Jamaica, Queens, NY
Sell your house fast in Jamaica, Queens.
We buy Jamaica houses as-is for cash. South Jamaica frames, Jamaica Hills brick, two families with a basement unit, any condition.
$800,000
Median Jamaica sale
90 days
Avg market days
+0.7%
YoY change
About the area
Why Jamaica sellers call us.
Jamaica is the crossroads of southeast Queens, and its housing runs the full range in the space of a few miles. Jamaica Estates and Jamaica Hills have the big Tudors and brick colonials on the ridge north of Hillside Avenue. South Jamaica, from the LIRR tracks down toward the Belt Parkway, is block after block of detached and semi detached frame houses, most of them one and two family, most of them built between 1920 and 1950 for families who came for the factory and railroad work. The area around the station has been rebuilt with towers and hotels, and the pressure that development puts on the surrounding blocks is felt by every homeowner in the neighborhood. We have been buying houses in the NY metro area since 2000, and Jamaica sellers call us because a house that has been in the family for fifty years, with a basement apartment and a stack of city violations, is a hard sale to a bank and a normal one to us. For background on the neighborhood, see this Jamaica community profile.
Nick York handles acquisitions for EZ Home Buyers, and Jamaica is a market he approaches with a healthy respect for its paperwork. A two family on 160th Street with a tenant in the basement and an open Department of Buildings violation is a different sale than a brick colonial in Jamaica Hills that has simply not been updated since 1985, and both need a buyer who reads the record before naming a price. If you are thinking about selling your house in Jamaica, you deserve a real number with the math shown, from someone who has walked the property and pulled the violations. No agent fees, no repair demands, no financing that dies at the appraisal.
A word about deed theft, because it matters here more than anywhere
Southeast Queens has been the center of New York City’s deed theft problem for two decades, and Jamaica has seen more of it than most neighborhoods. Long time owners, often elderly, often behind on taxes or a mortgage, get approached by someone offering help and end up signing paperwork that transfers the house. If anyone asks you to sign a deed, a power of attorney, or anything you do not understand outside of a closing with your own attorney present, stop. We never do that. Every sale we make closes at a New York attorney’s office, you have your own lawyer, the money is wired at the table, and the deed is recorded by the title company. That is the only way a house should change hands in Queens.
Basement apartments, violations, and why financed buyers walk
A very large share of Jamaica’s one and two family houses have a basement or cellar apartment that was never legal. It paid the mortgage for a generation, and it is invisible to a bank until the appraiser walks downstairs. Add the open Department of Buildings and Housing Preservation violations that accumulate on an old house, an ECB judgment or two that became liens, and a certificate of occupancy that describes a house that no longer exists, and a financed buyer’s lender has every reason to decline. The house sits, the seller gets told to spend money legalizing things that may not be legalizable, and the taxes keep coming.
We close that gap. We buy with cash, we buy as-is, and the basement unit, the violations, and the paperwork are line items in our offer instead of reasons the deal dies. We covered how the city’s violation system works in our guide to selling a house with code violations, and Jamaica is where we use that knowledge most.
The Jamaica sellers we hear from most
Estates come first. Jamaica’s houses were bought by families who stayed for forty and fifty years, and when a parent passes the children are often in North Carolina or Georgia or Florida with a Queens County Surrogate’s Court probate to manage from a distance and a house full of a lifetime of belongings. We work with executors and heirs constantly, we can wait out the Surrogate paperwork, and we buy inherited houses exactly as they sit, furniture and all.
Foreclosure is second. New York runs foreclosure through the courts, with a 90 day notice, a mandatory settlement conference, and a process that routinely takes two years or more in Queens. That slowness is an opportunity: until the auction actually happens, you can still sell, pay the lender from the proceeds, and keep whatever equity is left. Selling during pre-foreclosure beats losing the house on the courthouse steps, and in Jamaica we see both outcomes every month.
Tired landlords are third. A two family with a basement unit is three rents on paper and a full time job in practice, and many Jamaica landlords inherited the job rather than chose it. We buy occupied houses with tenants in place and handle everything after closing ourselves.
Liens, the tax lien sale, and the paperwork side of Jamaica
New York City sells unpaid property taxes and water charges into its annual tax lien sale, after which the lien holder charges interest that compounds fast and can eventually foreclose. Add unpaid ECB penalties that have become judgments, HPD emergency repair charges, and any sidewalk violation the city has billed you for, and the title report on a Jamaica house can run pages. We deal with tax liens and title problems as part of the purchase. Our attorneys pull the municipal searches and payoff letters every week, and the offer we make accounts for what has to be satisfied at closing. You do not need to clear anything first.
What Jamaica houses are actually selling for
The median sale price across Jamaica’s zip codes is around $800,000, up roughly 0.7% over the past year, with houses averaging about 90 days on the market. Demand near the LIRR and AirTrain has been real, and a renovated two family within walking distance of the station draws investors and first time buyers alike. But the headline number assumes a house with clean paperwork and a legal layout. A South Jamaica frame with an illegal basement unit, a roof at the end of its life, and two years of city violations does not get the median. It gets price cuts, a financed buyer who disappears at the appraisal, and a lot of quarterly tax bills in the meantime. We price the house for what it is, show you the math at the kitchen table, and leave the decision with you.
What we buy in Jamaica
Single family homes, two to four family houses, houses with basement or cellar units, mixed use buildings on Jamaica Avenue, Sutphin Boulevard, and Merrick Boulevard with a store below and apartments above, condos, and vacant lots. We do not buy cooperative apartments, which rules out Rochdale Village and the co-op towers near the station. Most of what we see in Jamaica is the detached one and two family frame, occupied or vacant, but if you own something unusual, call us anyway and we will take a look.
How to reach us
Jamaica is the center of our southeast Queens coverage. Nearby, we buy houses in St. Albans and can help you sell your house fast in Springfield Gardens, and up the hill we buy in Kew Gardens and Briarwood. Our full Queens coverage is on the we buy houses in Queens page.
Our written offers stay open for seven days, no pressure attached. Take the number to your family, your attorney, or one of the investors who keeps leaving cards in your mailbox, and compare freely. Offers built on real math do not fear a week of thinking.
EZ Home Buyers is a family-owned company based in Great Neck, NY 11021, twenty minutes from Jamaica. We have been operating across the NY metro area since 2000. Call us at (516) 964-7222, email info@ezhomebuyers.com, or fill out the form on this page. Nick York will be in touch quickly, usually the same business day. We schedule a walkthrough at your convenience, make a cash offer within 24 hours of seeing the property, and close at a New York attorney’s office on a timeline that works for you.
Looking just beyond Jamaica? You can also sell your house fast in St. Albans NY or sell a house fast in Springfield Gardens NY, and you can read about how we buy houses in Kew Gardens NY.
Many Jamaica homeowners also ask us how to sell a house in foreclosure in Jamaica NY, sell an inherited home, or sell a house during divorce.
Common reasons Jamaica sellers call us.
Inherited a house in South Jamaica or Hollis
Managing a Queens County Surrogate sale from another state is exhausting, and the house is full of fifty years of belongings. We work with executors and heirs through the process, buy the house exactly as it sits, and close at an attorney's office when the estate is ready.
A basement apartment that was never legal
Most Jamaica two families have one, and it kills financed deals the moment the appraiser goes downstairs. It is a line item for us. We buy the house as it is, tenant included, and handle the city after closing.
DOB, HPD, and ECB violations piling up
Open violations and ECB judgments scare off buyers and their banks. They do not scare us. We buy with violations open, pay any liens from the proceeds at closing, and deal with the city ourselves.
Behind on the mortgage
New York foreclosure takes two years or more in Queens, and until the auction you can still sell. Selling before the sale protects your credit and recovers equity foreclosure would take.
Someone is pressuring you to sign
Deed theft is real in southeast Queens. We never ask anyone to sign a deed or a power of attorney outside a closing with their own attorney present. If a buyer is rushing you toward a signature, that is the reason to call us instead.
Tired landlord with three rents and no peace
A two family with a basement unit is a full time job. We buy occupied houses as-is, with or without paying tenants, and take the whole situation off your hands at closing.
Tax lien sale notice in the mail
Once the city sells your unpaid taxes and water into the lien sale, the interest compounds fast. We buy Jamaica houses carrying tax liens and clear them from the proceeds at closing.
Divorce and a jointly owned house
When two people need to sell a Jamaica house and move on separately, a long listing helps nobody. We can close in as little as two weeks and split the proceeds however the parties have agreed.
Frequently asked questions about selling in Jamaica.
How do I sell my house fast in Jamaica, Queens?
Call (516) 964-7222 or submit the short form on this page. We visit the property, make a written cash offer within 24 hours, and you pick the closing date, often two to three weeks out. No agents, no repairs, no fees, and no obligation to accept.
How fast can you close on a Jamaica house?
In most cases we close in two to four weeks from the offer. We pay cash, so there is no bank timeline. New York closings happen at an attorney's office with your own lawyer present, and we work around the estate or court schedule if there is one.
My house has an illegal basement apartment. Can you still buy it?
Yes. That describes a large share of the houses we buy in Jamaica. A financed buyer's lender will not count the unit and will often decline the loan. We price the unit honestly, buy the house as it is, tenant included, and handle the city after closing.
There are open DOB violations and an ECB judgment on the house. Is that a problem?
Not for us. Violations transfer with the property and we resolve them after closing. An ECB judgment that has become a lien is paid from the sale proceeds at closing, like a mortgage would be. You do not need to clear anything before we can make an offer.
I inherited a house in Jamaica and I live out of state. How does that work?
We handle the process remotely. We coordinate with the Queens County Surrogate's Court paperwork and your estate attorney, buy the house as it sits with whatever is inside, and close when the estate is ready. New York withholds estimated income tax from nonresident sellers at closing, and we walk you through that number before you commit.
How do I know you are not one of the deed theft scams?
Because we never ask you to sign a deed, a power of attorney, or any transfer document outside of a closing at a New York attorney's office, with your own attorney present and the purchase money wired at the table. Our offer is in writing, it holds for seven days, and you are free to show it to anyone. If a buyer wants a signature before a closing, walk away.
How do you decide what to offer for a Jamaica property?
We look at recent comparable sales on the surrounding blocks, the condition of the house, whether the layout matches the certificate of occupancy, the rent situation if it is occupied, and every violation and lien that has to be settled at closing. Nick York walks the property and gives you a straight number with the reasoning explained.
Do I pay commissions or fees when I sell to EZ Home Buyers in Jamaica?
No agent commissions and no listing fees. We cover standard closing costs on our side. The offer we present is what you walk away with, minus any existing mortgage or liens paid off at closing. No surprise deductions on closing day.