New York City landlords are coming under increasing financial pressure as costs rise, and the ceiling on rents comes down. What is the impact for local residents? What can property owners do to mitigate these risks and losses?
From Long Island to Manhattan apartment and home owners are facing more and more financial pressure. An issue made worse by new regulations and rising property taxes. A problem perhaps reaching a peak in Nassau County where new property tax assessments are skyrocketing tax bills.
According to the 2019 Long Island Economic Survey, local business owners are much less bullish on the property market, with only half believing residential values will increase over the next year. According to data compiler PropertyShark, multifamily property values recently came down 20%. Yet, in many cases property tax assessments and bills have shot upwards. Meanwhile Nassau County Executive Laura Curran has been spending an enormous amount of time on her roadshow at local libraries and on TV to defend recent increases and changes in property tax assessments.
Increasing calls for harsher rent controls are likely to only make matters worse, crunching landlords between rising costs and limited income potential. Everyone wants somewhere affordable to live, yet there may be some unintended consequences of rent regulations and new caps. Some renters may benefit from government subsidized housing vouchers, though they are funded by higher taxes. Others expect rents to stay flat, but fail to understand everything is a trade off. The money has to come from somewhere or be cut somewhere else. If landlords are paying 10%, 20% or 50% more in taxes, and can’t raise rents in line with inflation, they have to make deep financial cuts in other areas. They have to try to pay their bills. Leaving the only real option as slashing maintenance and management services. No landlord wants to do that, but many don’t have a choice anymore. Neglected maintenance is going to mean lower quality of life, safety, and health. Sometimes to the point residents won’t want to live there, even if the rent has been capped. That all again reduces values.
There isn’t much that landlords can do about rising interest rates, rent control legislation, and rising utility costs. The one thing they can do is to fight back against being overcharged in taxes. With values floating down, many have even more going for them in challenging and appealing their assessments and bills. Get to know your breaks, exemptions and potential savings by contacting Property Tax Adjusters, Ltd. today.