Sell your Rockland County house without the listing grind
Rockland is the county just below ours, a short run down the Thruway from our office in Montgomery. We buy houses in every one of its five towns, in whatever shape they are in, and we close through attorneys on a date you set.
What we offer Rockland owners
Velocity House Buyers is a small, owner-run company. Greg Helbeck and Brett Gennarelli look at the houses themselves and sign the contracts themselves. There is no agent between you and the buyer, because we are the buyer.
That makes the process short. You tell us about the property, one of us comes to see it, and you get a price on paper, usually the next day. Accept it and the attorneys take over. Decline it and nothing happens. You never owe us a commission or a fee.
Owners in Rockland tend to come to us for one of two reasons: the repairs a listing would demand are more than they care to fund, or the calendar is the problem. A direct sale solves both.
Five towns, very different streets
About 338,000 people live in Rockland (the 2020 census counted 338,329), divided among just five towns, each with villages and hamlets inside it. The housing follows the history of each one.
- Clarkstown holds New City, the county seat, along with Nanuet, Congers, Valley Cottage and West Nyack. Much of it filled in with ranches, high ranches, split-levels and center-hall colonials in the decades after the first Tappan Zee Bridge opened in the 1950s.
- Orangetown, at the southern end along the New Jersey line, takes in Pearl River, Tappan, Blauvelt, Sparkill and the river villages of Nyack, South Nyack and Piermont. Nyack’s hillside Victorians and the older capes near the Pearl River train station sit a few minutes from newer cul-de-sacs.
- Ramapo, on the western side, is home to Spring Valley, Suffern, Monsey, Hillburn and Sloatsburg. Spring Valley has a dense mix of older single-family houses and two-family homes, many of them rentals.
- Haverstraw includes the village of Haverstraw on the river, West Haverstraw, Garnerville and Thiells. Older frame houses near the waterfront give way to postwar neighborhoods inland.
- Stony Point, the northernmost town, is quieter, with houses near the river, the hamlet of Tomkins Cove and the edge of Harriman State Park.
We buy in all of them, from a dated split-level in Valley Cottage to a two-family in Spring Valley with tenants who have not paid since spring.
Why Rockland owners decide to sell directly
The house grew in ways the paperwork did not. A lot of Rockland split-levels and ranches have been expanded over the years: a finished lower level, an enclosed porch, a bedroom over the garage, a basement apartment. When those changes were never permitted or never closed out, a buyer’s attorney and lender start asking for certificates of occupancy, and a sale can stall for months. We buy with open permits and unrecorded additions, and we deal with the town afterward.
Empty nesters with a big colonial. The four-bedroom house that worked for raising kids can feel like a lot of roof, lawn and heating oil once they are gone. Some owners would rather sell as it is than spend a year modernizing the kitchen for someone else.
Commuters on the move. Rockland works for people who need New York City and northern New Jersey at the same time. The Pascack Valley Line runs from Spring Valley, Nanuet and Pearl River down to Hoboken, the Port Jervis Line stops at Suffern and Sloatsburg, and the bridge carries everyone else across to Westchester. When a job relocates, carrying an empty house during a listing can be expensive.
Estates and family houses. When a parent dies, the executor usually needs letters from the Surrogate’s Court before a deed can be signed. The price and contract can be settled while that court step is pending; the closing simply waits for the letters.
Money trouble. Missed mortgage payments, a home equity loan that reset, unpaid property taxes. Selling early, while you still have choices, usually leaves more money in your pocket than letting the problem run its course.
Rockland’s offices and calendars
Recording happens in New City
From its office on South Main Street in New City, the Rockland County Clerk records the deeds, mortgages and satisfactions for every property in the county. Its records can be searched online for free, and the Clerk also offers a sign-up that sends an alert whenever a document is recorded against your name or address. If you own property here, especially a house that sits empty, that alert is worth the two minutes it takes.
When the tax bills come
Rockland homeowners get two main bills a year from their town’s tax collector: the town and county bill in January and the school bill in September. In Orangetown, for instance, once the town’s collection period closes, later installments and overdue amounts are paid to the Rockland County Finance Department instead. At a sale, the attorneys adjust taxes between buyer and seller, and arrears are paid off from your proceeds.
New York’s rules still apply
Rockland closings follow the same state practices as the rest of New York: each side hires a lawyer, the seller’s attorney normally prepares the contract, and the seller customarily pays the state transfer tax. A mortgage foreclosure here goes through the state Supreme Court, after the lender has mailed the required 90-day notice, and home foreclosure cases get a settlement conference. If you are in that process, a sale before the auction date is often the way to keep your equity.
Be choosy about who buys your house
Owners who are behind on payments or who have an empty house get a stream of letters, texts and calls from people offering cash. Some are real buyers. Some are middlemen hoping to flip your contract. A few are worse. Before you sign anything with anyone, including us, check three things:
- Can you find them? We are at 9 Factory St, Montgomery, NY 12549, with a Google profile that shows our reviews, good and bad alike.
- Who signs the contract? It should be the company that is actually buying and paying, not someone who plans to assign the deal to an investor you never meet.
- Where does the deed get signed? At a closing with attorneys and a title company, never at your kitchen table with a stranger and a notary.
Your own lawyer can review our contract before you sign it. We encourage it.
Questions from Rockland County sellers
Which parts of Rockland County do you buy in?
Every one of the county's towns, from Stony Point and Haverstraw in the north to Ramapo, Clarkstown and Orangetown farther south. That takes in New City, Nanuet, Pearl River, Nyack, Spring Valley, Suffern, Monsey, Haverstraw village and Garnerville.
My house has a finished basement and an addition that were never permitted. Will you still buy it?
Yes. Additions and basements finished without a permit stall a lot of ordinary Rockland sales. We price the house knowing the permits are open and take care of legalizing or removing the work after we own it.
Is the Rockland County Clerk where my deed gets recorded?
Yes. The County Clerk in New City records deeds and mortgages for the whole county. After the closing, recording the new deed is handled for you by the title company.
Can I sell my parent's Rockland house before the estate is settled?
Yes, with one condition: whoever signs the deed for the estate must first be appointed by the Surrogate's Court. Terms can be agreed and a contract signed in the meantime, with the closing set for after the appointment.
Will I owe you a commission?
Nothing is owed to us at all. You will still have your own attorney's fee and the New York transfer tax that sellers customarily pay, and your written offer shows who covers each closing cost.
Close by, and worth reading
Rockland borders three other areas we buy in: Orange County to the north, Westchester County across the river, and Bergen County, New Jersey just over the state line.
For the step-by-step version of a sale, see how it works. To check us out before you call, read our Google reviews or the FAQ.