Open house
Tours let potential buyers get a close look at foreclosed properties
TROY, N.Y. » Potential buyers were able to take a close look at some of the foreclosed properties in the Collar City on Thursday morning during several open house tours.
Mayor Patrick Madden previously announced the city Assessor’s office would conduct a series of open house events Thursday at 10 city-owned foreclosed properties available for sale. City staff was on-site Thursday at all locations to provide public access to the properties.
“The objective was to generate some interest in these properties, so that we might get a better bid on the properties and secondly so that the people who are bidding on the properties have a sense of what they are getting into,” said Madden on Thursday morning. “The last thing we want is somebody to bid on and acquire one of these properties, walk in there and say ‘Oh my goodness, I can’t do this, this is way over my head’ and then the building sits vacant for another couple of years and deteriorates even further.”
The homes that were open for tours Thursday included 773 River St., 5 Birch St., 24 Frear Ave., 3034 Tibbits Ave., 63 Collins Ave., 557 Fourth St., 71 Ingalls Ave., 10 Marshall St., 3100 Sixth Ave. and 32 Pawling Ave.
The open house events did generate a good amount of interest from potential investors, who said they are happy the city is offering these opportunities.
“I think it’s awesome that they are doing these open houses, so that we can actually see what’s in the building, rather than before when it would sort of be an open bag of worms and would have no idea what you have,” said Aaron Lozier, a private investor from Albany.
People who did tour some of the properties also said that they feel that they will be interested in placing bids on some of these properties.
“We certainly have interest in investing in some of the properties in Troy,” said Linden Layne, who invests in properties around the city with other people.
Investors who are interested in buying some of these foreclosed properties also have another incentive as to why they might choose to invest since the Troy Rehabilitation and Improvement Program and Rensselaer County Housing Resources are offering $20,000 cash assistance to homebuyers
in Troy to purchase and remodel a vacant building through the State of New York Mortgage Agency Neighborhood Revitalization Program.
“Knowing the values over here aren’t very high and it needs a ton of work,” said Troy resident James Williams, while
looking inside 71 Ingalls Ave. “But TRIP said that they do have some kind of gap funding to give you $20,000 and that could help with some of the work, especially on a property like this one here.”
Madden said he believed the open houses on Thursday were beneficial and the city will most likely plan to schedule more open tours.
“Based on the interest
that I’m hearing about [Thursday] with people showing up, I think this was a great success and we’ll continue to do this again in the future,” said Madden.
The city is currently accepting bid proposals on available foreclosed properties from until Friday, Aug. 4. Proposals must be delivered to the Office of the City Assessor, 433 River Street, Ste. 5001, Troy New York
12180 by 4:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 4. Following the proposal review process, recommended sale proposals will be transmitted to the City Council for final approval on Sept. 7.
For more information on the foreclosure sale process and a full list of available foreclosed properties, contact the city Assessor’s Office at (518) 279-7126 or visit the Assessment Department homepage.