A compact grid between Fordham University and the Bronx Zoo, known for the food shops of Arthur Avenue, with frame and brick multi-family houses and storefront buildings that long-time owners sometimes sell on terms.
When a Belmont owner sells with financing, the owner becomes the lender. Most owners price that loan off what banks charge: homeowners typically ask about 2 percentage points more than the national average 30-year rate, with a 5-year balloon payment, or an extension if both sides agree to one in the contract. The numbers below update every week.
| Week | Bank 30-yr | Seller-finance typical |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 15, 2026 | 7.40% | 9.40% |
| Oct 8, 2026 | 7.40% | 9.40% |
| Oct 1, 2026 | 7.28% | 9.28% |
| Sep 24, 2026 | 7.03% | 9.03% |
| Sep 17, 2026 | 6.95% | 8.95% |
| Sep 10, 2026 | 6.76% | 8.76% |
| Sep 3, 2026 | 6.71% | 8.71% |
| Aug 27, 2026 | 6.66% | 8.66% |
| Aug 20, 2026 | 6.65% | 8.65% |
| Aug 13, 2026 | 6.67% | 8.67% |
| Aug 6, 2026 | 6.69% | 8.69% |
| Jul 30, 2026 | 6.66% | 8.66% |
Belmont sits below Fordham Road and the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University, with the Bronx Zoo across Southern Boulevard to the east, Third Avenue to the west, and the blocks around St. Barnabas Hospital to the south. Its best-known street is Arthur Avenue, a retail strip of bakeries, butchers, delis, restaurants and specialty food shops that draws visitors from across the region. The indoor Arthur Avenue Retail Market, opened in 1940 to move pushcart vendors off the street, sits in the middle of the strip.
East 187th Street, which crosses Arthur Avenue, carries much of the same mix of shops, and Crescent Avenue cuts diagonally through the grid. Away from those streets the blocks are almost entirely residential, with rows of two- and three-family houses, many of them frame buildings with stoops, alongside walk-up apartment buildings. There is no subway stop inside the neighborhood, but the Metro-North station at Fordham, near the western edge of the university, gives a direct line to Grand Central. The compact size and walkable shopping keep apartments here in steady demand.
Getting around: Metro-North Harlem and New Haven lines at Fordham; Bx12 Select Bus Service on Fordham Road; B, D, 2 and 5 trains a short bus ride away
In Belmont, the buildings people want most are often the hardest to finance with a bank. A three-story house with a bakery or butcher on the ground floor reads as commercial to many lenders, and a frame house with a century of renovations may turn up unpermitted work during appraisal. The buyers lining up for these properties frequently include people who already work on the commercial strip, running or managing food businesses whose cash flow is real but uneven, and hard to document the way an underwriter expects.
Many Belmont buildings have stayed in the same hands for decades, and the current owners may not need a lump sum so much as reliable income. Carrying a note on a building they know well can feel more comfortable than putting sale proceeds into an unfamiliar investment. When a shop owner wants to buy the building that houses the business, the seller may already have years of that tenant's payment history, which makes the decision easier. Estates divided among several heirs sometimes use a note to settle with a buyer who cannot borrow conventionally.
Every owner-financed deal comes down to five numbers. Here is what each one means, what is typical in New York City right now, and how they work on an illustrative 3-family frame house in Belmont.
What you pay for the property. Owners who offer financing sometimes hold firm on price because they are giving you flexibility everywhere else, so compare against recent sales on the block before you offer.
Example: $995,000Cash you pay at closing. It is the seller's protection if the loan goes bad, so expect 10% to 30%. A bigger down payment is your best lever for a lower rate or a longer balloon.
Example: 20% = $199,000The rate on the seller's loan to you. Owners typically charge about 2 points above the national average 30-year bank rate. New York's civil usury limit is 16% a year.
Today: about 9.40% (bank average 7.40%)The schedule used to calculate your monthly payment, usually 30 years. A long schedule keeps the payment close to what a bank loan would cost, even though the loan comes due sooner.
Typical: 30-year scheduleThe date the remaining balance comes due, usually 5 years after closing. By then you refinance with a bank or sell. If both sides agree up front, the contract can allow an extension, often for a fee or a higher rate.
Typical: 5-year balloon, extension if agreedIllustrative only, not a listing or a quote. Excludes taxes, insurance and closing costs. Payment recalculates from this week's rate.
It is possible if a seller offers it, but buildings directly on Arthur Avenue or East 187th Street usually include retail space, so they are priced and evaluated as mixed-use properties. Expect the seller to look closely at your plans for the storefront and at your down payment. Before you sign anything, your attorney should read the commercial leases and the note line by line.
No subway line runs through the neighborhood itself. Most people use the Metro-North station at Fordham for trips to Grand Central, the Bx12 Select Bus Service along Fordham Road, or local buses to reach the B and D on the Grand Concourse or the 2 and 5 to the east. Factor that into your plans if you depend on the subway every day.
They shape the edges of the neighborhood more than the interior. Blocks near Southern Boulevard see visitor traffic on busy zoo days, and blocks near Fordham University see apartment demand from people connected to the campus. Neither institution controls private buildings, but both are long-standing neighbors, which many buyers count as a plus when weighing a long-term purchase.
Browse Bronx listings where owners offer financing, or list your own property and set your own terms.
Open the Live Map List your propertyThis article is general education, not legal, tax, lending or investment advice. Seller-financing terms are negotiated between buyer and seller and every deal is different. Before signing anything, have a New York real estate attorney review the contract, note and mortgage, and talk to a CPA about the tax side. Rates shown update weekly from Freddie Mac's national survey; the seller-finance figure is a rule of thumb, not a quote.