Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY
Sell your house fast in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
We buy Brownsville houses as-is for cash. Brick rowhouses, frame two and three families, basement units, tenants in place, any condition.
$940,000
Median Brownsville sale
124 days
Avg market days
+10.2%
YoY change
About the area
Why Brownsville sellers call us.
Brownsville is a neighborhood the city wrote off for fifty years and is now writing about, and the houses in between the public housing towers are where that story is playing out. Between Eastern Parkway and Linden Boulevard, on the blocks off Pitkin Avenue, Rockaway Avenue, and Mother Gaston Boulevard, and up into Ocean Hill toward Broadway, there are attached brick rowhouses from the 1910s and 1920s, frame two and three families that survived the arson years, and infill two families built by the city’s own programs in the 1990s and 2000s. The families are Caribbean and African American, many of them second and third generation in the same house, and many of those houses have a basement unit nobody registered and a Department of Buildings file nobody has opened. We have been buying houses in the NY metro area since 2000, and Brownsville sellers call us because a brick rowhouse on Herzl Street with a basement apartment, a tenant who stopped paying, and a title that still has a grandmother’s name on it is worth more every year and harder to sell to a bank every year. For background on the neighborhood, see this Brownsville community profile.
Nick York handles acquisitions for EZ Home Buyers, and Brownsville is a market he prices carefully, because the investors who have discovered it are not always honest about what they are offering. A brick rowhouse on Saratoga Avenue with a legal layout and two paying tenants is a different asset than the same house with a cited basement and one rent, and both are different from a frame three family off Pitkin Avenue that an estate has been carrying since the pandemic with a deed nobody has updated. If you are thinking about selling your house in Brownsville, you deserve a real number with the reasoning written out, from a buyer who has walked every floor, pulled the certificate of occupancy, and read the deed. No agent fees, no repair demands, no financing that dies at the appraisal, and nothing signed anywhere but at a closing.
The basement unit, the C of O, and why financed buyers walk
A Brownsville two family is usually a three family in practice. A basement apartment for a relative or a tenant, an attic room with a kitchenette, a ground floor split in two: income on paper, a violation in the Department of Buildings file, and invisible to a financed buyer’s appraiser. Then the lender looks at a house that is a century old, with knob and tube wiring, a brick foundation that has shifted, a roof that has been layered rather than replaced, and a rent roll that includes a tenant who has not paid since the pandemic, and the loan gets declined. The house sits, the seller is told to legalize or remove the apartment, and the taxes and the water bill keep coming.
We close that gap. We buy with cash, we buy as-is, and the apartment, the violations, the rent roll, and the roof are line items in our offer instead of reasons the deal dies. Our guide to selling a house with code violations explains how the city’s system works.
Deed theft, door knockers, and how to protect yourself
Brownsville and East New York have had more deed theft cases than anywhere else in the city, and the pattern is always the same: someone knocks on the door of an older owner or an heir, offers help with the taxes or the mortgage, and walks away with a signature that turns out to be a deed. If anyone has asked you to sign a document you did not fully understand, a “partnership,” an option, a power of attorney, or anything that mentions the deed, stop and call us or the Kings County District Attorney’s office before you sign anything else. Our offer is in writing, it holds for seven days, and nothing gets signed anywhere but at a closing with your own attorney present and the money wired at the table. We explain exactly how we arrive at a number, with a worked example, on our how it works page.
The Brownsville sellers we hear from most
Estates come first, and often estates that were never opened. A grandmother bought the rowhouse in 1968, passed in 2005, and the family has been living in it and paying the taxes ever since without ever going to Kings County Surrogate’s Court. Now a grandchild wants to sell and finds that the deed is still in a name from three generations ago. We work with executors, administrators, and heirs constantly, we can wait out the probate paperwork however long it takes, we can point you to attorneys who handle heirs’ property, and we buy inherited houses exactly as they sit, tenants and belongings included.
Landlords are second. A two family with a basement unit is three rents on paper and a full time job in practice, and the city’s housing court makes a nonpaying tenant a year long project. When a landlord is done, we buy the building with tenants in place, at the actual rent roll, and handle everything after closing ourselves.
Owners behind on the mortgage are third. Brownsville was hit hard by the foreclosure wave of 2008 and again by the pandemic. New York foreclosure is a court process and it moves slowly, which means there is usually still time to act. Selling during pre-foreclosure can protect your credit and recover equity foreclosure would take; our guide to stopping a foreclosure auction walks through how late in the process a sale still works.
Liens, violations, and the paperwork side of Brownsville
New York City sells unpaid taxes and water as tax liens, and the water bills on an occupied three family grow quickly. Add open Department of Buildings violations, ECB fines that have compounded for years, an HPD registration that was never filed, and a certificate of occupancy that describes a house with fewer units than it has, and a traditional sale becomes a maze. We deal with tax liens and title problems as part of the purchase. Our attorneys run the city searches and payoff letters every week, and our offer accounts for what has to be satisfied at closing.
What Brownsville houses are actually selling for
The median sale price in Brownsville is around $940,000, up roughly 10.2% over the past year, with houses averaging about 124 days on the market. Investors and families priced out of Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights have discovered the 3 train and the L, and a renovated brick rowhouse with a legal layout sells quickly. But the headline number assumes a house that can pass an appraisal and a deed that matches the seller. A century old frame with one paying tenant, a basement unit the city has cited, and a grandmother’s name on the deed does not get the median. It gets price cuts, a financed buyer who disappears at the appraisal, and investors at the door with contracts. 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 Brownsville
Attached brick rowhouses, frame two and three families, the newer infill two families from the city’s programs, houses with basement units legal or not, single family houses, mixed use buildings on Pitkin Avenue, Rockaway Avenue, and Belmont Avenue with a store below, and vacant lots. We do not buy cooperative apartments. Most of what we see in Brownsville is the brick rowhouse or frame two family with a basement story, occupied, owned by a family that has been there for generations, but if you own something unusual, call us anyway and we will take a look.
How to reach us
Brownsville is part of our central Brooklyn coverage. To the east we buy houses in East New York, to the south we can help you sell your house fast in East Flatbush and in Canarsie, and to the north we buy in Bed-Stuy. Our full borough coverage is on the we buy houses in Brooklyn 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 knocking, 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. We have been operating across the NY metro area since 2000, and Brownsville is part of our core Brooklyn coverage. 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 on a timeline that works for you.
Looking just beyond Brownsville? You can also sell your house fast in East New York NY or sell a house fast in East Flatbush NY, and you can read about how we buy houses in Canarsie NY.
Many Brownsville homeowners also ask us how to sell a house with bad tenants, sell a house with code violations, or sell a house with a tax lien.
Recent Brownsville transaction
A Brick Rowhouse on Herzl Street, Sold by a Granddaughter After Two Years Untangling a Deed in Her Grandmother's Name
Her grandmother had bought the rowhouse in 1968 and passed in 2006. Nobody went to Surrogate's Court. Her mother lived in the house and paid the taxes until she passed in 2022, and by then there were seven heirs across three generations, a deed that still said her grandmother's name, a basement apartment a cousin had lived in that the city had cited, a first floor tenant who had not paid since the pandemic, and a man who had come to the door twice offering to help with the taxes if she would just sign a form.nnShe did not sign. She called the Kings County District Attorney's office, who told her what the form was, and then she called us, because her pastor had our card from a closing in East Flatbush.nnNick York walked all three levels with the tenants' permission and sat down with her at the kitchen table with the deed, the violation, the rent roll, and the list of heirs. The first thing he did was tell her the house could not close until the estate was opened and the heirs were sorted out, and the second thing he did was give her the name of an attorney who handles heirs' property in Brooklyn. The offer accounted for the cited basement, the nonpaying tenant, the roof, and the reality of a building that would take time to sell. It was in writing, it said in plain language that nothing would be signed anywhere but at her attorney's office, and it held for as long as the estate took.nnIt took the family two years and two Surrogate's Court proceedings. We closed once the letters of administration were finally issued, with the money wired to the attorney's escrow and the proceeds divided as the court directed. Both tenants kept their homes with a new owner responsible for the building. She said afterward that the man with the form had stopped coming by after the first month, and that the offer letter was the only document in two years that never changed.
Common reasons Brownsville sellers call us.
A deed still in a grandparent's name
Estates that were never opened are the most common Brownsville story we hear. We tell you honestly what has to happen in Surrogate's Court, point you to attorneys who handle heirs' property, and hold our offer as long as the estate takes.
Someone at the door with a form to sign
Brownsville has more deed theft than anywhere in the city. We never ask for a signature outside a closing with your own attorney present. Show us the paper you were handed and we will tell you honestly what it is.
A basement apartment the city has cited
Most Brownsville two families have one, and once the Department of Buildings has cited it, financed deals are over. It is a line item for us. We buy the house as it is, tenant included, and handle the city after closing.
Tired landlord with a tenant who stopped paying
A Brownsville rowhouse with a basement unit is a full time job, and housing court makes a nonpaying tenant a year long project. We buy occupied buildings at the actual rent roll, nonpaying tenants included, and take the whole situation off your hands at closing.
Tax and water liens piling up
Unpaid taxes and water bills become city liens with punishing interest. We buy Brownsville houses carrying tax liens and clear them from the proceeds at closing. You do not have to pay them off first.
Behind on the mortgage
New York foreclosure is a court process and it moves slowly, which means there is usually still time to act. Selling before the auction can protect your credit and recover equity foreclosure would take.
DOB violations and ECB fines
Open violations and fines that have compounded for years will scare off financed buyers and their banks. They do not scare us. We buy with violations open and deal with the city after closing.
A store below on Pitkin Avenue
A mixed use building with a commercial tenant confuses residential buyers and their lenders. We buy mixed use with the lease in place and price it on the real income.
Frequently asked questions about selling in Brownsville.
How do I sell my house fast in Brownsville?
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 seven to fourteen days out. No agents, no repairs, no fees, and no obligation to accept.
How fast can you close on a Brownsville house?
In most cases we close in two to four weeks from the offer. We pay cash, so there is no bank timeline. If the deed is still in a deceased relative's name, the estate has to be opened first, and we hold the offer while that happens.
The deed is still in my grandmother's name. Can you still buy the house?
Yes, once the estate is opened in Kings County Surrogate's Court and someone has the legal authority to sell. We cannot close before that, and neither can anyone else, no matter what they tell you at the door. We point you to attorneys who handle heirs' property and hold our offer as long as the process takes.
How do I know you are not one of the people who steal deeds in Brownsville?
Our offer is in writing, it holds for seven days, and you can show it to anyone. We never ask you to sign a deed, a power of attorney, an option, or any transfer document outside of a closing with your own attorney present and the money wired at the table. If anyone wants a signature before a closing, walk away and call the Kings County District Attorney.
My tenant has not paid since the pandemic. Do I have to evict them before selling?
No. We buy occupied Brownsville buildings with nonpaying tenants regularly. We price the building on the actual rent roll, the housing court case transfers to us, and you never have to finish the eviction.
There are tax and water liens on my Brownsville house. Can you still make an offer?
Yes. We buy Brooklyn houses carrying city tax and water liens regularly. The liens are paid from the sale proceeds at closing and our attorneys handle the payoff. You do not need to resolve them first.
How do you decide what to offer for a Brownsville property?
We look at recent comparable sales on the surrounding blocks, the actual rent roll and which tenants pay, whether the units match the certificate of occupancy, the condition of the roof and systems, the state of the deed, 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 Brownsville?
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.
We also buy in nearby Brooklyn neighborhoods.
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