Seller Financing in Longwood, Bronx: Historic Semi-Attached Homes

Today's bank rate vs. a typical seller-finance rate

When a Longwood 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.

About Longwood

Longwood holds one of the most intact groups of late-1800s and early-1900s houses in the South Bronx. The Longwood Historic District, designated in 1980 and extended in 1983, protects rows of semi-attached two-family houses built between 1897 and 1901 on parts of Beck Street, Kelly Street, Dawson Street and Hewitt Place. Most were designed by the architect Warren C. Dickerson, and many still have their original stoops, cornices and stone trim. These blocks feel noticeably quieter than the commercial avenues a short walk away.

Westchester Avenue, with the 2 and 5 trains running overhead, and Southern Boulevard carry most of the area's shopping, from groceries and pharmacies to furniture and clothing stores. Outside the landmarked blocks, Longwood mixes pre-war apartment buildings with infill houses built after many older structures were lost in the 1970s, and community groups and nonprofit developers rehabilitated a large share of the surviving walk-ups. Kelly Street in particular became known for tenant-led rebuilding work. The Hunts Point markets and the Bruckner Expressway lie just to the southeast.

Getting around: 2 and 5 trains at Prospect Av, Intervale Av and Simpson St; 6 train at E 149 St and Longwood Av

What you will find for sale

• Semi-attached and attached two-family brick and stone houses from around 1900, many inside the Longwood Historic District, with front stoops and narrow side or rear yards.
• Five- and six-story pre-war walk-up apartment buildings, many rehabilitated by nonprofit groups and some still bound by city regulatory agreements.
• Two- and three-family infill houses built from the 1980s onward on lots that had been left vacant in earlier decades.
• Mixed-use buildings with ground-floor stores beneath the elevated tracks on Westchester Avenue and along Southern Boulevard.

Why seller financing fits Longwood

Buyers in Longwood often have the cash flow to carry a house but not the documentation banks require. Self-employed tradespeople, market workers and small shop owners along Westchester Avenue may report income that underwriters discount, and some buyers are building credit for the first time. The older housing adds friction too. A semi-attached house well over a century old can need roof, masonry or heating work that pushes it below a lender's condition standards, and a two-family that has been informally split into three apartments will often run into appraisal problems.

Many of the semi-attached houses in Longwood have stayed with one owner or one line of heirs for a very long time and are now owned outright. When an owner retires or an estate settles, heirs who live elsewhere frequently want a clean exit at a fair value, and owner financing can bring in buyers who would otherwise be shut out. Owners of walk-ups with long-term tenants face a narrow field of bank-qualified buyers, and taking monthly payments can be easier than holding out for one. Spreading the proceeds over several years may also help at tax time.

The 5 terms you will negotiate

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 semi-attached 2-family brick house in Longwood.

How to buy owner-to-owner in Longwood

1. Find owners open to financing. Start with Longwood properties on the SellerFinanceNYC live map, where every listing is checked against ACRIS deed and mortgage records. Owners who have held a building for decades with no open mortgage are the most likely to carry a note.
2. Offer on all five terms at once. Price, down payment, rate, amortization and balloon trade off against each other. Put them in a short written term sheet so nothing gets lost.
3. Hire a New York real estate attorney. Your attorney drafts or reviews the contract of sale, the promissory note and the mortgage, and confirms the seller has no existing loan with a due-on-sale clause. See our guide to finding an attorney.
4. Do local due diligence. In Longwood, check:
   • Houses inside the Longwood Historic District need Landmarks Preservation Commission permits for most exterior changes, so inspect the facade and stoop closely and price in landmark-compliant repairs.
   • Some rehabilitated walk-ups remain under HPD regulatory agreements that cap rents or restrict how the building can be sold; your attorney should request and read any agreement recorded against the property.
   • Compare the certificate of occupancy with the actual layout, since some two-family houses have unpermitted cellar or attic apartments that create legal and insurance exposure.
   • Buildings directly beside the elevated Westchester Avenue tracks get train noise and some vibration; visit during rush hour before deciding.
5. Close like a normal sale. The deed transfers to you, you sign the note, and the seller's mortgage is recorded with the City Register. Buy title insurance, and consider a loan servicing company to collect payments and escrow taxes and insurance.
6. Plan the balloon from day one. Use the five years to build a payment record, fix up the building and document income so you can refinance well before the balloon is due.

Questions buyers ask about Longwood