House of the Week: Bungalow in Schenectady


114 Snowden Ave., Schenectady




See the listing here, more photos here.

Leigh Hornbeck

71 Responses

  1. Homeowner says:

    As someone who has sold a few homes, the suggestion that a home should list for a formula based on assessment and equalization rates (see earlier comment Cindy CK) is misleading and false. The market (buyers) determine what a home’s value is- what buyers are willing to pay at a given time. Ask any realtor and they will tell you that the list price assigned to a property is determined by studying the recent sales of similar homes (square footage,#bedrooms, baths etc) in the general area of the house to be sold. Of course the condition of the home also is taken into consideration (updates? roof? kitchen? etc). You are entitled to your opinion but not your own set of facts.

  2. Tom says:

    @Jen – What is wrong with that neighborhood? Living there for years and never came across any issues other than squirrels chewing on my trash can lid.

    @dgc – I mentioned that as an option. Compared to what other countries demand in teacher education and training the US is rather on the low end. Still, there are many great teachers around here, but the required qualifications are not that incredible. I know of many home schoolers who have a high school diploma and they as well as their kids are doing very well. In the end it is each parent’s decision. As far as paying taxes, there are plenty of services that I pay for an that I hopefully never use, but that may be of need to someone else. So if my school tax helps someone to learn a lot and get a good start into life then I gladly pay.

    @Cindy – Sex offenders live even in the ritzy parts of town and there are plenty of violations that get one on that list. I used to live right on the border of the GE Plot and there were more sex offenders in a half mile radius than where I live now. All the other stuff you list is mainly outside the Woodlawn neighborhood. The worst crime I recall from years past in that area was a stabbing at a bar that no longer exists.

  3. dgc says:

    “So if my school tax helps someone to learn a lot and get a good start into life then I gladly pay.” – Tom

    But that’s sorta the point Tom. People are paying crazy amounts of money in taxes, and half of the kids in Schenectady aren’t even graduating much less learning a lot or getting a good start in life. I don’t mind paying taxes either, I do mind when there is nothing to show for it however.

    As far as other countries go, they also treat and pay their teachers better…that still doesn’t mean our teachers aren’t better qualified than most parents to teach kids.

  4. Tom says:

    dgc – You are equating being qualified with having a degree as it seems. I met plenty of teachers with fancy degrees who were not qualified to teach. They were lousy teachers and only showed up enough times in class to collect the pay check. And even if not, bad teachers are unfireable these days. That does not apply to all teachers, just wanted to mention that. I think too much money is spent on non-academic stuff. Even school lunches aside, when I went to school (and that isn’t that long ago) we did not have school nurses and guidance counselors and social workers and resident cops and what have not. Athletics was something that clubs organized rather than save on math books to afford the astroturf and football coach. Back then there were also more high schools rather than one huge one for the entire city. My opinion is that this is better and it cost less while graduating most kids.
    My wife teaches our kids and I do part as well. We do not have degrees in education, but my 10 yr old son reads at a past high school level and does 7th grade math, learns two foreign languages, history, geography, biology, physics, and is very much self-taught in computer science. I don’t want to brag here, but if one wants to put the effort in then teaching at home can be done by anyone. As mentioned earlier, it is a luxury that many cannot afford. For that reason I only brought this up as an alternative for those who haven’t considered this and shy away from buying a house in Sc’dy just because the schools are (supposedly) bad.
    I know that in several European countries teachers have to get two MS degrees, a BS in education, and then work for two years as teacher trainee before they are on their own. They also put together their own curricula and pick the books in cooperation with other teachers. The teachers are much better trained and get a much bigger responsibility and say. At the same time students go to school much less time. Prime example is Finland. There the kids spend about half the time in school compared to US students, but in international comparisons score consistently better across the board. I leave it at that, don’t want to turn this into the Schools blog.

  5. Cindy C-K says:

    @ Homeowner. The only thing I was pointing out regarding the asking price of the house in the story and the assessment is that they are very different.

    The city assesses at full value. That means that the assessment value of a house is roughly what the house would sell for when listed on the open market. The equalization rate currently is 104% which means that the assessment values exceed the market values by 4%, thus a house assessed for $104,000 really has a market value of $100,000, that is, the house is over-assessed. Granted, $4,000 is not much to be concerned about.

    But the house in this story is assessed for only $52,600 and based on the equalization rate of 104%, the full market value is only $50,577. Definitionally, in all legal opinions of those in the assessment/appraisal field, market value is defined as the price that a willing buyer pays to a willing seller in an open market transaction.

    The city says the full market value of the house is $50,577, so the asking price obviously far exceeds what the house is said to be worth. Point to support that also lies in the great many successes throughout the city when homeowners take the city to court to grieve their assessed value based on being assessed too high; they provide the actual sale price data of similar homes in the same neighborhood in the past 6 months to a year of such sales, and they can successfully prove that their homes would not sell for a price as high as the city claims they would sell for.

    Since houses in the city in reality are selling for quite a bit lower than the assessment value, then houses in the city have a value less than what the city says they are worth. The city says this house is worth about $50,577, therefore, since that figure is too high, then something maybe $40,000 to $45,000 would seem like an appropriate selling price.

    If there were updates that would increase the value, there must be building permits, and building permits trigger increases in assessment; but sometimes people don’t get the permits.

    If the house does sell for close to it’s asking price, then the assessment value nees to be increased to roughly the sales price. One the assessment value is adjusted to relfect a higher market value based on a sales price that is close to the asking price, then the taxes will jump dramatically, they will probably be between $3,500 and $4,000. You can leave Schenectady, have more land, have off street parking, even a garate, and not have stabbings and shootings occurring so frequently and pay less taxes than that.

  6. dgc says:


    Most teachers are more qualified to teach than most parents…that’s what I’m saying. It’s not an option for most not only because they can’t afford it but because they are not emotionally, organizationally, psychologically, or educationally qualified…that’s my point.

    And most successful home school programs use programs developed and run by…certified educators.

  7. Tom says:

    dgc – “And most successful home school programs use programs developed and run by…certified educators.” <- That statement is not correct. There are especially many science programs created by engineers who are experts in their field. Also, many other excellent programs are created by professionals that are not educators or even certified educators.
    As far as parents being more or less qualified, I've talked to hundreds of home school parents and only a few eventually gave up for the reasons you mention. I can't say it doesn't happen, but as far as I can tell there is no evidence that parents are less qualified to teach. As mentioned before, certification does not equal qualification.

    Cindy C-K – Assessments of homes for tax purposes are done at irregular times. When you compare what houses are sold for and what their assessed value is then you'll see that there i no rhyme or reason to that. Much smaller houses are assessed at a much higher value than larger and better maintained houses just a few lots over. There is also no automatic reassessment when a house is sold.

  8. dgc says:


    There are many, many, many more teachers out there that are more qualified to teach than there are parents that are qualified to teach. That’s what I keep saying, over and over, and you just want to point out the exceptions. You are the exception, not the norm. Not that I think it’s a problem or wrong, but only 2.9% of students in the US in 2007 were home schooled. And while the numbers are going up, it is still not anywhere close to being the norm. Is it an option? Sure. Just not a viable option for most parents because of many other reasons other than cost.

  9. dgc says:

    And Tom, Michael Clay Thompson is an educator…an American educator. :)

  10. KC says:

    It’s all about staging a home to potential buyers. Empty counters are to show a potential buyer how much space there is. And to also show that you are not hiding anything, like a permanent stain on the counter. When I walk into a kitchen and a house I am thinking of buying, I want cleaned off counters. I also want clean bathrooms. Yes, I understand people are living in these houses when I see them. Selling and keeping a house in “showing” condition is tough! But if that’s what it takes to sell a house, then you do it.

  11. Maureen says:

    Snowden Ave is best among other street in the neighborhood, mostly owner occupied. There are four houses in the street for sale right now, all are great buy not sure why they haven’t sold yet. Price looks very attractive. Just Google Snowden ave Schenectady and you will find other houses in the market.