We Buy Homes, Two-Families & Lots Across East Brooklyn

Housing Stock

What East Brooklyn Is Built From

East Brooklyn is not one type of neighborhood. It runs from the elevated tracks at Broadway Junction and the cemeteries of Cypress Hills down to the edge of Jamaica Bay in Canarsie and Spring Creek, and from the Caribbean storefronts of Church Avenue in East Flatbush to the Queens line at City Line. The building stock reflects that range.

In East New York, Cypress Hills and New Lots, the typical property is a two-story frame or brick house, often a two-family, on a narrow lot. Many date to the late 1800s and early 1900s, when the area grew around the elevated lines on Fulton Street, Broadway and Jamaica Avenue. Some blocks have newer infill houses built through programs like Nehemiah in the 1980s and later city-sponsored homeownership efforts.

Ocean Hill and Brownsville have more attached brick row houses and small walk-ups, along with large public housing campuses. East Flatbush is dominated by brick row houses and semi-attached two-families from the 1920s and 1930s, plus six-story elevator buildings along wider streets. Canarsie is mostly attached and semi-detached brick homes built after World War II, many of them two-families with a basement or garage level.

Common Condition Issues We See

• Original boilers, wiring and plumbing in pre-war frame houses
• Roofs and facades that have been patched for decades
• Basement apartments that were never legalized
• Open DOB and ECB violations from earlier owners
• Water and flood history near Jamaica Bay in Canarsie and Spring Creek

Zoning

Zoning in East Brooklyn: The 2016 Rezoning and Beyond

The biggest zoning change in East Brooklyn in a generation was the East New York Neighborhood Plan, which the City Council approved in April 2016. It was the first neighborhood rezoning under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. It allowed taller, denser mixed-use buildings along parts of Atlantic Avenue, Pitkin Avenue and Fulton Street, and in portions of Cypress Hills and Ocean Hill, while keeping many residential side streets at lower densities.

Because the plan used Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, new residential development in the rezoned areas must include a share of permanently affordable apartments. That affects how a developer values a site. A large rezoned lot on Atlantic Avenue is valued very differently from a two-family on a side street, even a block away.

Broadway Junction, where the A, C, J, Z and L trains meet near the Long Island Rail Road’s East New York station, has been the focus of city planning work about transit improvements and redevelopment. Plans like these can take years, and owners should treat them as possibilities rather than promises.

Citywide, the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity changes adopted in December 2024 added the Universal Affordability Preference, relaxed parking requirements in many areas and allowed accessory dwelling units on many one- and two-family lots. How those rules apply to a specific East Brooklyn lot depends on its district and its location, so confirm details with a zoning professional before relying on them.

Regulated Buildings

Rent-Stabilized & Subsidized Buildings in East Brooklyn

East Brooklyn has a large share of rent-regulated and subsidized housing. Six-unit and larger walk-ups in East Flatbush, Brownsville and Ocean Hill are often rent-stabilized. Since the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, owners have had far fewer ways to raise regulated rents, which has left many older buildings with rising costs and flat income.

The region also includes major subsidized and public developments. Spring Creek Towers, still widely called Starrett City, is one of the largest subsidized housing complexes in the country. Brownsville and East New York contain a number of NYCHA campuses. We do not buy NYCHA or government-owned property, but we often buy privately owned buildings next to them.

If you own a stabilized building here, we buy it as-is with the tenants in place. Our rent-stabilized building page explains how we value regulated rent rolls. Newer buildings that carry a tax exemption are covered on our 421-a building page. The 421-a program stopped accepting new projects in 2022 and was followed by 485-x in 2024, but existing 421-a buildings continue under their benefit schedules.

Where We Buy

East Brooklyn Neighborhoods We Buy In

We buy in every part of East Brooklyn. Here is how we see each neighborhood, and where to read more.

East New York

East New York is the center of the region and the neighborhood most changed by the 2016 rezoning. We buy frame two-families on blocks off Pitkin and Liberty Avenues, mixed-use buildings on Atlantic Avenue and Fulton Street, and vacant lots throughout. Its micro-neighborhoods include Broadway Junction, the transit hub at the northwest corner where the A, C, J, Z and L lines meet, and City Line, the eastern edge along the Queens border near Ozone Park, where two-families and small mixed-use buildings line Liberty and Atlantic Avenues.

New Lots

New Lots is the southern part of greater East New York, below the elevated 3 train on Livonia Avenue and around New Lots Avenue. It has a high share of small attached and semi-attached houses, many of them two-families, plus some of the most available vacant lots in Brooklyn. Owners here often sell because a house needs full renovation or because a side lot can be split and built on. We buy both houses and lots, including those with tax or title complications.

Cypress Hills

Cypress Hills sits along the J and Z elevated on Jamaica Avenue and Fulton Street, bordered by Highland Park and the large cemeteries along the Queens line. The housing stock is mostly two- and three-family frame and brick houses, with storefront buildings on Fulton Street and Jamaica Avenue. Parts of the neighborhood were included in the 2016 rezoning. We buy houses on blocks like Crescent, Hale and Euclid as well as corridor mixed-use.

Spring Creek & Starrett City

Spring Creek is the area along Jamaica Bay at the southern end of East New York. It includes Starrett City, home to the large Spring Creek Towers complex, the Gateway area anchored by the Gateway Center shopping center, and the newer Nehemiah houses and apartment buildings nearby. Shirley Chisholm State Park, built on former landfills, opened here in 2019. We buy privately owned homes and land in the surrounding blocks, not the large complex itself.

Brownsville

Brownsville, centered on Pitkin Avenue, Belmont Avenue and the 3 train on Livonia Avenue, is one of Brooklyn’s most densely built and most public-housing-heavy neighborhoods. Privately owned property here tends to be attached brick row houses, small walk-ups and mixed-use buildings, along with scattered lots. Many owners have held for decades. We buy occupied, vacant and distressed buildings, including those with long-running violations.

Ocean Hill

Ocean Hill sits between Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville, running roughly from Broadway south past Atlantic Avenue toward Eastern Parkway, next to Broadway Junction. It has brick and brownstone-style row houses on blocks like Macdougal, Hull and Decatur, along with walk-ups and mixed-use on Broadway and Fulton Street. Part of Ocean Hill was rezoned in 2016. We buy row houses, two-families and small multifamily buildings in any condition.

East Flatbush

East Flatbush is a large, mostly residential neighborhood of brick row houses and two-families, anchored by Church Avenue, Utica Avenue and Linden Boulevard, with Kings County Hospital and SUNY Downstate on its western edge. Its micro-neighborhoods include Remsen Village around Remsen Avenue, Rugby, an older name for part of the neighborhood’s interior, and Farragut, the area toward Farragut Road in the south. Inherited homes are a large share of what we buy here.

East Midwood

East Midwood sits between Midwood and Flatlands, southwest of East Flatbush. It is a quieter area of detached and semi-detached houses, many with driveways, plus some brick two-families and small apartment buildings. Properties tend to be larger than in northern East Brooklyn, and many have been owned by the same family for a long time. We buy detached homes, two-families and small multifamily buildings, whether updated or original.

Canarsie

Canarsie runs to Jamaica Bay at the end of the L train at Rockaway Parkway. Most homes are attached and semi-detached brick one- and two-families built after World War II. Its micro-neighborhoods include Paerdegat Basin on the western side, where homes sit near the water. Low-lying blocks near the bay flooded during Hurricane Sandy. We buy homes in any condition, including those with flood history.

Why Owners Sell

Why East Brooklyn Owners Sell to Us

Most of the sellers we meet in East Brooklyn are not investors. They are families who have owned a house for 30 or 40 years, heirs who inherited a home they do not want to manage, or landlords who are tired of a building that costs more every year.

• An inherited house in Canarsie or East Flatbush with several heirs who want to settle the estate
• A two-family with tenants who are behind on rent or will not move
• A row house that needs a full renovation the owner cannot finance
• Open violations, fines or liens that a regular buyer’s lender will not accept
• A vacant lot with taxes due and no plan to build
• A rent-stabilized walk-up where expenses now exceed what rents can cover
• Owners relocating outside New York who want a single, clean sale

In each case, the common thread is wanting a predictable outcome without spending money on repairs, legal battles or months of showings.

Potential

Where East Brooklyn’s Value Is Hiding

East Brooklyn has more development potential than almost any other part of the borough, but it is spread unevenly. A wide lot on a rezoned stretch of Atlantic Avenue near Broadway Junction is a very different asset from a narrow two-family on a side street in New Lots.

The value usually comes from one of three places. First, corridor sites where zoning now allows more floor area than the existing building uses. Second, oversized lots or side lots that can support new two- and three-family houses. Third, older buildings that can be renovated into well-run rentals with proper certificates of occupancy.

We evaluate every property for all three. That is how we can often pay more than a buyer who only looks at the house as it stands. For a closer look at what we buy across the borough, see what we buy.

Your Options

Your Options for Selling in East Brooklyn

Listing With a Broker

Listing can make sense for a renovated, vacant, mortgage-ready house. Buyers using financing need the property to pass an appraisal and inspection, and many East Brooklyn houses with tenants, violations or unpermitted basement work struggle with that. Expect commissions, possible repair requests and a timeline that depends on a buyer’s lender.

Developing It Yourself

If you own a rezoned corridor site or a buildable lot, you can develop it yourself. That means architects, filings, financing, Mandatory Inclusionary Housing requirements where they apply, construction risk and a multi-year timeline. It can be rewarding for experienced builders and stressful for everyone else.

Selling Directly to Us

Selling to Red Hook Development means one cash offer, no repairs, no showings and a closing date you choose. We buy with tenants in place, with violations open and with estate paperwork in progress. You give up some of the upside of a fully renovated retail sale in exchange for speed and certainty. Start on our sell your property page.

How It Works

How Selling to Us Works

• Tell us the address and a few basics by form, phone or email
• We review zoning, lot size, tenants and records, usually within one business day
• We walk the property once, at a time that suits you and any tenants
• You get a written cash offer with no obligation
• You pick the closing date and we handle the paperwork with your attorney

Everything stays private. We do not post your property online or put a sign in front of it.

Market Context

The East Brooklyn Market Today

East Brooklyn has drawn steady interest from homebuyers and developers over the past decade, driven by the 2016 rezoning, the push to improve Broadway Junction and the fact that it remains one of the few parts of Brooklyn where row houses and two-families are still within reach for many buyers. At the same time, higher interest rates, insurance costs and tighter rules for regulated buildings have made some properties harder to sell through traditional channels.

That gap is where a direct buyer is useful. We do not rely on a bank appraisal or a buyer’s mortgage approval. We look at what the property is and what it can become, and we make an offer on that basis. If you want to compare, ask for our offer and a broker’s opinion side by side. We are happy to explain how we arrived at our number.