Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
I don't trust those numbers. Zillow is fine for getting sales asking prices and history and sale prices on individual houses, but even then they are out of date on the tax information and the tax information does not take into account the STAR, etc.
But to look at a whole picture of a municipality, I don't think they reflect accurate information at all. It says that median home sale prices was bout $104,000. Obviously that must be done from zip codes which includes Rotterdam, Nisky, and perhaps even Guilderland, do you think? Because clearly the actual prices are much lower than that based on the monthly YTD numbers from official sales and deed records.
In fact not once in 2014 has the median sale price even hit $100,000 even for YTD. In 2013 it got to an even $100,000 just once. I could take some time later to look at 2012.
Then, these sales I believe are market transactions and do not include the hundreds of houses that the city sells for $1 to NFPs and tax deadbeats (like that Proctor's employee, well, he paid $2,500, still a tax deadbeat just like the rest of the city/co/plex leaders' political cronies)
Then, how about that values have dropped 2%! Two percent! Since when does 123% minus 108% equal 2%. Values were at X and then dropped by an additional 15% based on official records and the state increasing the equalization rate by 15% over the year before.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
CLEARLY the mayor (and DEMS on the council) are 100% AGAINST the taxpaying homeowners and the average taxpaying small businesses.
They and plex exempted the millionaire political cronies downtown from paying taxes AFTER giving handouts from the taxpayers to build all these lavish buildings for these rich.
All this tax and spend, take from the homeowners, give tax money to the rich has causes MASSIVE reduction in the city's tax base.
The dems and plex have succeeded in: - causing massive reduction to the city's tax base - drastically increased taxes on the homeowners - and cut ESSENTIAL services to the taxpayers in their neighborhoods
Stupid and TOTALLY UNNECESSARY fancy light poles on Erie Blvd which have helped reduce the tax based more, and now, the mayor REFUSES to do a citywide reassessment. The city has an obligation under state law to keep the city's assessment roll up to date, but see, the dems don't want their rich cronies to pay taxes so the city has had to eliminate an absolute essential necessary service to the taxpayers.
Taxes rise while the services to the taxpayers are cut.
For the benefit of those who do not get the gazette, here is the story with the MAYOR'S LAME a** EXCUSES. He is so very ignorant to think that increasing taxes on homeowners to pay for downtown taxes is going to result in increase in property values when CLEARLY the polices of this dem mayor, the former dem mayor of BS, DV's Savage girlfriend, the county dems, the Metroplex Ray of Death, have done NOTHING WHATSOEVER to cause home values to increase.
Quoted Text
Mayor backs off on reassessment
McCarthy: Wait for expected rise in value
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Mayor Gary McCarthy won’t support a citywide property reassessment after all. Although he promised in August to offer the City Council “options” during the budget process, he’s decided it’s not a good idea. “The council can add to the budget if they want it,” Mc-Carthy said of reassessment. “Otherwise, we would look at that in 2016.” He wants to wait until property values rise, which he hopes will occur soon in response to the demolition of blighted properties and the sale of 200 foreclosed buildings. Councilman Vince Riggi was taken aback by the decision. “As usual, the mayor is throwing this right on the City Council,” he said. “We were supposed to have options.” Riggi wants to add reassessment to the budget. He has been pushing for it on the grounds that the city’s assessments have become unfair. Assessments are about 23 percent too high, according to the state’s equalization rate, and Riggi fears some assessments are much higher than others. Some commercial owners have hired attorneys to push for a reduction in their assessments, but few residents take that step. Riggi said the council has to grant the reductions because owners have successfully proven their properties are overassessed. But, he said, only giving reductions to some throws the entire system out of whack. The general motivation in asking for an assessment reduction is to get a lower tax bill. Assessments are supposed to be based on fair market value, with each property assessed for about what the owner could get in a sale. Taxes are then proportionally assigned to each owner, with the goal of allowing those with the least-valuable houses to pay the least in taxes. Thus, a lower assessment should equal a lower tax bill, but it’s not that simple when the entire city is reassessed at once, and that has Councilwoman Leesa Perazzo worried. She noted the city must still collect the same amount in taxes, and reassessment would only change how that bill is distributed. “It may mean that some people pay less, but it may mean some people pay a lot more,” she said. Riggi agreed. “It has to be distributed fairly,” he said. “That’s where the problem is. I want to level the playing field again. There’s too many people paying a disproportionate share of the taxes.” Fairness is indeed the key, according to the state Office of Real Property Tax Services. “When considering a reassessment, localities should consider the degree to which assessments are fair relative to each other,” said spokesman Geoffrey Gloak. Perazzo said she isn’t opposed to the idea of a reassessment but wants residents to understand the ramifications. “There’s a significant cost associated with reassessment,” she said. “Look, I get it. My house is probably over-assessed, [but] it’s not a magic cure.” In the meantime, she said, residents could challenge their assessment on Grievance Day, held annually on the fourth Tuesday in May. “That process is available to every single person, and they should if they feel their assessment is out of line,” she said. But Riggi argued that wasn’t enough, since the local Board of Assessment Review rejects most challenges. “It’s not successful for most people,” he said, “so they have to go to the next level, which is small claims court or a tax certiorari. That is very intimidating.”
And there's Queen Lessa of Proctors, (employed by tax THIEF - STAR double dipper, King Phillip of Proctors) AND very close friend of STAR tax thief double dipper AND TAX DEADBEAT Mary Mary of the Board of Assessment, has the NERVE to tell people they can go submit a grievance to Mary Mary (the city's real estate agent who will NEVER reduce assessments because she wants people to sell houses at a higher, but over-assessed price, so she can get more commission).
How can queenie every dare to tell the people that they can do what the city has the obligation to do! Homeowners pay taxes to have the city maintain the assessment roll, but Queen Leesa basically is saying that after homeonwers pay taxes for a service that they don't get from the city, that they can go spend more money to hire an attorney do to the task. No, she didn't say those words exactly but since her friend Mary Mary won't reduce assessments at the board level, the people have no choice but to spend money to hire an attorney (or spend tons of their own time to do all the research).
The mayor and Queen Lessa are NOT being fair to the taxpayers one teeny weeny bit.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
McCarthy is a idiot. No one is buying houses in Schenectady. Houses are sitting on the market for 2 years and they have not been sold. Home prices in the city of schenectady WILL NOT GO UP NEXT YEAR! THERE IS TOO MUCH INVENTORY ON THE MARKET AND NO BUYERS! McCarthy doesn't know simple economics after all he is a college drop out. ITS TIME FOR A NEW MAYOR WHO WILL DO A CITYWIDE REASSESSMENT! #VOTE MCCARTHY OUT
the dollar is going down and inflation is coming.....
Senders nailed this one. The u.s. dollar is going down/losing value....so you will need MORE money to buy ANY product. So YES....home values will increase. Not because they are worth it....it's because you will need more DOLLARS to buy/pay for it. DUH!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
So says the mayor in today's paper. Oh let's cheer, the city is having a renaissance
Is this a joke? Look at the foreclosure list 92 properties most in the City. Small blocks in the Stockade with 5 homes for sale in a flood zone. They all have to go. Riggi is the only one in the City with any business sense and he is marginalized by the McCheese implosion team. BTW, wait until the new County home goes on budget next year.
Is this a joke? Look at the foreclosure list 92 properties most in the City. Small blocks in the Stockade with 5 homes for sale in a flood zone. They all have to go. Riggi is the only one in the City with any business sense and he is marginalized by the McCheese implosion team. BTW, wait until the new County home goes on budget next year.
Apparently it's not a joke
Well, the claim that city property values will rise this coming year. Well, the mayor thinks so. But then, those of us who are intelligent know that the mayor, and his cheerleaders, have no intelligence at all.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Fannie-Freddie Clarify Buyback Rules in Bid to Ease Credit By Clea Benson and Jody Shenn Oct 20, 2014 4:32 PM ET 0 Comments Email Print
* Price chart for FANNIE MAE. Click flags for important stories. FNMA:US2.270.11 5.09% Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac have reached an agreement with banks better defining bad practices that would trigger penalties for lenders, expanding efforts to ease tight credit that’s creating a drag on the housing market.
The U.S.-backed companies will spell out when they will force lenders to buy back loans that were issued based on false or inaccurate information, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Melvin L. Watt said today in a speech at the annual Mortgage Bankers Association conference in Las Vegas.
“We understand that addressing these concerns in ways that are mutually satisfactory to you” and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FMCC) “is critical to ensuring that there is liquidity in the housing-finance market and to providing access to credit for borrowers,” Watt, the chief overseer of the two companies, told the audience of about 4,000 mortgage-industry participants.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will offer details in “coming weeks,” he said. One example: Loans with “misrepresentations or data inaccuracies” won’t be automatically fodder for potential repurchases unless a lender exceeds a minimum number of mortgages with such problems, Watt said.
The clarification is part of a broader push to unlock tight credit after banks had to repurchase billions of dollars of mortgages that were issued during the housing bubble. The banks’ reticence has kept first-time homebuyers and others with weak credit out of the real-estate market.
Castro Speech
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro also pledged today to help give lenders more certainty about when they would face liability for defaults on loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration.
“Government must take action by shaping an environment where good lenders and good borrowers can work together without reservation,” Castro said at the conference.
Steps clarifying when loan flaws will trigger buybacks are important, but that’s not enough to solve the problem, MBA President David Stevens said in a speech today. Regulators also need to ease up on forcing banks to pay penalties for defaulted loans that were issued in the past, he said.
“If you don’t resolve enforcement, we’re still going to have the same credit restraint we have today,” Stevens said.
Banks have paid tens of billions of dollars to settle lawsuits brought by the FHFA and the Department of Justice over flawed mortgages.
Credit Scores
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have been under U.S. conservatorship since 2008, buy mortgages and package them into bonds on which they guarantee payments of principal and interest. Lenders are requiring credit scores averaging about 740 on loans they sell to the two companies, far exceeding the sub-700 average before 2007 and above the 680 minimum that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require on most loans.
To increase lending to borrowers of modest means, the FHFA is working to let Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy loans with down payments as low as 3 percent of purchase price, Watt said. The companies increased their minimum down-payment requirement from 3 percent to 5 percent last year in most cases.
More needs to be done, said Tom Wind, head of the mortgage unit at Jacksonville, Florida-based EverBank Financial Corp. (EVER)
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction, but there are still broader issues,” Wind said in an interview at the conference, including new federal regulations that are making banks cautious about incurring penalties if they lend to riskier borrowers. “You have this heavy-penalty environment and you want you people to lend more: Those are two conflicting things.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Clea Benson in Washington at cbenson20@bloomberg.net; Jody Shenn in New York at jshenn@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory Mott at gmott1@bloomberg.net Jesse Hamilton
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Fannie-Freddie Clarify Buyback Rules in Bid to Ease Credit By Clea Benson and Jody Shenn Oct 20, 2014 4:32 PM ET 0 Comments Email Print
* Price chart for FANNIE MAE. Click flags for important stories. FNMA:US2.270.11 5.09% Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac have reached an agreement with banks better defining bad practices that would trigger penalties for lenders, expanding efforts to ease tight credit that’s creating a drag on the housing market.
The U.S.-backed companies will spell out when they will force lenders to buy back loans that were issued based on false or inaccurate information, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Melvin L. Watt said today in a speech at the annual Mortgage Bankers Association conference in Las Vegas.
“We understand that addressing these concerns in ways that are mutually satisfactory to you” and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FMCC) “is critical to ensuring that there is liquidity in the housing-finance market and to providing access to credit for borrowers,” Watt, the chief overseer of the two companies, told the audience of about 4,000 mortgage-industry participants.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will offer details in “coming weeks,” he said. One example: Loans with “misrepresentations or data inaccuracies” won’t be automatically fodder for potential repurchases unless a lender exceeds a minimum number of mortgages with such problems, Watt said.
The clarification is part of a broader push to unlock tight credit after banks had to repurchase billions of dollars of mortgages that were issued during the housing bubble. The banks’ reticence has kept first-time homebuyers and others with weak credit out of the real-estate market.
Castro Speech
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro also pledged today to help give lenders more certainty about when they would face liability for defaults on loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration.
“Government must take action by shaping an environment where good lenders and good borrowers can work together without reservation,” Castro said at the conference.
Steps clarifying when loan flaws will trigger buybacks are important, but that’s not enough to solve the problem, MBA President David Stevens said in a speech today. Regulators also need to ease up on forcing banks to pay penalties for defaulted loans that were issued in the past, he said.
“If you don’t resolve enforcement, we’re still going to have the same credit restraint we have today,” Stevens said.
Banks have paid tens of billions of dollars to settle lawsuits brought by the FHFA and the Department of Justice over flawed mortgages.
Credit Scores
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have been under U.S. conservatorship since 2008, buy mortgages and package them into bonds on which they guarantee payments of principal and interest. Lenders are requiring credit scores averaging about 740 on loans they sell to the two companies, far exceeding the sub-700 average before 2007 and above the 680 minimum that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require on most loans.
To increase lending to borrowers of modest means, the FHFA is working to let Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy loans with down payments as low as 3 percent of purchase price, Watt said. The companies increased their minimum down-payment requirement from 3 percent to 5 percent last year in most cases.
More needs to be done, said Tom Wind, head of the mortgage unit at Jacksonville, Florida-based EverBank Financial Corp. (EVER)
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction, but there are still broader issues,” Wind said in an interview at the conference, including new federal regulations that are making banks cautious about incurring penalties if they lend to riskier borrowers. “You have this heavy-penalty environment and you want you people to lend more: Those are two conflicting things.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Clea Benson in Washington at cbenson20@bloomberg.net; Jody Shenn in New York at jshenn@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory Mott at gmott1@bloomberg.net Jesse Hamilton
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Logged
Is this a joke? Look at the foreclosure list 92 properties most in the City. Small blocks in the Stockade with 5 homes for sale in a flood zone. They all have to go. Riggi is the 
