Sell your Westchester County house on your terms
Westchester is the biggest county we buy in, with more than a million residents at the last census. We buy houses here directly, from Yonkers and Mount Vernon up through White Plains to Peekskill and the northern towns, with a written cash offer and a closing handled by attorneys.
A direct sale, explained simply
Velocity House Buyers is a cash buyer, not a brokerage. Our owner, Greg Helbeck, and our director of home buying, Brett Gennarelli, look at every house themselves, decide what we will pay, and stand behind that number in writing.
Selling to us means skipping the parts of a Westchester listing that wear people out: weeks of prep, open houses, buyers who need the appraisal to come in, and inspection requests that reopen the price. In exchange, our offer reflects the work we will do after we buy. Some sellers find that trade worth it; some do not. Either way, asking costs nothing.
The form beside this takes a minute. Prefer talking? Dial (845) 367-4898.
Every kind of house, from the Bronx line to Putnam
The 2020 census put Westchester at 1,004,457 people, the most in the county’s history. That population lives in a very wide range of housing, and the issues that hold up a sale are different in each part.
The southern cities. Yonkers, Mount Vernon and New Rochelle have large stocks of older two- and three-family houses, attached homes and single-families on tight lots. Many are rentals. The common sticking points are aging boilers and electrical service, illegal or unpermitted basement and attic units, and tenants who are behind or will not cooperate with showings.
White Plains and the central towns. Around the county seat, and through Greenburgh, Mount Pleasant, Harrison and Eastchester, you see older colonials, Tudors and capes alongside postwar split-levels. Owners who have been in place for decades often face the full list at once: roof, windows, kitchen, baths, mechanicals.
The river towns and Peekskill. Along the Hudson, in places like Ossining, Croton and Peekskill, hillside streets of older houses often come with stone or block foundations, retaining walls and drainage problems.
Northern Westchester. In towns such as Cortlandt, Yorktown, Somers, Bedford and North Salem, lots are larger and houses more spread out. Private wells and septic systems are common, and some properties sit within the New York City watershed.
We buy across all of it, occupied or empty, updated or not.
Costs that are particular to Westchester
The costs of selling here are mostly the same as anywhere in New York: your lawyer’s fee, New York’s transfer tax (by custom a seller expense), and any payoff on your mortgage or liens. A couple of local items are worth knowing about.
Yonkers adds its own transfer tax
Inside city limits, Yonkers levies a second transfer tax of its own, set at one and a half percent of the price, and the city code puts that bill on the seller. (Co-op unit sales are not subject to the Yonkers tax.) If your house is in Yonkers, your attorney will include it in your closing figures, and our written offer will show it so you see your real net number.
Two property tax calendars, depending on where you live
In Westchester’s towns the combined town and county bill arrives in spring; the Town of Cortlandt, for one, mails it on April 1. School taxes are billed in the fall and can generally be split in two, with one half owed at the end of September and the other at the end of January. Westchester’s cities, Yonkers among them, run their own property tax offices on their own schedules. Whatever your bill says, the closing statement divides this year's taxes between you and us, and arrears come off the top of your proceeds.
Records at the County Clerk
Westchester deeds and mortgages go on file with the Land Records Division of the Westchester County Clerk in White Plains. Its records reach back to deeds from 1680, and the office accepts land documents electronically. Your title company searches there before closing and records the new deed there afterward.
Westchester sellers we tend to hear from
- Owners of two- and three-family houses who are tired of managing tenants, repairs and code inspections. We buy occupied buildings, including units where rent has stopped.
- Long-time owners ready to downsize, who do not want to spend a year and a renovation budget preparing a big house for the market.
- Heirs settling an estate, often from out of state, who need the executor to sell once the Surrogate’s Court has issued letters, and who would rather not empty the house first.
- People moving for work. Three Metro-North lines, the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven, run through the county, and when a job pulls a household elsewhere, a set closing date beats an open-ended listing.
- Homeowners behind on the mortgage. In New York the lender must send a 90-day notice before suing, the foreclosure runs through the state Supreme Court, and homeowners get a mandatory settlement conference. A sale during that window can pay the loan and save the equity.
How it works for a Westchester house
First a phone call about the property, what is owed and the timing you need. Then a visit from Greg or Brett, which is about the structure and systems rather than how tidy the rooms are. For a multifamily, we will also want to see each unit and talk through the leases.
Within a day or so you get a written offer: the price, a target closing day and the split of closing costs. Show it to your lawyer. Ask a listing agent what you would clear after repairs and commission, and compare. There is no deadline pressure from us.
If you accept, the attorneys draw up the contract and both sides sign it, you complete the Property Condition Disclosure Statement (the old $500 credit alternative ended in March 2024), and the title company handles payoffs. Clean title can mean a closing in about a week; a later date is fine too.
Our honest view: an updated Westchester house with no deadline will usually bring more through a listing. Direct sales make the most sense when condition, tenants, an estate or a deadline are the real obstacle.
Westchester County seller FAQ
Who pays the Yonkers transfer tax when a house is sold?
You do, as the seller. Yonkers sets its tax at 1.5% of the sale price, owed in addition to the state tax. Sales of co-op units are exempt from the city tax.
When are school taxes due in Westchester towns?
In many Westchester towns the school bill comes in September and may be paid in halves: one by the end of that month, the other by the end of January. Cities run their own tax offices and calendars, so check your bill.
Will you buy a Yonkers or Mount Vernon multifamily that still has tenants?
Yes. We buy occupied multifamily houses, including ones with tenants who have stopped paying rent. Bring the leases and rent roll to the first conversation if you can.
Do you buy in northern Westchester too?
Yes. We buy in towns such as Cortlandt, Yorktown, Somers, Bedford and North Salem, well-and-septic properties included.
Is it a problem that my Westchester house has an unpermitted basement apartment?
No. We take on unpermitted units and open permits as part of the purchase, and sorting them out with the building department becomes our job once we own the house. Tell us about it up front so the offer reflects it.
Nearby areas and more information
We also buy just north in Putnam County, across the Hudson in Rockland County, and over the state line in Bergen County, New Jersey.
For more detail, see how it works, the situations we help with, and our Google reviews.