Albany,n.y.

Since you live in NYS, I can tell you why your house and most houses in NYS SHOULD be under-assessed. The typical assessment in NYS is for a valuation date 1 year prior to the date of the final roll. For example, I live in Bethlehem, which just completed a reassessment. For the final roll, established as of July 1, 2006 the inventory date is 3/1/06 but the valuation date is July 1, 2005. Therefore, if values have increased in the past year where you live, and you're supposedly assessed at 100%, in reality, you're assessed at less than 100%. Of course this assumes proper valuation. For example: Say your house was worth $180,000 on 7/1/05 and values have increased 10% in the past year. It's worth $198,000 today, but it should be assessed at $180,000. If not, it is overassessed. The reason is that the assessor needs time to compile the data necessary for valuation. At some point the data on sales has to end. NYS has decided on 7/1 of the prior year for the valuation date. However, since it is this year's roll, if your house had major additions such as a new area that added to the square feet of living area (or on the other side, burned down), your assessment is based on the physical status as of March 1st, this year. I know it's weird, but that's the Real Property Tax Law. EDIT: PS: It takes months for public records to catch up to sales. If any website is using public records (like from my agency's sales web) they won't be giving you current valuations. The reason that private appraisers and realtors can capture the market better than sources using government records is because most have access to Multiple Listing Service (MLS) which gives you the most up to date data. Recently, Albany County has put deeds on their website within days of closings, so a county may be current as well-but chances are pretty good that the assessor's office is, at best, a little behind the current market.

I found it to be a horrible site. I'm very familiar with the market in my area. There have been 16 sales of homes comparable to mine in the past 3 years, including 4 this year, all within 3 blocks of my house, yet Zillow couldn't come up with a value and has my lot size as .08 acres instead of .28 acres. If they did so poorly in an area loaded with comparable sales, I can't imagine how bad they are in other areas.

It's one thing to express your views, it's another to try to impose your religious beliefs through legislation, which is the aim of the "pro-lifers" a term I believe is an oxymoron since many pro-lifers are in favor of the death penalty. When you tell me I should believe in your God, I can tell you to buzz off. When you legislate your religious beliefs and throw me in jail, kill me, or ban me from your country as a result of my not accepting your religion you become (our friends) Saudi Arabia.

He has it upside down. JP will emerge as an elite QB and lead us to the Super Bowl Championship, while Ben Roethlisberger's face will fall off and he'll be forced to miss the season awaiting a face transplant.

A few years ago one of the preview magazines had worst first picks in the entire draft-Walt Patulski "won".

I'm against the murder of women based on their ability to buy safety. As for abortion is murder, that's your opinion. If it's based on a religious belief, then it's your right not to have an abortion. Trying to get others to follow your religious beliefs is intolerance. So you're for intolerance?

When it's based on a religious belief, as it was portrayed in the tv show, it's an example of intolerance because you are trying to impose your religious beliefs on others who do not have the same beliefs. It goes back to the premise that your religion is the right one and everyone else's beliefs are wrong. I would classify that as intolerance. I don't know if you're old enough to remember when abortion was illegal, but back then poorer women had no option to get safe abortions and many ended up dying, while the rich were able to travel to places where abortion was legal and safe. People convieniently forget why there was a need to make abortion legal, because women were having them and it being illegal wasn't stopping the ones who wanted an abortion. It was only making it a life threatening decision for the ones without a lot of money.

Sage Rosenfels.

It should have said Eric Moulds caught 81 passes for the Bills last season, but his per-catch average of 10.1 tied for the lowest of his career, he asked for Kelly Holcomb, he got Kelly Holcomb.

Safety courses teach to lock them. I drive with the car door unlocked because it's a habit I developed early since one of my early cars would not open until you pulled up the knob to unlock it. My current car opens as if it was unlocked when locked, but I still keep it opened unless I'm driving in a seedy area.

When you're in the fastest growing state in the USA, yeah, they do. Supply & Demand. More people moving to Nevada, homes will cost more until enough are built or people go back to where they came from...or they all gamble away their $ and get foreclosed on.

Staements like that cost John Kerry the presidency. "I voted for it, before I voted against it" -dumbest thing ever said by a presidential candidate.

What makes housing affordable for tenants in NYC is rent control & rent stabilization. There are many people paying well under market rents because of these 2 forms of "afordable housing" measures. There are actual death watch people who are out there hunting down apartments of the recently departed because the rents on some of these units are low & can't be raised too much. Housing in NYC is much more affordable for some people than it is in the suburbs. As long as one is a renter instead of an owner, housing in Manhattan can in fact be very affordable.

I still don't get the original post's title "I hope the market crashes". What benefit does RL get if the market crashes? Is he just a miserable guy who wants to see people suffer, mad at the people who have cashed in on the high prices, or hoping to pick something up cheap-which won't be any easier than now if higher interest rates cause lower prices? What is his point?

Last night's episode may have been the best yet. This is one of the few shows this time of year that I really look forward to seeing. Eventually they'll be bringing back Jordan Collier, since he's not really dead. The message in the envelope was a great way to shake things up even more.

Good reply. I'm very bitter towards Mularkey and while he may have showed a little more on field ability than some of our other bust head coaches, the fact that he was trying to win meaningless games late in the season, rather than finding out if his younger players actually can play in the NFL or not is unforegivable. Sure, Hank Bullough was a bad coach and hated by his players (except Joe DeLamielleure who loves Hank so much that he included him in his HOF speech), but even Hank never put himself over the team. Years from now, when my bitterness subsides, I'll probably rate MM higher than Hank, Harvey Johnson and Jim Ringo, but I still think because he never lost the team like Mularkey did, Gregg Williams was the better coach. Also, Gregg will get another shot as a head coach, I doubt Mularkey will. But, if they both do, Gregg will have greater success than Mularkey, even though I still think he'll be a dud, just not a bomb like Mularkey.

Please explain why you feel this way, just throwing an insult out does not show me any knowledge on your part. On the other hand, I've stated why, using Sam Adams for the locker room example-Gregg never had problems with players like MM had. In addition, Gregg did not try to pull as many tricks as Mularkey. Gregg Williams was a bad coach, and we've had some bad coaches in the past. However, none of them ever put himself above the team like Mularkey did. The lame attempt to save his job late in the season, retarding the teams growth by not finding out if JP could play or not is one thing among many that are unforgiveable as a head coach. I stand by my statement-worst coach in team history. Now, would you like to respond with an intelligent answer, or is that out of your range of ability? For the record I saw every game of both Gregg's & Mike's eras, and attended every home game.

I wouldn't call the recent real estate market a bubble. It's more like flowing with interest rates. If mortgage rates continue to rise (they've gone up over a point this year already) you'll see a slowing of the real estate market, all other things being equal. However, if you're in an area of growth where jobs are being created, there won't be any bursting of a bubble-supply & demand. Without getting too detailed (I'd have to spend hours talking about it to get you to fully understand all the dynamics involved) I'll show you why mortgage rates are the leading factor in home prices after accounting for local economic factors which can cause a boom in a bust period locally & vice-versa. Also, the more interest only mortgages and variable rate mortgages there are among homeowners in an area, the less long term stability when rates change & equity doesn't increase exists-but that's local. Where I am the majority of mortgages are fixed rate. In California, most new mortgages are not fixed, so if a bubble is going to burst, California will be among the worst hit. In rounded #s: Say you can afford a $1,500/month mortgage for 30 years. At 10% interest the amount you can borrow is $171,000 At 9% $186,000 At 8% $204,000 At 7% $225,000 At 6% $250,000 At 5% $279,000 At 4% $314,000 At 3% $356,000 So, if you look at the difference between 8% & 5%, $75,000, you can see why real estate increased so much when the rates dropped from around 8% to 5% in the early 2000s. A person can afford to pay an extra $75,000 +/- for a house because it's the same monthly payment. The big winner is the seller, who gets the cash. If the rates stay around 6-7% you probably won't see much of a crash. If they go to the 8-10% range, there will definitely be some "correction" in the market. For a 1st time buyer, it won't help much because the monthly payments will be just as high. The impact is a little less than shown because of income tax benefits as interest rates rise because more interest is paid, but for simplicity sake I hope this explains what's been going on & what might happen in the future. I can't type type well enough to explain things like I'd like to, it would take too long. If Pyrite Gal knows real estate you might be in luck.

Years ago there was Joe Delaney, a RB for the Chiefs who died trying to save someone from drowning and drowned himself.

Widen the gap on the goal post and make it retroactive to Super Bowl XXV.

I think the Mohawk overflowed onto the Thruway. It was pretty high on Tuesday when we drove out.

I was viewing some Hydroelectric plants & the owner's office is in Liverpool. We drove there & then the tax rep drove us all over. We went as far as Hydraulic Race in Lockport & found out the Thruway was closed while we were on our way back to Liverpool.

I heard it the day Sam Adams left the stadium after being told by Mularkey he was among the inactives. He or his agent went to the media and said Mularkey told him that the active guys could help the team more than him. I have no link at this time, just my memory listening to the radio, but if I get one I'll edit the post. Edit: Here it is Friction between Adams, Mularkey is a personal thing, says player's agent Leo Roth Staff writer (November 28, 2005) — ORCHARD PARK — An ongoing personality conflict between Buffalo Bills Pro Bowl defensive tackle Sam Adams and coach Mike Mularkey has boiled over, agent Angelo Wright said late Sunday night. That was the reason Adams was ruled inactive and was not on the sidelines for Sunday's home game against Carolina. Mularkey said the reason Adams didn't play was medical — Adams has battled knee and ankle problems recently — but Wright said the real reason is personal. "This guy doesn't like Sam Adams and that's fine," Wright said. "You don't have to like him to play him. Sam wants to play. He likes Buffalo. But you got a coach there who doesn't like him personally and he's doing everything he can to make it look like it's the player. He's making Sam the distraction." Jay Glazer, the Fox sideline reporter who worked the game, said on air that Adams told him before leaving the stadium that Mularkey said he wasn't playing Sunday and that the team had a better chance to win without him. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/p.../511280340/1021

What exactly have the Bills done to be a laughing stock other than rate players higher on their draft board than Mel Kiper & his cronies, have an owner force the issue of small market teams before the final agreement is written and force out the most incompetent coach in Bills history***? I don't think the Bills have done one thing this offseason to be considered a laughingstock by any INTELLIGENT reporter. The guys bagging on the Bills in the media are the true laughingstocks. ***-Mike Mularkey- a guy who made Harvey Johnson, Hank Bullough, Gregg Williams and others look adequate compared with his bufoonery both on the field and in the locker room (alienating vets like telling Sam adams guys who couldn't hold his jock were better off in the starting lineup than him).