A cash sale for your White Plains house, timed around your life
White Plains is where Westchester keeps its courts, its land records and its county offices, so a lot of the paperwork behind a sale already lives within a few blocks of downtown. What we add is a buyer who doesn’t need an appraisal, a mortgage commitment or a perfect house.
A Montgomery company that buys in Westchester
We are Velocity House Buyers: Greg Helbeck, who founded the company in 2017, and Brett Gennarelli, who has bought houses full time since 2020. We work from Montgomery, an Orange County village, so White Plains is a trip across the Hudson for us rather than our own backyard. We make that trip for every property we price, because a fair number depends on standing in the kitchen and looking at the furnace ourselves.
Here is the short version of how it goes. You tell us about the house. One of us visits. Generally by the following day, a written offer lands with you, stating what we’ll pay, which closing costs fall on whom and the date we’re proposing. You can accept it, counter it, sleep on it or say no.
Selling directly isn’t the best fit for every home here. When a house needs nothing and the owner isn’t rushed, the open market usually pays more; we’ll point that out if it applies to you.
What selling in White Plains tends to involve
The city had 59,559 residents at the 2020 census. Census survey estimates put the owner-occupancy rate at about half and the average household at roughly 2.3 people, which fits a city where downtown apartment buildings sit beside older single-family neighborhoods. The houses that end up with us are usually the ones a retail buyer would struggle with: a colonial that hasn’t been touched since it was bought, a house with a failing oil tank or roof, an addition built without paperwork, or a property a family has kept empty since a parent moved into care.
Long ownership is common, and so are the issues that come with it. Kitchens and baths from another era, ungrounded wiring, galvanized pipes, foundation cracks that have been painted over more than once. We don’t ask you to fix any of it. We account for it in the price and explain where our number comes from.
White Plains also has a long memory. The Battle of White Plains was fought here on October 28, 1776, and some of the city’s housing is old enough that a title search turns up surprises: an ancient right-of-way, an unreleased mortgage from a bank that no longer exists. The title company tracks those down and clears them before closing.
The tax calendar, and why it matters at closing
White Plains splits its property tax bills across three due dates. According to the city finance department, the first half of the city and school tax is due July 1, the second half January 1, and the county tax April 1, each with a month before it counts as late.
When a sale closes between those dates, the attorneys prorate: whoever has paid ahead gets credited, and whatever is unpaid comes out of the proceeds. If you’ve fallen behind, the arrears are simply settled at the closing table. People sometimes assume they have to catch up before they can sell; you don’t.
One more local detail. The city changes the owner on its tax roll only once the Assessor’s Office receives a certified copy of the recorded deed, which is why your attorney will ask you to keep paying any bill that arrives before the transfer is processed. Anything you overpay is sorted out between the parties.
The county offices, close at hand
Deeds are recorded by the Westchester County Clerk at 110 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The Surrogate’s Court is at number 111 on the same boulevard, where executors and administrators get the letters that let them sell a house belonging to an estate.
If you’re handling a parent’s home, the order of things matters: the court appoints you first, then you sign a contract. We can talk with you before the letters are issued and set a closing date for after they arrive. A White Plains estate attorney can tell you how long the court is taking.
Situations we hear about from White Plains owners
- Downsizing after decades in one house. The stairs are getting harder and the yard is too much. You’d rather not spend a season repainting and staging. Leave behind what you don’t want to take.
- A separation. Two people need a number they both trust and a sale that doesn’t drag. A written offer gives both attorneys something concrete to work from.
- A job move. You’ve already started somewhere else, and carrying two homes isn’t sustainable. Knowing the closing day lets you book movers and line up everything else.
- A house that failed a buyer’s inspection. The last deal fell apart over the roof, the sewer line or the oil tank. We’ve already assumed there will be findings like that.
White Plains seller questions
Which White Plains neighborhoods do you buy in?
Every part of the city. We look at single-family homes and small multi-family buildings anywhere in the city, in any condition. Unsure whether yours qualifies? Describe it to us on the phone.
The July tax bill is about to come due. Should I pay it before selling?
That is a question for your attorney, but you are not required to pay it to sell to us. Taxes are adjusted at closing, and unpaid amounts are paid off from your proceeds, along with any late charges the city has added.
Can I sell my late mother’s house before the Surrogate’s Court appoints me?
You can start talking with us and get a written offer, but the person signing the contract and the deed needs the court’s authority first. The closing can simply be scheduled once the letters are in hand.
Do I still pay transfer tax if I sell to a cash buyer?
Yes. New York’s real estate transfer tax applies whether or not the buyer has a mortgage, and sellers customarily pay it. Your written offer spells out which closing costs fall to you.
What happens to the things I leave in the house?
Take whatever you want and leave the rest. Hauling out furniture and old belongings is our job once the house is ours, and we budgeted for it when we priced the house.