Two hilly neighborhoods on either side of Jerome Avenue, around the Jerome Park Reservoir, Lehman College and the Grand Concourse, where prewar apartment buildings outnumber houses and small buildings sometimes sell with owner financing.
When a Kingsbridge Heights & Bedford Park 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% |
Kingsbridge Heights rises west of Jerome Avenue toward the Major Deegan Expressway, with Van Cortlandt Park to the north and Kingsbridge Road to the south. Its best-known landmarks are the Jerome Park Reservoir and the Kingsbridge Armory, a huge castle-like brick drill hall at Kingsbridge Road and Jerome Avenue that has sat largely unused for decades and has been the subject of a long-running city redevelopment effort. Lehman College and the Bronx High School of Science sit beside the reservoir, close to the line between the two neighborhoods, and Bedford Park stretches east across the Grand Concourse toward the New York Botanical Garden.
Both neighborhoods are dense with apartment buildings, including many Art Deco and Tudor-style elevator buildings along the Grand Concourse, Bedford Park Boulevard and the streets near the reservoir. Houses are fewer but more common than in neighborhoods to the south, especially on the steep blocks of Kingsbridge Heights, where detached frame and brick homes sit on hillside lots. Mosholu Parkway, a landscaped boulevard, links the Bronx Park area to Van Cortlandt Park along Bedford Park's northern edge, and Webster Avenue on the east side carries buses beside the Metro-North tracks.
Getting around: 4 at Kingsbridge Rd, Bedford Park Blvd-Lehman College and Mosholu Pkwy; B and D at Kingsbridge Rd and Bedford Park Blvd; Metro-North Harlem Line at Botanical Garden
Many of the properties individual owners sell in these two neighborhoods are small apartment buildings, and they bring their own lending problems. A six-unit walk-up with rent-stabilized tenants paying below-market rents and an aging boiler often fails to meet a bank's income coverage test, no matter how solid the buyer is. On the house side, hillside lots with old retaining walls or additions built without permits can complicate an appraisal. Buyers who work at the nearby colleges, hospitals and stores on contract or hourly schedules can earn steady income and still struggle to document it the way a bank requires.
Owners of these buildings are frequently long-time landlords who bought when the Bronx market was far cheaper and now hold them free and clear. Selling all at once can leave a large taxable gain, while a note stretches the payments over time; an accountant can explain how that applies to a specific sale. Some owners have watched bank-financed deals fall apart over rent rolls and inspections and see seller financing as a more predictable route to closing. Heirs of an owner who has passed away may prefer steady payments to managing tenants they never chose.
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 6-unit prewar brick walk-up in Kingsbridge Heights & Bedford Park.
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: $1,450,000Cash 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: 25% = $362,500The 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.
The Armory, a massive former National Guard building at Kingsbridge Road and Jerome Avenue, has been the subject of city redevelopment efforts for years. Plans have changed more than once, so check the current status with the city's economic development agency or the local community board. For nearby buyers, construction could bring short-term disruption and longer-term new activity on the corridor.
Kingsbridge Heights, west of Jerome Avenue, is hillier and has more detached frame houses mixed in with its apartment buildings. Bedford Park, to the east around the Grand Concourse, is denser and more dominated by large prewar elevator buildings, with shopping along Bedford Park Boulevard. Transit is strong in both, with the 4 on Jerome Avenue and the B and D on the Concourse.
It can work, but go in with clear numbers. Legal rents in stabilized units may be well below market and can rise only by the amounts the Rent Guidelines Board sets. Make sure the building's income covers the note payment, taxes, insurance and repairs at current rents, and run the deal past both an accountant and a real estate attorney licensed in New York before you sign.
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.