Get a Confidential Offer on Your Brooklyn or Staten Island Property

Step by Step

How a Direct Sale Works, From First Call to Closing

Step 1: Share the basics

Use the form above to send the address and whatever details you’re comfortable sharing. Many sellers include the number of units, whether apartments are occupied or stabilized, the building’s general condition, and their ideal timeline. None of this is required to start; the address alone lets us begin.

Step 2: We do our homework

Before asking you for anything else, we review the public record: zoning and remaining floor area, landmark status, certificate of occupancy, DOB and HPD violations, permits, DHCR registrations, tax class and exemptions such as 421-a or J-51, and recorded documents. This lets our first real conversation focus on what matters.

Step 3: A single walkthrough

We schedule one visit at your convenience, covering the roof, cellar, mechanical systems, façade and representative apartments or commercial spaces. For occupied units we provide proper notice and respect tenants’ privacy. We don’t need repeated visits, contractors or inspectors at this stage.

Step 4: A written offer with our assumptions

You receive a written offer covering price, deposit, due-diligence period and closing timeline, along with the key assumptions behind our number — for example, projected taxes as a 421-a benefit phases out, capital work needed in the first few years, or the development potential of the lot. You’re free to share it with your attorney, accountant, family or partners.

Step 5: Contract and due diligence

If the offer works for you, your attorney and ours negotiate the contract. We complete any remaining due diligence within the agreed period. Because we underwrite up front, we don’t use due diligence to renegotiate unless we discover something new and material — and if that happens, we explain exactly what and why.

Step 6: Closing

Closing takes place with both attorneys and the title company. Tenants receive notice of the new owner. If you need time to move, relocate a business or complete an exchange, we can build that into the schedule.

Off-Market vs. Listing

Direct Sale or Traditional Listing: An Honest Comparison

A traditional broker listing exposes a property to the widest pool of buyers, which can produce the highest price for a clean, well-maintained, easy-to-finance property. For many buildings in brownstone Brooklyn, though, a listing has real costs: months on the market, commission, repeated showings that disrupt tenants, public price reductions, and buyers who renegotiate after inspection or fail to secure financing.

A direct sale trades some of that market exposure for speed, privacy and certainty. It tends to make the most sense when a property is complicated — tenants in place, rent stabilization, violations, deferred maintenance, landmark constraints, a tax-benefit cliff, an estate, or development potential that most end buyers can’t evaluate. It also suits owners who value discretion.

We’re comfortable with you comparing our offer against a listing or other buyers. A clear, written number with its assumptions spelled out is exactly what you need to make that comparison.

Costs & Taxes

Seller Costs to Plan For in New York City

Even without a commission, a sale involves costs. Every situation is different, so confirm the details with your attorney and accountant, but sellers in New York City should generally plan for:

• New York City Real Property Transfer Tax, usually paid by the seller, at rates that depend on price and property type — for example, 1% or 1.425% for one- to three-family homes and individual residential units, and 1.425% or 2.625% for other property such as apartment buildings, mixed-use and commercial property.
• New York State transfer tax, generally 0.4%, with a higher rate in New York City for residential sales of $3 million or more and commercial sales of $2 million or more.
• Attorney fees for contract negotiation and closing.
• Payoffs of mortgages, liens, water and sewer charges, and any open violations or penalties that must be cleared at closing.
• Income taxes on any gain, including depreciation recapture for rental property, unless deferred through a 1031 exchange or other planning.

If you plan a 1031 exchange, remember the federal deadlines: replacement property must generally be identified within 45 days of closing and acquired within 180 days. We can coordinate our closing date to help your exchange timeline.

Preparation

Documents That Help (But Aren’t Required)

• Deed and entity documents showing who owns the property and who can sign
• Current rent roll and commercial leases
• Most recent DHCR registration for stabilized units
• Recent real estate tax bills and any exemption information, such as 421-a
• Recent utility, insurance and repair expenses
• List of known issues, open violations or pending permits
• Mortgage statement and prepayment terms
• Estate, trust or partnership documents if applicable

If you don’t have these handy, don’t wait. We can pull most of the public information ourselves and fill in gaps together.

Pricing

How We Arrive at Our Price

Owners often ask how a developer decides what to pay. The short answer is that we work backward from what the property will be worth after we’ve done our work, subtract the cost, time and risk of getting there, and arrive at a price that still makes sense for us. The longer answer depends on the property type:

• Income buildings are valued primarily on net operating income — actual rents less realistic expenses — adjusted for the capital work the building needs and for how much of the rent roll is regulated.
• Renovation candidates are valued on what the building will be worth once restored, less the cost of construction, approvals, carrying costs and a reasonable return for the risk.
• Development sites are valued on the buildable floor area, what that space can be rented or sold for, and the cost of building it under current affordability, tax-benefit and wage rules.
• Tax-benefit buildings are valued on their fully taxed future, not today’s abated numbers.

We’ll tell you which approach drove our number and share the key assumptions, so you can test them against your own view or another buyer’s.

Tenants

Selling With Tenants in Place

You never need to empty a building to sell it to us. Residential tenants — whether rent stabilized, free-market or covered by New York’s 2024 Good Cause Eviction law — keep their leases and legal rights after a sale, and commercial tenants keep their leases too. At closing, tenants receive a notice identifying the new owner and where to pay rent, and security deposits transfer to the new owner as required by law.

We treat tenants with respect during due diligence, giving proper notice before entering any occupied apartment and keeping visits brief. Many of our sellers care deeply about the people who live in their buildings, and a sale that avoids disruption matters to them.

Special Situations

Estates, Partnerships and Buildings With Issues

If you’re an executor or heir, we can work with your estate attorney, structure a contract around probate or court approval, and buy with belongings still in the property. If you own a building with partners or family members who disagree, a clear written offer gives everyone the same information and can sometimes support a buyout of one party. If your building has open violations, liens, a stop-work order or unfinished construction, those issues affect price but rarely prevent a sale. For regulated buildings, our guides to rent-stabilized buildings and 421-a buildings explain how we evaluate them.

Our Commitments

What You Can Expect From Us

• A response within one business day
• One walkthrough, scheduled at your convenience
• A written offer with the key assumptions explained
• No re-trading unless we learn something new and material — and a clear explanation if we do
• Complete confidentiality, with no marketing of your property
• Straight answers, including when we’re not the right buyer

Timing

When Is the Right Time to Sell?

The right time depends on your goals, but several situations consistently prompt Brooklyn owners to get a number. A major capital project — a roof, façade, boiler or gas-line replacement — is approaching. A mortgage is maturing and refinancing would require fresh equity. A 421-a benefit is entering its phase-out. Stabilized rents are frozen for leases starting October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 while insurance and taxes keep rising. An estate needs to be settled, partners want to go separate ways, or you simply want to stop managing property.

In each case, knowing what a qualified buyer would pay today lets you weigh selling against holding, refinancing or renovating with real numbers instead of guesses. Requesting an offer is free, confidential and carries no obligation.

Brokers

Already Working With a Broker?

That’s fine. If you’ve engaged a licensed broker, include their contact information in your submission and we’ll work through them. Brokers and wholesalers who want to present deals to us directly can use our Brokers & Wholesalers page.

After You Submit

What Our First Call Covers

Our first conversation usually takes fifteen to thirty minutes. We’ll confirm the basics about the property, ask about tenants, condition and any known issues, learn what matters most to you — price, speed, privacy, a leaseback, a delayed closing — and explain what information would help us move faster. By the end of the call you’ll know whether the property fits what we buy and what the next steps and timing look like.

Privacy

Your Information Stays With Us

The details you share through this page are used only to evaluate your property and contact you about it. We don’t sell or share your information, publish property details, or add you to marketing lists. You can ask us to delete your submission at any time, as described in our Privacy Policy.

This page provides general information and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult your own attorney and accountant about your specific situation. Red Hook Development buys real estate as a principal for its own account.