The following is a nice house in a quiet neighborhood on the south side of Broadway in the Village of Lancaster. There are clearly some updates needed in this home. I renovated a property about 2 blocks down the street and was able to exit that for about $130k. Based on the location, and size, there is no reason why this couldn’t fetch $100k+ with a nice renovation.

This is a nice single family home that would be a great starter home.  Certainly less expensive than renting.  With the $8k tax credit, this is a BIG discount in a nice area.  The home is walking distance from everything.  It isn’t large (3 Bedrooms, 1 Bathroom) and only about 1200 square feet, but if they layout is right that is not bad.

Lancaster NY House for Sale

One thing that I like about this property is the garage behind the house that is accessed from the side road. It is close the the neighbor and on a small lot, but it has the nice village feel that so many subdivisions get away from.

Visit: Lancaster NY Home for Sale

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Lancaster, NY revaluation. It stinks!

Well, if you live in Lancaster, NY, you probably received a lovely letter yesterday regarding your property taxes and your property assessment.  There were increases that appear across the board.  The equalization rate is no longer as we have moved to 100% valuation.  The increases are staggering in many cases.

The town of Lancaster continues to spend, and spend, and spend on projects that don’t benefit the town as a whole.

1. There is a pricey new addition to town hall (approximately $985,000).
2. There is a new police and courts facility in the works ($8,000,000 Plus).
3. There is the new use of a former library for an emergency management office (that’s right, Lancaster has one).
4. There is the proposed recreational facility that will certainly add long term costs.
5. etc. etc.

Let’s not forget that use of these properties suddenly pulls them off the tax rolls. And, in the case where a sale is possible, eliminates the funds from a sale (Depew Library is a prime example).

Many will be fighting the new assessment figures.  In a couple of cases, I will be one of them.  If you aren’t familiar with the tools available to you for searching property information here are a couple:

• Lancaster Online Assessment Review System (OARS) http://www.oarsystem.com/ny/lancaster/main.asp
• Erie County Real Property System http://www.erie.gov/ecrpts/webprop.asp
• Erie County Internet Mapping System http://gis1.erie.gov/website/Erie_help/help.htm

I know that there is quite a bit of state and/or federal funding drying up for Towns and Villages. How about cutting costs rather than continuing to spend. If a surplus builds, cut taxes!

Politics suck.

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At $159,900 This should go very fast

Lancaster NY horse barn and riding facility for sale

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This simple rental application form is a single page and is not branded.  Use as you wish.  I am sure many of you will find this usefull.

On the topic of rental screening… Please check references.  I have found that references are as good a gauge of a tenant as a credit score.

Rental Applications

Blank Rental Application (.DOC format for Microsoft Word)

Blank rental application (.PDF format – Adobe Acrobat)

The .DOC version should be editable.  Feel free to contact us by posting a comment if you need this in a different format.

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I am not going to go into a full review here, but I will say that we love the vacuum otherwise.  Powerful, compact, and incredibly easy to empty/clean.  This is everything you would want in a handheld vacuum… except for the short life of the battery.  We have a good amount of hardwood and it barely makes it around the perimeter and under the kitchen cabinets.

Is the battery life really that poor?

Dyson Root Vacuum = short battery life

Is there anything that can be done?  I haven’t looked into a replacement battery for the root yet, but I will have to.  We are 1 year in and the performance has gotten worse.  It hardly holds a charge for 30 seconds.

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On to Lancaster. I have been saying this for a solid 6 months. If you have a decent home under $150k in Lancaster, it won’t last long. There are still qualified buyers and the $8k tax incentive is a nice bonus (discount).

Recently, prices in Lancaster have appeared a bit inflated to me. I am not saying that these properties are not going to sell, I am just taking notice of pricing trends in our town and village.

Here are a couple of examples of houses for sale in Lancaster that appear to be a bit inflated:

House 1:

Lancaster House for Sale

The number 1 thing that this house has going for it is location (Village of Lancaster). This illustrates that location trumps most other factors in real estate.

This is a ranch house that is built on a slab. A home in WNY built on a slab is a huge negative in my book. The loss of basement space is a big issue in this area where items need to be stored in the off months. The home itself is decent size, but looks like it is a double wide and could be located in a trailer park.  There aren’t too many updates to the interior of this house..

If you had asked me to price this home, I would have pegged it at about $119k. They have it listed at $142,900.

Look for yourself: Lancaster house for sale

House 2:

Lancaster NY House for Sale

The second home is something that I often see when someone has a home that is on the edge of rural and developed areas.  The people who own these homes often feel that having 2 acres on the edge of town should have the same value as having 2 acres in the middle of town. Not so.  Head 1 mile further outside of the heart of the town and you will find 5 acres with a property, in many cases.

This home is a good size, but seems like it is price above the market for homes in that area of that style.  It is a split level home which isn’t for everyone.  The asking price is $259,900

As with the first example, this home does not have many interior updates or upgrades.  A house in this price range is expected to have newer appliances, perhaps new countertops, fresh walls (not wallpaper everywhere). This home screams early 80’s update.  You would have to put $40k – $60k into this to do a decent update to flooring, walls and kitchen.  But, at that price, you will start saying to yourself “we might as well build”.

Take a look at the property for yourself: Lancaster NY home for sale

I guess I should hope that the real estate market in Lancaster continues moving up.  I live and work here and will benefit if that is the case.  However, these 2 examples seem a bit out of line to me.

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The property sale brochure lists all of the details.
Flix for sale – flyer (pdf)

Flix movie theater for sale

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Kidde has the same interface for a newer model and can swap out with the 1275’s. The unit is the i12040. If you don’t trust your old 1275’s, but don’t want to pay an electrician to rewire at every unit, the i12040’s might be worth a try. If Kidde has solved the defective unit issue with this model, then we can sleep tight.

In fact the cost for 10 replacement units would be less than the cost for an electrician to come out and rewire the connectors to a different model. This model also has a ‘hush’ feature that could come in handy.

If your 1275’s were installed by the builder, the reason for the false alarms could be due to dust during construction. Most builders will keep them covered with a cellophane cover during the construction phase, but that isn’t always the case. Swapping the 1275 out with a new i12040 could be a cheap fix for a big annoyance and middle of the night wake ups.

Kidde i12040 smoke alarm - replacement for the Kidde 1275

Model i12040 Replaces all existing 1275 smoke alarm models

Current replacement units are shipped as i12040 which are a direct change-out replacement for the Kidde 1275. They fit the Quick-Connect power harness for a speedy installation.

Read more about the experience many have had with the defective Kidde 1275

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If you are searching for a commercial office building to purchase for your business, take a look at 5522 Broadway, Lancaster, New York. This Lancaster office building for sale is an ideal space for an attorney or accounting practice. It is suited for shared offices or a sublease of part of the space. That was the use in the past. The building is currently unoccupied and is available for showing. View the listing flyer here: Lancaster Office Building for Sale (pdf).

Contact the Broker if you would like to learn more, or schedule a showing.
John Mikoley
716-852-7500 x:117

The asking price is $225,000

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I have used a service for the past few years called e-renter. They allow you to run a credit check and/or a criminal background check. Obviously nothing is foolproof, but by doing some basic tenant screening, you can eliminate some of the worst potential rent loss issues.

Tenant Screening

I often tell the story of the owner of a duplex next to mine having an issue with a tenant and I asked her what screening service she used. She paused and answered “… ooohhh, maybe that is the problem”. She wasn’t screening at all and only collected 4 months of rent in her first 10 months of ownership. The first tenant was recently bankrupt and the second was headed there. Had she screened in advance, she would have gotten a better picture of her prospective tenant.

In addition to tenant screening, I encourage any landlord to be sure they check references. I have rented to people with less than perfect credit because their references were so solid and their story regarding the credit issues checked out. I have also had references throw their ‘friends’ under the bus and essentially say “you would be crazy to rent to them”.

Do your homework… screen your tenants… be a real person and learn the story before you accept the first person who says “I’ll take it”.

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