It’s becoming harder and more expensive to sell homes on Long Island. Which makes it even more important to challenge your property taxes, and keep those costs down.
Seller Condition Disclosures Become Mandatory
For the past 23 years home sellers have been able to simply give buyers a $500 credit to avoid filling out a disclosure of any known issues with the property. That rule has now been rescinded. All sellers of 1-4 family homes on Long Island will now have to complete and provide their buyers with a Property Condition Disclosure Statement.
It’s a change that couldn’t come at a worse time for home sellers as costs rise, and selling becomes even harder.
Many will find the disclosure turns off potential buyers, or leads to them demanding many thousands of dollars in closing credits for repairs and remediation, or for the work to be completed in advance of their purchase.
This means fewer buyers, and much higher costs to sell. It couldn’t come at a worse time for many.
Changing Real Estate Dynamics
Many Long Island property owners are already finding that they’ve missed the peak for home values in this cycle. Values of rentals are plunging, as some Hamptons landlords discovered the vacation crowd willing to pay barely half of the previous season’s rents last year.
ATTOM Data also reports that foreclosures have been rising. Tens of thousands of properties received new foreclosure notices, were headed to foreclosure auction, or were being repossessed at the beginning of the year. A trend that is likely only picking up.
Then there is the push to revamp the dynamics of real estate commissions. A move to make the market more similar to UK and Australian models.
Meanwhile the Fed seems to have canceled plans to cut interest rates this year, fueling ongoing inflation in insurances, groceries, and more.
Challenging Your Annual Property Tax Bills
If you’ve been thinking about selling your home on Long Island, expect it to take longer, for buyers to be pickier, and to have to shell out a lot more in costs in the process. Most notably, selling prices could have come down a lot more than many anticipate.
Property tax bills on Long Island are notoriously high and incorrect. Challenging them will help keep holding costs more affordable in case you can’t sell, or selling time takes months longer than expected. While also making your property more attractive to potential buyers.