Sell your house fast in Orange County, NY
Velocity works out of a Factory Street office in Montgomery, so Orange County is not a territory we drive into. It is where we live and work. If you own a house here that you need to sell without listing it, we will come look at it, put a cash price in writing, and close with attorneys on the day that suits you.
A buyer from the county, not a call center
When you call (845) 367-4898, the person who answers is usually Greg Helbeck or Brett Gennarelli, and one of them is the person who will walk through your house. That matters more than it sounds. A lot of the mailers and roadside signs you see around Route 17 and Route 9W belong to companies that pass your address to whoever will pay for it. We are the buyer. We use our own money, we make our own decisions, and we have no reason to waste your afternoon with a number we will not stand behind.
Being based in Montgomery also means we already know what a house in Pine Bush looks like next to one in Cornwall-on-Hudson, which streets in the City of Newburgh have been turning around, and how differently a farmhouse outside Warwick is valued from a split-level in Washingtonville. That local knowledge goes straight into the offer.
Fill in the short form, or just call. Nothing you send commits you to anything.
Three cities, twenty towns and a lot of different houses
The 2020 census counted 401,310 people in Orange County. The county government describes itself as three cities, twenty towns and nineteen villages, and the housing changes a great deal from one to the next. Goshen is the county seat. Newburgh, Middletown and Port Jervis are the three cities. Around them sit places as different as Kiryas Joel and Tuxedo Park, Greenwood Lake and Maybrook.
Here is roughly how that plays out for someone selling:
- The cities. Newburgh, Middletown and Port Jervis have the oldest housing in the county: brick and frame row houses, tall two- and three-family homes, and big Victorian-era places that were cut into apartments decades ago. These are the houses where a buyer’s inspector finds old wiring, galvanized supply lines, slate or tired flat roofs, and basements that take on water. Many are rentals, and plenty of them come with tenants.
- The older villages. Montgomery, Walden, Goshen, Warwick, Chester and Washingtonville have compact streets of older homes near a main street, often on small lots with detached garages. Charming, and frequently in need of a new furnace, new windows or a new porch.
- The postwar towns. In the towns of Newburgh, New Windsor, Wallkill, Monroe and Blooming Grove you see ranches, raised ranches, capes and split-levels from the decades after the war, plus later subdivisions. The usual issues are age-related rather than structural: original kitchens and baths, an aging roof, an oil tank, a septic tank that has not been pumped in a decade.
- The rural edge. Out toward Minisink, Greenville, Deerpark and the Pennsylvania line, and through the farm country around Warwick and the black-dirt region, properties are more likely to have a private well, a septic system, outbuildings, and sometimes more acreage than a typical buyer wants to finance.
We buy across all four. A house does not have to be distressed for us to make an offer, but if it is, that is not a problem.
Why people in Orange County call us
Every sale has its own story, but the same handful of situations keep coming up here:
A parent’s house after they pass. Many Orange County houses have been in one family for decades. The children who inherit them often live in another state, or across the river, and do not want to manage a cleanout, a contractor and a listing from a distance. We can take the house furnished, cluttered and all.
Landlords who are finished. Small multifamily buildings in Newburgh and Middletown can be good investments right up until the boiler fails, a tenant stops paying, or the owner simply gets tired. We will buy the building occupied, rent arrears included.
Commuters who are moving on. The county grew partly because it is a long but workable commute. The Port Jervis Line runs from Port Jervis through Otisville, Middletown, Campbell Hall, Salisbury Mills and Harriman to Secaucus and Hoboken, and Interstate 84 and the Thruway cross the county. When a job changes or a family relocates, a quick sale can be easier than months of showings while you pay two housing costs.
Falling behind. Missed mortgage payments, a tax bill that slipped, or a repair the owner cannot afford. Selling before the problem gets bigger often protects more of your equity than waiting does.
None of these is a reason you have to sell to us. They are just the conversations we have most often.
I recently worked with Greg at Velocity House Buyers, and he was exactly what my client and I needed. He made the entire process smooth, stress-free, and efficient. Greg quickly connected with a motivated investor and handled every step with professionalism and care. I would highly recommend Greg to anyone, and I personally look forward to working with him again on future deals.
The local paperwork, in plain terms
Selling in Orange County involves a few offices and calendars that are worth knowing about before you sign anything.
The deed goes to Goshen
Deeds and mortgages for the whole county are recorded by the Orange County Clerk at the Government Center, 255 Main Street in Goshen. Sellers never have to make that trip. The title company searches those records before closing, and the new deed is sent there for recording afterward. If you are curious what is already on file against your property, the Clerk’s office has its records available to search.
Two tax bills a year
In Orange County the towns mail town, county and special district tax bills in January, and school tax bills follow in September. Owners sometimes assume they have to pay a bill that just arrived before they can sell. Usually they do not. The closing statement splits the tax year between the two sides, and an overdue balance comes out of the sale money. If you have fallen behind on taxes, tell us early so the title company can get exact payoff figures.
Attorneys, not just agents
New York closings are run by attorneys. Each side normally has its own, and the seller’s lawyer typically drafts the contract. We close through a title company as well, which handles the search and the payoffs. You choose your own lawyer; we do not pick one for you.
The condition disclosure form
Anyone selling a house of one to four units in New York generally owes the buyer a filled-in Property Condition Disclosure Statement, and as of March 20, 2024 a seller can no longer skip it by crediting $500 at closing. Fill it out honestly. An old Orange County house is supposed to have quirks; telling us about the leaky foundation now means the price will not change over it later.
If a foreclosure has started
New York lenders have to foreclose in court, and state law requires a notice sent at least 90 days in advance, and once a case involving a home is filed, the court holds a mandatory settlement conference. That process takes time, and the time is useful: a sale before the auction pays off the loan and means whatever equity is left lands in your account, not at an auction. If you have received court papers, talk with a foreclosure attorney or a housing counselor, and call us if selling is one of the options you want to price out.
Rivers, wells and what we look at on a visit
Orange County has the Hudson along its eastern edge, from Newburgh and New Windsor down past Cornwall and Highland Falls, and the Wallkill River winding north through the middle of the county, right past our office in Montgomery and through Walden. Lots of smaller streams feed them. Houses close to water can carry flood insurance requirements that put off buyers who are borrowing, so pull up your lot on the federal flood maps FEMA publishes online before you decide anything. We buy houses in flood zones, and the map simply becomes part of how we price the work.
When Greg or Brett walks through, the checklist is practical rather than cosmetic. We look at the roof, the foundation and the basement, the heating system and fuel source, the electrical panel, the plumbing, and, on rural lots, the well and septic. We note signs of a buried or basement oil tank. We do not care whether the beds are made. The point of the visit is to estimate what the renovation will cost, so that the number you get in writing is one we can keep.
How a sale with us usually goes here
- A phone call. We ask about the house, what is owed on it and what timing you need.
- A visit. One of us comes out and spends time going through the property with you or whoever has the keys.
- A written offer, normally within a day. It shows the price, the proposed closing date and who pays which closing costs. Show it to a lawyer, talk it over at the dinner table, or weigh it against a listing.
- Contract and title. The attorneys handle the contract; the title company finds any liens, judgments or old mortgages that have to be cleared.
- Closing. If title is clear, closing can happen roughly a week out. Need sixty days to line up the next home? Then the closing gets set sixty days out.
The longer version, including what happens to the furniture you leave behind, is on how it works.
An honest caveat: when a house is updated, in a town buyers are competing for, and you have time to wait for a mortgage buyer, an agent may well get you more money. Greg and Brett will say so plainly, even though it means no deal for us.
Orange County sellers often ask
Is there any part of Orange County you don't cover?
No. We buy in all three cities, Newburgh, Middletown and Port Jervis, and in the towns and villages around them, from Warwick and Tuxedo in the south to Wallkill, Crawford and Montgomery in the north. From Factory Street in Montgomery, every corner of the county is a reasonable drive.
Will you buy my Newburgh or Middletown rental while it is occupied?
Yes. Occupied two- and three-family buildings are a big part of what we look at in the cities, and non-paying tenants do not rule a deal out. Have the leases, the rents and any security deposit details handy when you call so the offer accounts for them.
My school tax bill just arrived. Do I have to pay it before I sell?
Not necessarily. In Orange County the school bills come in September and the town and county bills in January. The attorneys prorate whatever bill is current on the closing statement, and arrears are cleared from what the sale pays you. Ask your attorney how the adjustment will work on your closing date.
Do I have to go to the County Clerk in Goshen to transfer the deed?
No. The Orange County Clerk records deeds for the whole county, but the title company and the attorneys prepare the documents and send them for recording after closing. You sign at the closing and that is the end of your part.
What is the shortest time to closing in Orange County?
Roughly a week, when the title search comes back clean, and the written offer itself normally follows the visit by a day. An estate, a judgment or an active foreclosure stretches that out. Sellers who prefer a later date just tell us which one.
Nearby counties and useful pages
Own property just over the county line? We buy in Ulster County to the north, Dutchess County across the Newburgh–Beacon Bridge, and Rockland County to the south.
If a particular problem is behind the sale, our page on situations we help with covers inherited houses, tenants, foreclosure and more. You can read what sellers and agents wrote about us in our Google reviews, or meet Greg and Brett on the about page.