House in he city for sale, more MASSIVE FINANCIAL LOSS

Owners bought the house in 2005 for $267,000
Took out a 30 yr mortgage for $213,000
THen in 2007 took out another mortgage--25 yr--for $69,000

Rates were higher than 5% at the time of purchase, and there is no documentation of a re-fi, but using a rate of 5%, the current balances owed on the mortgage are about $177,000 and $60,000 respectively, for a total of $237,000.

City dems INSIST the house will sell for $220,000 and have REFUSED to reduce the assessment on this house (or on any houses in the city).

The house was listed for sale by the current owners in May 2011, asking $279,000.  Here it is well over 3 years later and the house has NOT sold, asking price reduced numerous times, now asking $189,000.  

But remember, the owners still owe about $237,000 and the mayor and his dem cronies insist the house will sell for $220,000!  


And what's worse yet, the realtor has to resort to LIES about the tax bill!   Look at the ad below, it says taxes are $9,972.     Even a grade school child would know that the realtor is lying.

School tax bill is $5,475 (bills are online)   (this includes STAR basic)
Assessed value $271,000 x county tax rate of 8.15 = $1,937
Assessed value of $271,000 x city tax rate of $13.75 = $3,726

Those taxes alone total $11,042, so can't understand how the realtor comes up with $9,972
Then add the so called "fees" which exceed $1,200 per year (trash fee, and we've previously posted the water and sewer breakdown from a couple years ago; 4 bathrooms plus a spiget fee of 5x the fee because of lot width) WOW.

The approximate monthly cost of just mortgage and taxes look like this.
That first mortgage                $1,143
The additional mortgage             374
The taxes & fees                     1,000

That math means just over $2,500 per month to live in a massively failing city.   And owning a house in the city means taxes increasing to pay for annual cuts in essential city services, for poor services (poor snowplowing, lack of road paving, etc), home value falling, crime up, lousy school system.

The city is improving?   Really?


http://www.realtyusa.com/property/822-KARENWALD-LA-Schenectady-NY-12309/AlbanyNY/201402627/

See, that's what gets me. People know the taxes are high, but they see this stuff and they don't quite understand just how high they are. That's why I posted that house on Grand Boulevard for comparison. People think it must not be real when they see reality.
First-time homebuyers have enough pitfalls to watch out for without banks, media, local politicians and even realtors trying to be deceptive. We worry about corner stores with 'creative' bookkeeping and loose cigarettes, while this kind of crap is sanctioned? BTW, I noticed with the Niskayuna house, since they obviously want to sell it and the 'bubble' is long over, they have been following the time-honored practice of dropping the price on a regular basis until they get someone willing to buy it. That's how you determine market value, isn't it? If a beautiful street on the Niskayuna end is subject to market forces, I don't know how anyone could reasonably expect to get away with pretending Schenectady is different.

first they bought the house during the 'housing bubble'. this isn't unique...many folks lost their homes because of the 'bubble'.
second, why the hell did they take ANOTHER mortgage out for almost $70K.....unless i'm not reading this right.

AGREE...taxes are blown away!!!

But what were they thinking?????

Yeah, it does seem incredible to me as well. That's why it bothers me to see people still trying to push that mentality on inexperienced potential homebuyers now.

if I owed $237K and knew I would get $189K at best.....owing $50K after the sale (if there even is one).........i'd walk away!!!

it's a lose/lose situation.

Quoted from bumblethru

first they bought the house during the 'housing bubble'. this isn't unique...many folks lost their homes because of the 'bubble'.
second, why the hell did they take ANOTHER mortgage out for almost $70K.....unless i'm not reading this right.

AGREE...taxes are blown away!!!

But what were they thinking?????

You're kind of right there, somewhat.   But  then there is a question, if they bought the house for $267,000 in 2005 during the bubble, remember the big failure happened in 2008.   Then the dems reassessed the city in 2009-10 and the house value increased to $271,000 based on it's assessment.  Remember, the assessment was assigned two years AFTER the housing catastrophe.

And still here, a whopping four years after the reassessment and the house value has fallen according to the city to $221,000 and the owners have been asking $20,000 to $30,000 less than what the dems in the city claim it will sell for and they STILL NO ONE wants to buy it!  

Current asking price is $189,000, if it goes down to $179,000 AND IF it were to sell for that, that would mean the owners would be selling for a WHIOPPING 30% less than what they paid for it.  

And look if it was worth $271,000 in just 2010 (when the equalization rate was 100%), then look how HUGE of a reduction the value has fallen in just four short years !!!!!!!!!!    


Home values OUTSIDE of the city are INCREASING while home values IN the city of Schenectady are massively falling, but this supposedly means the city is improving.  Don't forget, "the mayor and his dem team are doing a wonderful job."

we were talking to some folks who work at the Bethesda house.
they said it was PACKED on thanksgiving....as was the city mission.
the Bethesda folks said....they aren't just homeless folks anymore....they are city families who's taxes are killing them financially.
so to your point.....and as we all can agree.....TAXES IN THE CITY ARE UNSASTAINABLE!!!

but in this case, as in others.....the buyers are in part, responsible for their situation. imho

Quoted from bumblethru

we were talking to some folks who work at the Bethesda house.
they said it was PACKED on thanksgiving....as was the city mission.
the Bethesda folks said....they aren't just homeless folks anymore....they are city families who's taxes are killing them financially.
so to your point.....and as we all can agree.....TAXES IN THE CITY ARE UNSASTAINABLE!!!

but in this case, as in others.....the buyers are in part, responsible for their situation. imho

I don't at all doubt it--the Thanksgiving day attendance.   And that is precisely why the non-taxpayer King Phillip has an obligation to the taxpayers to put on dinner at that Key hall place - he should be giving back to those who paid tens of millions in tax dollars, pay the property taxes on the FOR PROFIT LAVISH banquet hall, and actually paying the taxes on the FOR PROFIT Proctors Theater because no matter what papers say, that is CLEARLY a for profit theater (shows are NOT put on by volunteers).  But besides the Key Hall, they could set up tables in the arcade and the GE theater and the other place there with the tables, they could help a lot of people.

It's interesting you say the buyers are in part responsible.  Aren't they in a way in a catch 22?  Think about it.  The landlords have to increase rent to pay for the taxes so the mayor, seeing both renters and homeowners flee, tries to tell the people it will cost them less to own, makes taxpayer funded programs available to people.  Sure, the principal and interest might be less than rent, but add in the taxes and wow.   It's like that house on Glenwood, sold for $100,000.  The mayor could tell people "hey your rent is $900 a month but your mortgage payment would be under $500 if you by this house for $100,000."  I could almost image that at the time it was on his gala tour (although the asking price was higher then).  Sure, then had the almost $700 per month in taxes and "fees" and $1200 a month.   The Mayoral Voice of Poop.

And then, thanks to the mayor taking from the taxpayers to give these homebuyers thousands of dollars to do with whatever they please, sure, of course they are going to vote him and his cronies back in..  

Quoted from mikechristine1

It's interesting you say the buyers are in part responsible.  Aren't they in a way in a catch 22?  Think about it.  The landlords have to increase rent to pay for the taxes so the mayor, seeing both renters and homeowners flee, tries to tell the people it will cost them less to own, makes taxpayer funded programs available to people.  Sure, the principal and interest might be less than rent, but add in the taxes and wow.    

Sorry mc1....don't see it your way.

MOST landlords are accepting section 8....so the taxpayers are footing most of the rental bill and the renters pay minimal.

As far as a catch 22....you have to be pretty brain dead to not figure out what your total tax/mortgage payment (if taxes are included) will be monthly. That is well explained BEFORE the closing...and most certainly AT the closing. If you don't know by the closing...then you have no business owning a home!!!

People need to take some responsibility for themselves here....like the ones you started this thread with.....TWO MORTGAGES????

Granted....taxes are HUGE....but these folks were just plain stupid....imho!!

Quoted from bumblethru

Sorry mc1....don't see it your way.

MOST landlords are accepting section 8....so the taxpayers are footing most of the rental bill and the renters pay minimal.

As far as a catch 22....you have to be pretty brain dead to not figure out what your total tax/mortgage payment (if taxes are included) will be monthly. That is well explained BEFORE the closing...and most certainly AT the closing. If you don't know by the closing...then you have no business owning a home!!!

People need to take some responsibility for themselves here....like the ones you started this thread with.....TWO MORTGAGES????

Granted....taxes are HUGE....but these folks were just plain stupid....imho!!

I'll stand corrected for the ones on Section 8.  Actually if I remember, and this might be longer ago, there was something where Section 8 money was made available for homeownership.  

You are right of course in the case of a mortgage with taxes included, but my thought if the mayor or one of his real estate people were talking about buying a house, they might use an illustration without taxes included.  If they separate the talk about taxes, it could sound better.  Maybe a statement like "your mortgage payment would be just $500 a month," and in another breath, "there are taxes too which likely will be in  your mortgage payment but the amount varies on so many things," as opposed to0 "there are taxes too, which will likely will be in your mortgage payment and well, you are looking at these three houses, so with taxes this house will be $1500 a month with taxes, this one $1200 and this other one just shy of $1,000, and remember taxes increase every year."

True, prospective homebuyers should understand completely, but think of all those who had ARM's and after that bubble burst what they were impacted with, and even then bubble or not their payment would have jumped big time.  

I would be surprised if half the people that bought houses under the mayor's program who may have had to go through some homebuyer informational sessions were probably staring off into space when a facilitator was talking.  But the mayor seems to be so desperate to sell houses that he's willing to let almost anyone buy a house.  

Definitely people need to take responsibility, and that's true whether it's buying home or any number of things (failing to study but expecting to pass to the next grade too lol), and unfortunately also is people want it NOW as well.    

EVERYONE...COUNTRYWIDE...suffered from the bubble...but some nitwits bought homes with 'INTEREST ONLY' loans!!! INSANE!! I don't feel sorry for them!

Now here is where the rubber meets the road.....I DO NOT feel sorry for ANYONE who bought a home in the city of Schenectady in the last decade!!! The city was a sh!thole then with high taxes and crime...and has gotten WORSE each year!! They were just plain stupid...imho.

I DO feel badly for the folks (mainly seniors) who are living on fixed incomes, can't keep up their homes and their taxes are draining them dry! (we have relatives in that situation)

The REAL issue is that the 'powers that be' are trying to sell Schenectady like it's a utopia!!! THAT IS JUST A BLATAN LIE!!! So for anyone who actually believes them and looks to buy property in the city are IDIOTS and deserve what they get.

Can i also add that there are slumlords standing at the city doors to pick up any foreclosed slum for renting section 8 housing!! So it won't get better anytime too soon.

This corrupt 'empire' will be one hard nut to crack. I don't think any of us will see any positive change in our life time..honestly!!!

Quoted from mikechristine1

  If they separate the talk about taxes, it could sound better.  Maybe a statement like "your mortgage payment would be just $500 a month," and in another breath, "there are taxes too which likely will be in  your mortgage payment but the amount varies on so many things," as opposed to0 "there are taxes too, which will likely will be in your mortgage payment and well, you are looking at these three houses, so with taxes this house will be $1500 a month with taxes, this one $1200 and this other one just shy of $1,000, and remember taxes increase every year."

HOMEOWNERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIGURE IT OUT THEMSELVES!!!!

IT'S SIMPLE MATH!!!!!!

IT DOESN'T TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST HERE!!

If people can't figure this 'simple math' out for themselves....THEY SHOULD NOT OWN A HOME!!!

Quoted from bumblethru

HOMEOWNERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIGURE IT OUT THEMSELVES!!!!

IT'S SIMPLE MATH!!!!!!

IT DOESN'T TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST HERE!!

If people can't figure this 'simple math' out for themselves....THEY SHOULD NOT OWN A HOME!!!

That's very true.  I agree.

But some people just want a house and if they are told the monthly cost explained just as principal and interest and don't inquire about taxes, that's good enough for them, then they find out later when they get the tax bill, or the bigger than expected mortgage payment (with taxes included).   Then there are the people that, while they understand they will have taxes to pay, they never think about the need to have money for maintenance and repairs.  

Amazing how people are so dense, there was a news story back around 15 years ago or so, a guy named Dennis Todd was the landlord (he also worked for then what was known as NYS Office of Real Property Services--that office which was merged into the Tax Dept and Schenectady's own Savage woman heads up that office).  I can't remember, it might have  been a 3 or 4 unit building and there was a couple living there, both disabled (one physically the other mentally) and getting SSI.  This Dennis Todd basically swindled them into buying the building, for more than it was worth, but with the couple owning property, if I remember it resulted in them losing their SSI.  I can't remember if that story was in the Gazette or TU.  I remember someone else buying a house on Eastern Ave I think, right near Elmer Ave school, that Alsdorf (who owned the Hotel Foster building and never put a penny into it, never paid the taxes, but the dem city leaders took the taxpayers money and paid him a quarter of a million to purchase it from him, which was more than twice what he bought it for), but he had this house near Elmer, assessed for $30,000 but he sold it to someone for $60,000.   People are dumb enough.  But then they of course end up losing the places anyway.

I think now however, there are so very many people trying to get out of the city because the city is so bad  and houses simply aren't selling, and the mayor is so extremely desperate to try to get people to buy homes that he spends over a half million of the taxpayer money to try to sell  houses and then I'd guess he sort of swindles people into buying houses, I remember a graph thing in the newspaper once that said owning a house in Schenectady was far less expensive than other places and I think he used (or his so called housing experts used) samples of other houses with the purchase price to supposedly prove it's less in Schenectady for more house.  But in his desperation, the mayor will never state that the value of the house will fall while the taxes will rise.  

And yes, as people are often not intelligent enough to understand that taxes are part of owning the house, generally part of the mortgage payment, it's quite apparent that the mayor knows that many of the city renters who might buy, lack the intelligence to know what they are getting themselves into, after all, the mayor knows that these people were dumb enough to vote him in as mayor !!!  

who is using Sect 8???....you know ...so don't put the burden of this on ordinary citizens who have worked hard all their lives for a better dream.

it's the blood sucking low life  who collect section 8 and don't work more often than not...

have you been to the market lately???/....yesterday.....a couble pushing two baskets....a child disheveled with them.....got thru checking out

over $500.00 and with food stamps..... not a penny paid......THEN....got into a cab....another freebie for welfare.....

and here some of who I know...getting $16.00 a month for food......and unable to get their prescriptions....living on Soc Sec ONLY....

and not crying for Sect 8.....or Medicaid......what I saw yesterday seems to be the norm around here.....

wonder is these people were here legally.

Quoted from Patches

who is using Sect 8???....

Everybody is using section 8.  Without it, housing prices would tumble even lower.  Image how many vacant houses there would be or how low housing prices have to be to actually be affordable.  It has very little to do with housing the poor and more to do with inflating real estate to maintain property tax revenue.