120 Cottage St Unit B · Auburn, NY 13021

$139,900

2 bd · 1.0 ba · 832 sqft · SingleFamily public records · 181 Days on market

Built 2023 8,920 sqft lot Est $146k · at est. ↓ 3% since listing

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Why this score? — see what drove the D grade

The composite is a weighted blend of 9 inputs, each scored 0–100. Each bar is that input's sub-score; the figure is the points it added to the 100-point composite (weight × sub-score).

• Cash flow +12.4/30.0
• ARV discount +9.5/15.0
• 1% rule +4.6/10.0
• DSCR +3.7/10.0
• Livability +3.7/5.0
• Schools +3.0/10.0
• Rent growth +2.5/5.0
• Condition / age +2.5/5.0
• Appreciation +0.0/10.0

Listing remarks

Brand-new one floor living - look no further! This beautifully crafted 2-bedroom, 1-bath townhome features an open floor plan with a spacious living area seamlessly flowing into the kitchen. The modern kitchen is equipped with brand-new stainless steel appliances, sleek granite countertops, and a layout that’s perfect for both cooking and entertaining. Step outside to your private patio, ideal for al fresco dining when the weather warms up. The full bath, conveniently located off the living area, offers plenty of storage, a relaxing soaking tub, laundry hookups, and access to the water heater. Both bedrooms down the hall are generously sized, with large closets featuring double doors,

Key facts

• Open floor plan
• Private patio
• One floor living

Tags

• ONE FLOOR LIVING
• OPEN FLOOR PLAN
• MODERN KITCHEN
• STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES
• GRANITE COUNTERTOPS
• PRIVATE PATIO

What this means for you Summary

Snapshot

• This is a 2-bed/1.0-bath single-family listed at $140k.

Deal economics

• At list price, monthly cash flow is $-22 ($-261/yr) — negative.
• To cash-flow at today's rent, offer at most $136k (2.7% below list).
• To meet the 1% rule (rent ≥ 1% of price), the offer needs to be $134k (4.4% below list).
• Recommended offer: $123k (12.0% below list) — sets the bar for market timing.

Location & tenants

• Location reads 74/100 on livability (#298 in NY, #4,814 nationally) — a middle-class / working-renter tenant base. Strengths: cost of living A+, housing A+, health & safety A+; Watch: amenities D-, commute F, employment D-.
• Auburn City School District (town): math 31% / reading 39% proficiency, ranked #558 of 590 in NY (top 95%) — families likely to look elsewhere, expect single-tenant / working-renter base with shorter leases.
• Zoned schools: Casey Park Elementary School (math 13% / reading 25%, grade F, #2,000 of 2,108 statewide, top 95%, 392 students, 78% FRL); Auburn Junior High School (math 16% / reading 26%, grade F, #661 of 729 statewide, top 91%, 598 students, 81% FRL); Auburn High School (math 88% / reading 84%, grade A, #347 of 1,100 statewide, top 32%, 1,183 students, 51% FRL) — zoned schools average 70% FRL vs 42% district-wide (28 pts higher); higher-poverty schools than district average — tighter screening recommended.
• Market conditions: 221 active listings in the ZIP; 161 units permitted in Cayuga County in 2024 (65 in 5+ unit buildings).

Forward outlook

• Local home prices are declining (-3.0%/yr); year-one equity from $967 of loan paydown is wiped out by about $4k of value loss. Plan a longer hold.
• Cayuga County population projected at -18% by 2050 — secular population decline; favor cash flow + early exit over multi-decade hold.

Negotiation context

• It's been on market 181 days — a 12% lower offer ($123k) is reasonable based on typical stale-listing flexibility.

Recommended offer $123,112 (12.0% below list)

Questions for the listing agent

1. What do current leases actually rent for vs. the listed asking? Can we see a recent rent roll and the last 12 months of T-12 income?
2. It's been on market 181 days. Have you received any prior offers? Is the seller open to a 12% concession, seller financing, or rate buy-down credit?
3. Why hasn't it sold? Are there any deal-killer items the seller is aware of (foundation, flood, title, zoning, code violations)?
4. Is there a deadline driving the sale (1031 exchange, divorce, estate, relocation)? That informs how much negotiation room exists.
5. Schools are D-rated, which usually means shorter tenancies and higher turnover. Who's the typical renter profile here, and what's been the actual vacancy rate?
6. The area grade is low — what's the realistic commute time and amenity access for the typical tenant pool here? Any planned neighborhood developments (good or bad) we should know about?
7. What's the average days-on-market for RENTAL listings here right now (not sales)? A rising rental-DOM trend means longer vacancies and softer asking-rent achievability than the comps imply.
8. What's the recent tenant-quality profile in this submarket — average credit score on applications, eviction rate, late-payment / NSF rate, and stable-employment percentage? A property-management company in the area should have these aggregated.
9. How much new for-sale + rental construction is in the pipeline within 1–3 miles? Heavy new supply typically softens prices + rents 12–24 months out; constrained supply supports both.

Investment metrics

• 1% rule: 0.96% ✗
• Cap rate: 6.11%
• Cash-on-cash: -0.67%
• DSCR: 0.97
• GRM: 8.7

CMA / ARV

• ARV (on-the-fly): $146,432
• Comps found: 2

Show comp detail 2 sales within ~0.75 mi

Address	Dist	Beds/Ba	Sqft	Sold	Price	$/sf	Match
291 Seymour St	0.35mi	2/1.0	768 (-8%)	13mo	$75,000	$98	60
3 Munro Ave	0.69mi	3/1.0 (+1)	910 (+9%)	19mo	$160,000	$176	31

Match score weights: distance 35% · size 25% · config 20% · recency 20%. Top-matched comps best support the ARV.

Projected returns pro-forma

-3.0% appreciation · 3.0% rent growth · sell at horizon

5-year hold

• IRR: -17.3%
• Equity multiple: 0.39×
• Total profit: $-23,968
• Equity at exit: $20,860

10-year hold

• IRR: -9.2%
• Equity multiple: 0.43×
• Total profit: $-22,297
• Equity at exit: $12,096

Cash invested: $39,172 (down + closing). Projections, not guarantees.

Landlord ↔ Tenant lean methodology

• Overall (STATE): 15 Strongly Tenant-Friendly
• State New York: 15 Strongly Tenant-Friendly · D+10
• County: — inherits STATE
• City: — inherits STATE

NYC rent stabilization (~1M units); 2019 HSTPA strengthened tenant rights; courts deeply backlogged.

Methodology + full state rankings →

ZIP-level market 13021

• Home prices YoY: -22.4%
• Active inventory: 221
• Price-to-rent: 8.7×

Monthly cashflow live

• Estimated rent: $1,337 medium
• Mortgage (P&I): −$734
• Tax from tax record: −$286 /mo · $3,437/yr
• Insurance: −$58
• HOA: −$0
• Vacancy / Maint / Mgmt: −$281
• Net cashflow: $-22

Break-even live

Break-even rent $1,365

Max offer price $136,053

Occupancy floor 97%

Sensitivity live

Price	-10% $57	-5% $18	+0% $-22	+5% $-61	+10% $-101
Rent	-10% $-127	-5% $-75	+0% $-22	+5% $31	+10% $84
Rate	-1.0pp $49	-0.5pp $14	base $-22	+0.5pp $-58	+1.0pp $-95

UW: 25.0% down · 7.5% · 30yr · 1.5% tax · 5.0% vac · 8.0% maint · 8.0% mgmt

Financing live

Cash to close

• Down payment: $34,975
• Closing costs: $4,197
• Reserves months: —
• Total cash needed: —

Listing history 5 events

1. 2026-05-07
   status Pending
2. 2026-05-06
   historical
3. 2026-04-03
   historical Active Under Contract
4. 2026-02-07
   price $139,900
5. 2025-11-06
   listed $144,900 Active

ⓘ Source: listings_history table (triggers on properties + properties_extension) + one-shot backfill from property_details.listing_events for pre-trigger history.

Tax reassessment forecast NY · Partial reset (capped growth)

• Current annual tax: $3,437 · $286/mo
• Projected year-2 tax: $3,437 · $286/mo
• Expected delta: $0/yr ($0/mo · 0.0%)

ⓘ Screening estimate from a state-policy table — verify with the county assessor before closing.

Taxation est. · year 1

• Rental income: $16,050
• − Mortgage interest: −$7,837
• − Property taxes: −$3,437
• − Insurance: −$700
• − Repairs & maintenance: −$1,284
• − Management: −$1,284
• − Depreciation: −$4,070
• Taxable loss: −$2,561
• Est. tax savings @ 24.0%: +$615
• After-tax cash flow: $353/yr

For passive investors: Depreciation is non-cash, so a rental often shows a tax loss while cash-flowing — sheltering income. Rental losses are passive: they offset passive income freely, and up to $25,000/yr can offset ordinary (W-2) income if you actively participate and your MAGI is under $100k (phasing out to $0 by $150k); unused losses carry forward. On sale, claimed depreciation is recaptured at up to 25%, and gains may owe capital-gains tax (a 1031 exchange can defer both). Figures are a year-1 estimate at your 24.0% rate — not tax advice; consult a CPA.

Schools (NCES district)

• District: Auburn City School District
• NCES district ID: 3603480
• Math proficiency: 31% ▼ -17.00%
• Reading proficiency: 39% ▲ 2.00%
• Median HH income: $43,567
• Composite: 29.71/100
• National rank: #6452
• State rank: #558 of 590 in NY

Livability — Auburn

• Score: 74/100
• State rank: #298
• US rank: #4814

Category grades

Amenities D- Commute F Cost of living A+ Crime B Employment D- Housing A+ Health & safety A+ User ratings B

Schools grade is shown separately in the Schools card above.

Census & demographics

• Census place: Auburn, NY
• County: Cayuga County · 37,247 people
• City population: 37,247
• Metro: Auburn, NY
• Population (ZIP): 37,247
• Household income: $60,712
• Rent vs Own: 37.8% rent · 62.2% own
• Severe rent burden: 1449.0

Population outlook (Cayuga County) Hauer SSP2

• Today (2025): 74,820 people
• By 2030: 72,402 · -3.2%
• By 2040: 66,917 · -10.6%
• By 2050: 61,007 · -18.5%
• By 2075: 48,047 · -35.8%
• By 2100: 34,512 · -53.9%

Race, ethnicity, and origin ACS 2023

• Neighborhood character: Predominantly White (87%)
• Race & ethnicity: White 87% Two or more races 7% Black 3% Hispanic / Latino 3%
• Common ancestry: Romanian 8% Subsaharan African 3% Lithuanian 2%
• Foreign-born: 2% · Canada
• Languages at home: 95% English-only · Spanish 2% Other Indo-European 1% German/W. Germanic 1%

Political lean MEDSL · Cayuga

• 2024 margin: R (+13.0) · D 43.5% · R 56.5%
• 2008→2024 swing: -21.5pp toward R · 2008: 8.5pp · 2024: -13.0pp
• All cycles: 2024: R+13.0 2020: R+9.2 2016: R+13.2 2012: D+10.8 2008: D+8.5

Not yet ingested

• Civics: —

Market trends

• HPI YoY: ▼ -97.53%
• Current HPI: 338.5537
• Rent YoY: —
• Metro: Auburn, NY
• State GDP YoY: ▲ 2.60%
• F500 in state: 92

Industry mix (Fortune 500 HQ in NY)

Industry	F500 HQs	Revenue
▸Financial Services	10	$950B
▸Consumer Goods	9	$162B
▸Insurance	4	$225B
▸Telecommunications	2	$144B
▸Pharmaceuticals	2	$112B
▸Media / Entertainment	2	$69B

Price history

-3.5% since first listed

5 events — show timeline

• 2026-05-07 Pending — UNYREIS
• 2026-05-06 Listing Removed — UNYREIS
• 2026-04-03 Contingent — UNYREIS
• 2026-02-07 Price Changed $139,900 UNYREIS
• 2025-11-06 Listed $144,900 UNYREIS

Property tax history

+266.8%/yr

Latest (2025): $3,437 · +266.8% YoY. Source: county tax records.