Good News for “Green” House Flippers and Home Rehabbers Around Syracuse

The Governor of New York, David Patterson, has signed a bill allowing for full tax benefits for 7 years for city and school taxes, given added value to a property. This covers the labor efforts as well as the materials expenses of someone overhauling a residential property within the city limits of Syracuse. This is one more incentive for house flippers to work smart and to work green, as there are additional tax benefits for property improvements that meet the stringent “green building codes”.

This article states that there will be a 100% tax break for city and local taxes for the extra price valuation for vacant properties purchased and improved in Syracuse, a city in the geographic center of New York. Rehab a vacant Syracuse home, get a tax break by Delen Goldberg, posted on syracuse.com . What is funny is that I was just looking at real estate agents in the Syracuse area, to do a similar thing myself. Syracuse is a good place to live, overall, despite being in the “snow belt”. We need to do some improvement to the downtown area, as this is the only location that public transportation is readily available in, and, the city has potential, we’ve got the title of “Green Capital of the World”, now we need to live up to it.

There are benefits to the community, there are possibilities, this could be a solution to a some of the problems in the Syracuse area. Some of the commentary to the article was useful, it all has a place in the picture, as long as it is all placed into perspective. Looking at the comments on the article, I could see that this is a small piece to a larger puzzle, aiming towards Syracuse becoming something beautiful. The positive side of the tax break is that people who are rehabilitating vacant residential buildings have another resource to turn to in order to help finance the completion of the housing project at hand. A lot of commercial and residential space in the downtown area has already been revitalized, Syracuse is starting to look good. Still, there are other neighborhoods that need improvement around Syracuse, who are not yet as gentrified as the downtown area is.

There is the downside, there are problems, that happen with every new development, all progress happens slowly. I am not sure of how well this is going to work, there are people who are not looking forward to development happening on vacant lots as well as vacant properties. Syracuse is still close to the farmland. However, enticing green development is necessary, and the technology is drastically more sustainable than that that existed during the 20th century. Syracuse is hatching changes within the community, and the City is very wary of anything or anyone that might not be helpful to this effort, or anything or anyone that might sully the image of the downtown area. This is not to say that there is not a problem with the human factor intermittently within the City of Syracuse, that might require extra funds from the Department of Homeland Security, otherwise this vigilance would not be necessary. We have the manpower, the materials, and the equipment, we need to work the equation of economic factors according to the green building code. Right now, I am not a part of the economic equation of Syracuse, thus remaining on the sidelines to merely observe is the best thing to do, while encouraging those who are participating to carry on.

I am not sure as to exactly what the Department of Energy is doing to directly or indirectly help out the City of Syracuse with the rehabilitation efforts for the community, today, although, I am aware of the continued efforts of the City of Syracuse to court federal funds for green development, which have been happening for years. Nor do I know what the Department of Housing and Urban Development is doing, in any way, or even if the Department of Housing and Urban Development has a special “green development reward”. I have not looked at the US Green Building Council’s website in a few months. There is a link to a definition of what the US Green Building Council is, which links to pertinent pages for house flippers, as well as grant money prospects. Combined with the Department of Energy incentives, the City of Syracuse tax break program, with additional incentives for those who follow “green building” codes, looks to be a powerful one. The Leadership for Energy and Environmental design (LEED) standards and building codes are not entirely intelligible to me, thus, I hesitate to comment on these “green building codes”.

However, I do know that the city of Syracuse has been doing a lot of work to make the downtown area a decent place to work and live. In fact, I don’t go downtown presently, outside of scavenger hour, which is when people look for curbside waste left by local businesses on refuse collection days. I now look too ratty for the revitalized area, and do not have enough money to purchase my own cruelty-free, post-consumer waste re-manufactured business suit, thus, I look like a bum. I do not have any facts on this other than my own personal experiences, however, I am pretty certain that anyone who purchases vacant home in the area will also feel this way. So, not to worry, house flippers mind their own business(es), and only lean on their own.

There are places to work, to stay, to educate yourself that exist, after having been newly renovated in the downtown area. A newly opened Metro Center in downtown Syracuse brings the State University of New York at Oswego’s services to people in the downtown area. The facts say, yes, purchase property in Syracuse, vacant or not, short-term news as well as long-term trends favor this idea. Syracuse University is also doing things to back downtown redevelopment.

This tax break news is one more item in a long series of events that show that the City of Syracuse is doing its best for efforts to further responsible city management as well as sustainable growth. Yes, there are other neighborhoods around Syracuse that could be gentrified, made beautiful, if green redevelopment plans are followed. If you want to. According to Haley Hind’s article, Property Tax Exemption for Vacant Homes, for Channel 5, a select few vacant structures will be taken by the City, to be sold to house flippers for one dollar, which should further assist those ready to renovate a house, financially.

This tax break, coinciding with the influx of funds from the Department of Homeland Security, states that Syracuse is going to be ready to be the “Green Capital of the World”, the proactive changes are going to happen, we need this kind of a change for the neighborhoods in Syracuse that are still aiming to look as nice, and be as clean, as downtown Syracuse is. A tax break for green development that is flexible and allow for creativity for the “green developer” is indeed something to celebrate, even if this tax break is presently restricted to house flippers improving vacant buildings or lots within the city limits of Syracuse, New York.