Realtors seek homeowner tax relief
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Can 62,000 Realtors be wrong? Not only are they unhappy that Gov. David Paterson has skirted the issue of school property taxes ”“ a thorn in the side of both the residential and commercial sectors of the industry ”“ but he”™s added pain to the pocketbooks of real estate agents in the form of upped fees for exams and licensing.
Paterson proposes raising the fee for the real estate exam from $15 to $75 and the broker”™s exam from $50 to $125. “He hasn”™t proposed a biannual license fee increase,” said Sal Prividera, spokesman for the New York State Association of Realtors. “At least, not yet.”
They are but a few of the  increases Paterson has proposed to close the gaping budget deficit. Speaking for NYSAR”™s membership, Prividera wants to know why those who are doing less business should pay more for the pleasure.
Prividera said the governor could find no stronger ally than the members of NYSAR by renewing his call for capping the growth of school property taxes levies at 4 percent ”“ or 120 percent of the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less; but he”™s missed the opportunity to make home ownership within reach of today”™s buyers ”“even those with money to do it.
“Taxes are so out of control,” he said. “You know what your mortgage payment will be, but every year, your school tax bill is a guessing game. And most of the time, it”™s not in the property owner”™s favor. The STAR program is going to be eliminated, but nothing has been said about what will take its place.”
Homes are selling, said Prividera, but not at the rate experienced in 2005, which reached an all-time high for the real estate market. But closing costs, among the highest in the nation, along with the property tax burden that has no end in sight, makes home ownership even less desirable.
“Yes, credit was too loose, but now it”™s too tight””it may be easing up for those who have a good job and good credit rating, banks are playing cards close to the chest. Most homeowners stay in their homes 7-9 years. Sellers today who have held on will still enjoy price appreciation, but they aren”™t going to enjoy the same rate others were a year ago; that”™s the market,” said Prividera.
Saying, “I”™m no economist,” Prividera predicts the market will start to come back in mid-2009. “For those who are comfortable in their jobs and have good credit, now is a good time to buy.”
As for the fees imposed by Paterson, whether they will bear fruit remains to be determined by the Legislature. The battle is already brewing in Albany, where a new Democratic Legislature is going to have to face the same scrutiny its former Republican leadership did.
“We remind our elected leaders it is vitally important to carefully consider any course of action that may harm residents”™ ability to achieve the American dream of homeownership,” warned Prividera.