We Buy Homes & Waterfront Property Across Southeast Brooklyn

Housing Stock

What Southeast Brooklyn Is Built From

Southeast Brooklyn is the borough’s shoreline. It wraps around Jamaica Bay from Canarsie and Paerdegat Basin to Mill Basin and Marine Park, then runs along Rockaway Inlet, Sheepshead Bay and the Atlantic beaches of Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach, Coney Island and Sea Gate. Much of the region was marshland, farmland or summer bungalow colonies into the 20th century, and it was built out later than most of Brooklyn.

The result is a lower-density, car-oriented part of the city. Marine Park, Mill Basin and Bergen Beach are dominated by detached and semi-detached homes built mostly from the 1930s through the 1990s, many with driveways and yards. Canarsie and Flatlands have rows of attached brick one- and two-families from the postwar decades. Gerritsen Beach began as a bungalow community in the 1920s and still has many small frame houses on narrow lots.

Toward the ocean, the stock becomes more varied. Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach have walk-ups, six-story elevator buildings and large co-ops alongside older frame homes. Manhattan Beach has large detached homes on streets named in alphabetical order. Coney Island and Sea Gate combine older frame houses with high-rise residential buildings.

Common Condition Issues We See

• Flood damage from Hurricane Sandy, repaired or not
• Open permits from post-Sandy rebuilding or elevation work
• Rising flood insurance costs in mapped flood zones
• Original systems in homes held by one family for decades
• Unpermitted basement apartments and finished cellars in flood-prone blocks
• Bulkhead and seawall maintenance on waterfront lots

Zoning

Zoning & Flood Rules in Southeast Brooklyn

Most of Southeast Brooklyn is zoned for low-density residential use, often limiting new construction to one- and two-family detached or semi-detached homes. Commercial overlays run along corridors like Flatbush Avenue, Avenue U, Rockaway Parkway, Emmons Avenue and Brighton Beach Avenue, where store-and-apartment buildings are common.

Flood rules matter as much as zoning here. Many blocks fall within FEMA flood zones, which affect insurance and how buildings must be constructed or substantially improved. The city’s Zoning for Coastal Flood Resiliency text, adopted in 2021, made permanent and updated rules that let flood-zone buildings be elevated, floodproofed or rebuilt more easily, while also addressing building heights measured from flood elevations.

After Sandy, the city also studied several Southeast Brooklyn neighborhoods through its Resilient Neighborhoods work, including Gerritsen Beach, and adopted special rules in some areas to limit density in the most vulnerable places. The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity changes adopted in December 2024 apply citywide, but some provisions are limited in flood zones and lower-density districts.

Because these rules overlap, the buildable potential of a Southeast Brooklyn lot can vary block by block. Confirm details for a specific property with a zoning professional or attorney.

Regulated Buildings

Rent-Stabilized Buildings in Southeast Brooklyn

Most of Southeast Brooklyn is one- and two-family housing, but Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay in particular have a significant stock of pre-war and postwar apartment buildings, many with rent-stabilized units. Smaller pockets exist along Coney Island Avenue, Ocean Avenue and in Canarsie and Flatlands.

Since the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, owners of regulated buildings have had fewer ways to raise rents, while insurance, fuel, taxes and repair costs keep rising. Buildings near the water often face added costs for flood insurance and resiliency work.

We buy stabilized buildings with tenants in place. See our rent-stabilized building page for how we value them, and our 421-a building page for newer buildings with tax exemptions. The 421-a program stopped accepting new projects in 2022 and was succeeded by 485-x in 2024, while existing 421-a buildings remain under their benefit schedules.

Where We Buy

Southeast Brooklyn Neighborhoods We Buy In

We buy in every neighborhood along Southeast Brooklyn’s shoreline. Here is a guide to each, with links to more detail.

Canarsie

Canarsie sits on Jamaica Bay at the end of the L train at Rockaway Parkway, with Canarsie Pier and Canarsie Park on the water. Most homes are attached and semi-detached brick one- and two-families from the postwar decades. It includes Paerdegat Basin, on its western side along the inlet of the same name. Low-lying blocks flooded during Sandy. We buy two-families, estates and flood-affected homes.

Flatlands

Flatlands is one of the original six towns of Kings County, and the Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church on Kings Highway near Flatbush Avenue marks its old center. Today it is a residential area of attached and semi-detached brick homes and two-families, with retail along Flatbush Avenue, Avenue J and Utica Avenue. Many homes have been owned by one family for decades. We buy homes, two-families and mixed-use.

Bergen Beach

Bergen Beach sits on a former island along Jamaica Bay, east of Mill Basin and south of Flatlands. Much of it was built out in the later decades of the 20th century with detached and semi-detached homes, some along waterfront inlets. It includes Georgetown, a planned section of attached and semi-detached homes that is often grouped with Bergen Beach. We buy detached homes, waterfront property and estate homes.

Mill Basin

Mill Basin sits on a peninsula along Jamaica Bay and its inlets, next to the Kings Plaza shopping center, which opened in 1970. It has some of the largest detached homes in Brooklyn, including waterfront houses with docks. It includes Old Mill Basin, the older section with more modest homes, and Mill Island, the waterfront section known for its larger houses. We buy detached homes and waterfront estates.

Marine Park

Marine Park is named for the park itself, the largest park in Brooklyn, with salt marsh along Gerritsen Creek. The neighborhood around it is mostly detached and semi-detached brick homes and attached rows, many built from the 1920s to the 1950s, with retail on Avenue U and Flatbush Avenue. The historic Hendrick I. Lott House stands here. We buy family homes and estates.

Gerritsen Beach

Gerritsen Beach is a small waterfront community bordered by Shell Bank Creek and Plumb Beach Channel, reached by Gerritsen Avenue. It started as a summer bungalow colony and still has many small frame homes on narrow lots, now mostly year-round. It was among the hardest-hit areas during Sandy, and the city studied it closely afterward. We buy bungalows, elevated homes and homes with flood history.

Sheepshead Bay

Sheepshead Bay centers on the bay itself and Emmons Avenue, with its fishing boats and piers, and the B and Q trains at Sheepshead Bay station. It has detached homes, two-families, walk-ups and large apartment buildings. Its micro-neighborhoods include Plumb Beach along the Belt Parkway near Gerritsen Beach, the small enclave of White Sands, and the inland residential area known as Kings Bay. We buy homes, buildings and mixed-use.

Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach sits on the eastern end of the Coney Island peninsula, between Sheepshead Bay and the ocean, with Kingsborough Community College at its tip and a public beach on its southern shore. Its streets, named alphabetically after English places such as Amherst, Beaumont and Coleridge, are lined with large detached homes, some very large. We buy detached homes, including those with flood history, estates and teardown candidates where zoning allows.

Brighton Beach

Brighton Beach lies between Coney Island and Manhattan Beach, along the boardwalk and the elevated B and Q trains over Brighton Beach Avenue. Known as Little Odessa for its Russian-speaking and Ukrainian community, it is one of the most densely built parts of the region, with walk-ups, six-story buildings, co-ops and small frame houses on side streets. We buy walk-ups, mixed-use and homes.

Coney Island

Coney Island is home to the boardwalk, the amusement district and the New York Aquarium, and is served by four subway lines at Stillwell Avenue. Its 2009 rezoning reshaped the amusement area and surrounding blocks. Outside the amusement core it has older frame homes, large residential towers and mixed-use on Mermaid and Surf Avenues. Flood exposure is a factor on many blocks. We buy homes, mixed-use and development sites.

Sea Gate

Sea Gate is a private gated community at the western tip of the Coney Island peninsula, with its own association and security, and the Coney Island Light at Norton Point. It has detached frame and brick homes, some large and many older, with views of Gravesend Bay and Lower New York Bay. Sea Gate was heavily affected by Sandy. We buy homes with flood history, estates and renovation projects.

A Note on Floyd Bennett Field

Floyd Bennett Field, New York City’s first municipal airport, sits on the Jamaica Bay side of the region next to Marine Park and Mill Basin. It is federal parkland within Gateway National Recreation Area, managed by the National Park Service. It is a landmark for the area, but it is public land, and we do not buy there. We buy privately owned homes in the neighborhoods around it.

Why Owners Sell

Why Southeast Brooklyn Owners Sell to Us

Southeast Brooklyn has some of the most stable homeownership in New York City. Many owners bought decades ago and raised families here. When it is time to sell, the reasons are often tied to age, family or the costs of living near the water.

• An inherited Marine Park, Flatlands or Mill Basin home that several heirs need to sell
• Flood insurance premiums that have become hard to carry
• A Sandy-damaged home that was never fully repaired
• Open permits or incomplete elevation work after recovery programs
• A detached home that needs a full renovation the owner does not want to take on
• A Brighton Beach or Sheepshead Bay walk-up where costs are outpacing regulated rents
• Retiring and moving to Long Island, Staten Island, New Jersey or Florida

Most of these sellers want the same thing: a fair price, a predictable closing and no months of repairs, inspections and lender conditions.

Potential

Where Southeast Brooklyn’s Value Is Hiding

Southeast Brooklyn is not a high-rise development market, and most of its value is in renovation and rebuilding rather than density. The opportunities tend to come from large or oversized lots, older homes that can be modernized and elevated, waterfront property, and corridor buildings on avenues with commercial zoning.

In Mill Basin, Manhattan Beach and Bergen Beach, the value is often in the lot and the location. In Gerritsen Beach and Sea Gate, it is in rebuilding a flood-resilient home. In Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay, it can be in well-run multifamily and mixed-use buildings close to the subway and the water.

We look at each property for what it is and what it can become under the zoning and flood rules that apply. See what we buy for more.

Your Options

Your Options for Selling in Southeast Brooklyn

Listing With a Broker

Listing can work for an updated, move-in-ready home with clean permits. In flood zones, buyers using mortgages need flood insurance, and some homes with open permits or unrepaired damage struggle to pass lender review. Expect commissions, inspection negotiations and a timeline set by the buyer’s financing.

Renovating or Rebuilding Yourself

Some owners choose to renovate, elevate or rebuild. In flood zones, a substantial improvement can trigger requirements to bring the whole building up to flood standards. That can be the right path for owners with time and capital, but it is a significant project.

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 homes with flood history, open permits, tenants and estates. You trade some of the possible upside of a fully renovated retail sale for speed and certainty. Start on our sell your property page.

How It Works

How Selling to Us Works

• Share the address and a few details by form, phone or email
• We review zoning, flood zone status, permits and records
• We visit once, at a time that works for you
• You receive a written cash offer with no obligation
• You choose the closing date and we work with your attorney

Your sale stays private. No online listing, no sign on the lawn.

Market Context

The Southeast Brooklyn Market Today

Southeast Brooklyn remains in demand with buyers who want detached homes, driveways and yards within city limits, which are rare elsewhere in Brooklyn. At the same time, flood insurance, resiliency requirements and higher interest rates have made some homes harder to sell to financed buyers, especially those with flood history or open permits.

A direct buyer does not depend on a mortgage approval or a flood-zone appraisal. We look at the house, the lot and the rules that apply, and make an offer on that basis. If you want to compare our offer with a listing, we welcome it.