Schenectady foreclosure shouldn't be hard to sell

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kathleen Moore

In what may be a hopeful sign for the city’s new plan to quickly sell buildings it forecloses upon, there are already multiple buyers lined up for the city’s next foreclosure.

The city is seizing 601 Union St., a building in bad shape. Among other problems, the roof has fallen in and the taxes haven’t been paid in years. Both issues are typical for blighted buildings in the city.

But it’s in a good area, so it’s exactly the sort of property that city officials hope they can sell.

“You have a property in a good area, you have a lot more opportunities,” Zoning Officer Steve Strichman said.

In a new strategy, Strichman got help from those involved in the property: an attorney working on the deceased owner’s estate. The attorney had already been contacted by one possible purchaser and was willing to help Strichman find other buyers so he could sell the property as soon as possible.

“The estate is trying very hard to get rid of it,” Strichman said.

That help, along with the new method of lining up potential buyers before seizing the property, may help the city sell property quickly. Strichman wants to make sure the city doesn’t wind up stuck with blighted property for years, along with the associated costs and the criticism from neighbors who want the place fixed up or knocked down.

He’s confident that he’s got enough interested buyers to sell 601 Union St. Now he’s taking that strategy to the next properties on the city’s list: abandoned auto repair sites.

“There’s demand for auto repair because it’s only allowed in certain places,” he said.

And those properties rarely are put up for sale, so buyers might be eager to jump at what the city can offer, he added.

In the next year, he wants to sell about 80 properties this way. Many of them are residences.

It’s going to be tricky.

“I watch the market. The market’s not coming back,” he said. “Yet there is stuff selling. I still believe, if you’re priced right … and we’re just trying to sell the properties, so it’s easier for us to price it right.”

He’s sticking to one firm rule: no investors. He doesn’t want to sell residences to landlords who will add to the city’s glut of apartments while not living close enough to maintain the buildings.

He thinks he can find enough owner-occupants to meet the city’s goal for next year.