Did you catch that full page ad in the paper today.   Mayor is bragging that home ownership in Schenectady is the least expensive?

Obviously the homeowners paid for the ad.

but even the mayor's cronies in the banks and real estate are his puppets.


Sure, the house prices are low because home values are plummeting DRASTICALLY.   McCarthy FAILS  to cite the FACT that when someone buys a house "today" that the house WILL DROP IN VALUE "tomorrow."   And ALL THE EVIDENCE is proving, as cited this week's capital area real estate report, home values and home sales are up.   Why doesn't McCarthy tell the truth to the people.

Check out that bar chart showing the "total monthly payment."   Of course, McC and his cronies do NOT state addresses of these homes, he does not divulge what their assessed value is.      

He does NOT cite the FACT that sewer costs are way far more expensive to homeowners in Schenectady.   When one is paying $300 to $400  PER YEAR for a sewer "fee" (NOT tax deductible), vs a homeowner, say here in Rotterdam who does NOT pay a "sewer fee" but rather pays perhaps $150 every three to four years to pump out a septic system, well, that is way far less cost in "other municipalities."  

McC does NOT explain that other places may have higher water costs because people pay for what they use (metered) rather than a household in the city, say of an elderly couple who use little water but are really subsidizing the water cost of the next door neighbor which is a family of a couple and four children perhaps and obviously use lots of water, so that really is not fair.

A single person in a one family home in Schenectady city who puts out one bag of trash a week will be paying to subsidize the family next door who uses two full cans each week.   And we all know that people in the city DO INDEED pay much more in trash fees than, at least in the town in most cases, because the city people pay via the trash "fee" AND they pay with the "property tax".

McC uses that $1,221 payment per month for the city.  If that is reflective of that house for the $129,900 price, well, financing 100% of the purchase price, the mortgage payment amortized over 30 years at a typical 4% would be just about $600 per month, then ballpark the insurance at $50 per month, and you know that the tax bill per month is just under $600 per month.   The $1,395 payment for a $190,000 house would be the mortgage (prin + int) of about $910 per month, add $50 for insurance and the tax bill is about $435 per month.

Now using these examples that McC used.  If the owner of the Schenectady house and the So Colonie house bought on the same day, same terms, then what happens on the date 30 years later when the pay off their mortgage on the same date.   Assume each bought a house at age 25, so at 55 years old they are each paid off.   Each homeowner lives to be 85 years old.  For a moment, let's say taxes were still the same in 30 years.   The Schenectady homeowners is shelling out $7,200 a year ($600 a month) in taxes while the So Colonie owner shells out $5,220 ($435 per month) in taxes.   Now, the homeowner in Schenectady pays $7,200 per year for the rest of the 30 years of his/her life which is a total of $216,000.   The So Colonie homeowner pays $156,000 over the 30 years of his/her life.   So it costs the Schenectady homeowner $60,000 MORE to live Schenectady.   So McC is 100% TOTALLY WRONG in this financial comparison.   But then, look, he fires a highly budget analyst so one has to wonder what kind of uneducated person came up with this bar chart and analysis.

Then, the other FACTS are that the home in Schenectady WILL DROP in value, while outside in Colonie it WILL INCREASE as the EVIDENCE HAS ALREADY BEEN PROVEN THIS WEEK with the Schenctady home prices FALLING from last year while So Colonie home values increased -- calendar year 2011 it was $185,000, calendar year 2012 it went up to $193,500.  South Colonie had more than a 10% increase in closings in 2012 over 2011, while Schenectady had only one additional house sale (less than one-half of one percent increase)  and the ultimate selling prices are close to 95% of the asking price, compared to Schenectady's about 85%.   Houses sell quickly in Colonie, less than half the time that houses in Schenectady sell.  

The FACTS in the above paragraph result in continuing increases in one's home value which provides a great return on one's investment, provides the homeowners with greater assets, much more equity in their home, thus the ability to save money in other ways because of lower interest rates on say a home equity loan, perhaps precluding the need for them or their child to take out expensive student loans, etc.    The homeowners in Schenectady WILL find they are losing money.   Imagine if a homeowner bought a house for $100,000 on 1/1/2008 with 100% financing let's say at 5% then, well, today, on 1/1/2013,  5 years later the payoff balance would be just shy of $92,000 while the house has dropped in value by 20% to $80,000.   But a homeowner in So Colonie who bought a $200,000 house with the same terms would today have a payoff of just about $183,600 and the home's value would have increased by 4% so the house is worth $208,000.

Now WHO is better off?    

Actually, that ad in the paper looks like the numbers could have been put together by DV, ya think?




  

it's all about the rhetoric and what Moodys says is value....

because I guess they think the plebs are too stupid to know what real value is....

if you like where the home is, not settling for the 'it's an ok neighborhood',then the value is yours

so really schenectady has a value/reputation problem and you can't change the stripes on a zebra

Generally, the first mantra in real estate is "Location, location, location"

No matter what Moody's says, you can't hide the fact that "location" is an epic failure in 90% of Schenectady neighborhoods...and not getting better.

Quoted from rachel72

Generally, the first mantra in real estate is "Location, location, location"

No matter what Moody's says, you can't hide the fact that "location" is an epic failure in 90% of Schenectady neighborhoods...and not getting better.

EXACTLY....

If you have to place such an ad, that's the argument right there against whatever is in it.
There is no justification whatsoever for what the government is actively doing to destroy OUR city, no matter how many stupid ways they try to spin it. By government I mean the city employees that exempt themselves from the tax burden also, like that expensive garbage guru living across the Mohawk with his free transportation.
Rachel is right. Location, location, location.
These people have already demonstrated that they know nothing at all about finance and well run government. They should just go away, try to figure out what their jobs are, and do them.

Quoted from rachel72

Generally, the first mantra in real estate is "Location, location, location". No matter what Moody's says, you can't hide the fact that "location" is an epic failure in 90% of Schenectady
neighborhoods...and not getting better.

All Schenectady homeowners have the same triple whammy-an unqualified Mayor who has no ideas how to get out of the hole he dug, the worst County Government/school district in the State. Not until the State
takes over the uncontrolled spending at City Hall can things start to improve. In the meantime more eyesores should be knocked down. Finish the other side of Duane and lower Broadway and Congress.
McCheese's latest DEM hiring from the State is another hoot.