Where our experience with Elmont back taxes helps
Where our experience matters most with back taxes is knowing how far the enforcement process has actually gone, because that is what determines how much time you have.
We will help you establish it. We will also be honest if the arrears plus everything else recorded against an Elmont house exceed what the property is worth. If that is the position, there are other routes, and we know the attorneys and housing counselors who handle them. You will get a straight answer either way, and it costs nothing to ask for one.
Back taxes get paid from the sale, not from your savings
The back taxes are settled out of the purchase price at closing, handled by the attorneys on both sides. You do not need to find the money first.
Plenty of people delay selling for exactly that reason and lose more equity to accruing interest while they try to save up. If the house is worth more than everything recorded against it, the arrears become a line on the closing statement rather than a bill you have to pay in advance.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A four-bedroom on Harrison Street. A three-bedroom on Renfrew Avenue. A three-bedroom on Rosser Avenue. All of them in Elmont, all bought by us.
Elmont is roughly 37,296 people in Nassau County, ZIP 11003, and the housing stock is mostly cape cod, ranch, multi-family. Around Belmont Park and UBS Arena, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Elmont-UBS Arena stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We know which of these streets take water, where the older systems fail first, and what the Elmont Union Free School District does to a resale price.
How Nassau County handles back taxes
Delinquent property taxes in Nassau County accrue interest and eventually lead to enforcement, so the current figure is worth getting from the county directly rather than working from an old bill.
The practical point is that back taxes are not static. They grow, and the enforcement steps that follow run on a schedule that does not care whether anyone opened the mail. Knowing where an Elmont property stands on that schedule is the single most useful thing you can find out this week, and one phone call usually establishes it.
Back taxes on an Elmont house that have gone to a lien sale
The point at which back taxes stop being a bill and start being somebody else's lien is the point at which speed begins to matter.
Establishing which stage you are at is quick. The county can give you the current figure in writing, and an attorney can tell you what has already been filed against an Elmont property. Once you know, tell us, and we will be straight with you about whether a sale still works from where you are standing.
What the two paths cost in Elmont
These are the two routes open to you with a house with back taxes, priced against what Elmont houses actually sell for.
Work it against Elmont's own numbers. The median sale here is $725,000. A 5% commission on that is $36,250, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $14,500. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $50,750 gone before anyone counts the repairs it took to get the house listable.
There are two waits in a listed sale and people usually only count the first. In Elmont the median house takes about 43 days to go from listed to a signed contract. Then it waits again, typically 45 to 60 days, while the buyer's lender orders an appraisal and underwrites the loan. Call it 88 to 103 days from sign to keys, assuming nothing goes wrong.
The part worth understanding is what a signed contract actually guarantees, which is less than most sellers assume. A retail buyer with a mortgage contingency can walk away right up to the end. If they do not qualify, if the appraisal comes in under the price, if they change their mind and let the financing lapse. A share of deals die exactly there, after months of waiting, and the house goes back on the market with time on it. We are not borrowing anything, so there is no lender to satisfy, no appraisal to come in low and no contingency to exercise.
| Listing with an agent | Selling to us | |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $725,000 (Elmont median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$36,250 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$14,500 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 43 days (Elmont median, once listable) | 24 hours to a written offer |
| Contract to closing | 45 to 60 days (waiting on the buyer's lender) | A date you choose |
| Total wait | 88 to 103 days if nothing falls through | Yours to set |
| Can the buyer walk? | Yes (mortgage contingency runs to the end) | No financing to fall through |
| Before repairs and carrying | $674,250 | The number we put in writing |
The agent column uses a 5% commission and about 2% of seller closing costs, which are typical rather than fixed. It leaves out repairs and holding costs because no two houses are alike there. Where a house is in good condition, listing with a capable agent can beat our number, and we will be upfront if that is the case.
What waiting costs when back taxes are accruing
Back taxes are one of the few problems in a house that grow on their own. Nothing has to happen for the number to get larger. Interest and penalties do it while the mail sits unopened on the counter.
Every dollar added comes out of the equity you would otherwise walk away with, not out of anybody else's side of the ledger. That tends to be the more persuasive argument for dealing with it sooner, because the enforcement argument is easy to postpone and this one is not.
What you do not pay when you sell a house with back taxes
Listing a house with back taxes the usual way brings each of these costs with it. Selling to us brings none of them.
- Agent commission
- $36,250 at 5% of the Elmont median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $14,500 on a $725,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Whatever it takes to make it listable, paid in advance none
- Cleanout and removal
- Dumpsters or haulers by the load, ahead of any viewing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities across the 88 to 103 days it takes to find a buyer and then wait on their lender none
When selling is not the right answer for an Elmont owner
Not every owner with back taxes owed should sell. If you want to keep the house and there is a realistic path to doing that, we would rather help you find it than walk you through a process that ends somewhere you did not want to be.
We can point you to a housing counselor, to an attorney who handles tax enforcement, and to a CPA if there is a tax question buried in this that deserves a professional answer. Ask us. The worst outcome of the call is that you leave it knowing more than you did.
Common questions
How do I find out what back taxes I owe on my Elmont house?
The county is the only reliable source for the current back taxes figure on an Elmont property. Request it in writing, and if you are not sure which office to ask, tell us and we will point you at the right one.
Can you buy an Elmont house with years of back taxes on it?
Yes, provided the total owed still leaves a workable number. We will show you the arithmetic rather than just quoting you a figure and hoping you accept it.
Do I have to pay the back taxes off before closing?
No. The back taxes are settled from the purchase price at closing by the attorneys, and the house transfers clean. Paying out of pocket first is usually unnecessary.
What happens to the back taxes if I do nothing?
The balance keeps growing, and the options tend to narrow as it does. Ask an attorney what stage an Elmont property has reached. We can recommend somebody if you do not already have counsel.
Will I have anything left after the back taxes are paid at closing?
Often yes, and sometimes no. Get the written figures for the back taxes and the mortgage payoff first, because everything else is guesswork until those two numbers exist.