When it comes to a house with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, Schenectady, NY is among the least expensive real estate markets in the state, based on average price alone.
A home of that size in the city costs an average of $121,234, according to the Coldwell Banker Real Estate Home Listing Report.
The report ranks the affordability of housing markets across the U.S. based on average list prices, but doesn’t include other costs that go into owning a home, including property taxes.
Schenectady has one of the highest property tax rates in the Capital Region as decades of population decline and job losses have shrunk the tax base while the cost of municipal and school services continue to rise.
What none of these analyses take into account is that even with job losses, people can still live here. People moved to places like Colonie and Clifton Park even though their jobs were elsewhere. Also the part about costs continuing to rise, so have our taxes, and these articles always gloss over that. The conventional wisdom is that these things are inevitable, set in stone, and nothing can be done, but heroic elected officials are taking extreme measures,fighting an uphill battle, and we should be cheering them on. This is bs. There is one person holding public office in Schenectady, and only one, who is doing anything heroic, and there are others, plenty of others, working as hard as they can against him. They don't want Mr. Riggi to discover the true cost of anything we pay for.
High taxes are good (for the entrenched democrap politicians)
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
That average price does not include the houses that are rotting away unsold. Someone should do a study of taxes collected and services received. Not services on paper, actual services received. Mr. Riggi is trying to do that, he does not receive any support. The problem is, you have those being skinned alive, and those for whom higher taxes are no skin off their nose.
Eventually there will be a price point where the taxes and low home cost will make it enticing for a buyer to live in the city of Schenectady (if they don't have kids, or do not mind the quality of the schools).
For example, if the house in the suburbs is $200,000 with $5000 in taxes and the same type house and property is $100,000 with $10,000 taxes in Schenectady the monthly payment in the city is actually better considering the mortgage. There are advantages to being in a city such as the more authentic food as opposed to Applebees, theater, colleges, though risk of crime is higher.
For example, if the house in the suburbs is $200,000 with $5000 in taxes and the same type house and property is $100,000 with $10,000 taxes in Schenectady the monthly payment in the city is actually better considering the mortgage. There are advantages to being in a city such as the more authentic food as opposed to Applebees, theater, colleges, though risk of crime is higher.
That's assuming everybody continues to take a mortgage and live in a bank owned property.
Not to mention , why would a bank issue a loan for a devaluing property whose taxes are higher than their mortgage payment ? The bank runs the risk of the city putting tax liens against the property when the owner eventually can no longer afford the taxes, or loses their job and can't pay the taxes.
The city is in a death spiral. Private money won't invest into it. That's why it takes tax exemptions and Metroplex(taxpayer) subsidized loans to create the Potemkin Village.
The problem is, JS, that I know of people who can't afford the $200,000 house or anywhere near that amount, who look at Schenectady for affordable housing, but with the taxes so high, they aren't going to get a house on their income because the total payment is too much. Also, as my friend found out, banks are not eager to lend on an older house in Schenectady even at a very low price, because older houses generally need work, and if you default on a house that you started to work on, they have a torn up house that somebody decided was too much work after all, and they can't resell it. I agree, there is a point where it is financially feasible, but right now that point is very low. I also noticed that I am kidding myself about the convenience of city living being a savings, because I end up leaving the city for most of my shopping anyway.
Logged
