owners in two states, the two family with a tenant in court, or the owner with a flight back to Kingston booked.
What we buy in Flatlands
Brick and frame capes, semi attached and attached rows, two and three families, houses with unpermitted extensions or a basement unit, mixed use buildings on Flatbush Avenue, Flatlands Avenue and Avenue U, estates in any condition, houses in foreclosure, and vacant lots. We do not buy cooperative apartments. If you own something unusual, call anyway.
North of Flatlands Avenue, south of it, and the Kings Plaza blocks
Flatlands prices run by distance from Flatbush Avenue and from the water. The capes and rows north of Flatlands Avenue, toward Midwood and Avenue J, sell to first time buyers with FHA loans and are priced on the certificate of occupancy and the boiler. South of Flatlands Avenue toward Avenue U and Marine Park, the lots are a little wider, the houses are detached more often, and the price climbs. The two families and mixed use buildings along Flatbush Avenue near Kings Plaza are priced on the rent and the parking. We build the offer from sales on your blocks, with the comparable addresses on the sheet, and we show you which band your house is in before we show you the number.
What the bands share is the post war build. The houses are from 1940 to 1960, sound and simple, and the list a lender’s inspector writes is about what was added since: a dormer without a permit, a garage conversion, a basement kitchen, a deck, a sunroom, and a boiler and roof from the year the family moved in. We read the same list and price it, and the house closes anyway.
Certificates of occupancy and the rooms that are not on them
A Flatlands cape that left the builder in 1951 with four rooms and a garage often has nine rooms and no garage today, and the certificate of occupancy still says 1951. A lender’s appraiser compares the two and stops. Legalizing the work means an architect, a Department of Buildings filing, inspections, and most of a year, and removing it means tearing out rooms a family has lived in for twenty years. We buy the house as the certificate reads, price what is actually there on top of it, and the filing becomes ours after closing.
Looking just beyond Flatlands? You can also sell your house fast in Canarsie NY or sell a house fast in East Flatbush NY, and you can read about how we buy houses in Sheepshead Bay NY.
Many Flatlands homeowners also ask us how to sell an inherited home in Flatlands NY, sell a house during divorce, or sell a rental property as a tired landlord.
How a sale like this goes in Flatlands
East 54th Street Near Avenue N: a 1951 Cape With Nine Rooms on a Four Room Certificate, a Nephew in the Garage, a Mother Going Home to Kingston and a Daughter in Valley Stream
Her parents bought the brick cape on East 54th Street near Avenue N in 1991, the year they came up from Kingston. Her father dormered the attic himself in 1996 for the two boys. In 2003 the garage became a room for her grandmother. In 2010 the basement got a kitchen for a nephew who still lived there and paid cash. None of it was filed. Her father died in 2022. Her mother, at seventy four, wanted to go back to Kingston, and the deed had been put in both their names, hers and her mother's, in 2019. The daughter lived in Valley Stream.
They listed in February 2025. The first buyer was FHA. The appraiser counted nine rooms against a certificate of occupancy that said four, found the kitchen in the basement, and the lender declined in March. The agent said the extensions had to be legalized or removed before another lender would look at it, and that legalizing them meant an architect, the Department of Buildings and the better part of a year.
We saw the house in April with the daughter, her mother and the nephew. The offer was written on the house as the certificate read it, with what was actually there priced on top, the basement as a basement, the nephew staying on terms the family set, and the permit work as a line we would take after closing. One page, with the comparable sales on East 53rd and East 55th listed by address.
Her mother signed in Valley Stream before her flight. We closed in May at a title company on Flatbush Avenue. The nephew stayed through the summer and moved in August. The daughter took the photographs and her father's tools from the garage room. What her mother said, from Kingston, was that she had been told it would take a year.
Illustrative. Based on the situations we buy in across Flatlands. A composite, not a single transaction, with details changed.
Common reasons Flatlands sellers call us.
A cape on East 38th Street with nine rooms on a four room certificate of occupancy
The appraiser counts and the lender stops. We buy the house as the certificate reads, price what is actually there, and do the permit work after closing.
A basement tenant paying cash and a nephew in the garage room
No lender counts either one. We price the house as its legal rooms and handle whoever is living there on terms worked out with you.
Your mother is going back to Kingston and the house is in her name and yours
Both of you sign where you are, the payoff is handled at the table, and she is on the plane with the proceeds wired.
A two family off Flatbush Avenue with a tenant who has not paid since 2021
Brooklyn Housing Court is slow. We buy on the rent actually coming in and the case transfers to us at closing.
A loan refinanced twice and behind since the job ended
Kings County Supreme Court foreclosures take years, and that is the opening. A cash closing before the referee's date pays the bank and leaves the equity with you.
A Department of Buildings stop work order on the sunroom
The order ends a financed sale. We buy with it open and clear the permit ourselves after the deed records.
A house near Mill Basin with a flood quote that scared off the last buyer
The premium is a line on the sheet, not a reason to walk. We carry the policy after closing.
A move to Georgia with a closing on the new house in three weeks
We set the Flatlands closing around it, about 14 days out, and nothing waits on a bank.
Frequently asked questions about selling in Flatlands.
How fast can you buy my house in Flatlands?
Call (516) 964-7222 or send the address through the form. We see the house, you get a written offer within 24 hours with the comparable sales on it, and you choose the date. About 14 days when the title is clean, longer if there is an estate or a lien to clear.
We added bedrooms in the attic and a kitchen in the basement without permits. Can you still buy it?
Yes. A lender's appraiser compares the rooms to the certificate of occupancy and stops when they do not match. We buy the house as the certificate reads, price what is actually there, and the permit work becomes ours after closing.
There is a tenant in the basement paying cash. Does that stop the sale?
No. A basement unit is not a legal apartment in New York City unless it was permitted, so we price the house without it. Whoever is downstairs is handled on terms worked out with you before closing.
My mother and I are both on the deed and she lives in Jamaica now. How does she sign?
With a notary where she is, and for a signature outside the United States our title company arranges the consulate or an apostille. The closing happens here, the payoff is handled at the table, and her share is wired to her.
My tenant stopped paying in 2021 and the case keeps getting adjourned. Do I wait for the judgment?
No. We buy occupied Flatlands two families with a Housing Court case open. The offer is built on the rent actually arriving and the case transfers to us at closing.
Would I do better with an agent?
Sometimes, and we say so. A cape with a clean certificate of occupancy, a current boiler and no deadline usually nets more listed, because first time buyers with FHA loans are waiting for it. Ours is the better route when the rooms do not match the certificate, there is a basement tenant, the owners are in two countries, a tenant is in court, or you have a date.
How is the offer figured?
Recent sales on your blocks, minus the work the house needs, minus the permit work if the extensions were never filed, minus carrying and resale, minus our margin. Each is a line on the sheet, and the sheet is yours before you sign.
What are my costs?
None out of pocket. No commission, no fees, we pay our own closing costs. Your payoff, any liens or water balances, and the New York transfer taxes come off the price, each itemized on the offer.
We also buy in nearby Brooklyn neighborhoods.
Ready to sell your Flatlands house?
Submit your address. We respond within 24 hours.
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