Most Scotia sellers still plan their listing around the same three levers their neighbors used a decade ago: price the comps, paint the trim, get the photos. That order of operations no longer matches the paperwork.
Two things changed between 2024 and 2026, and both of them arrive before an offer does. The state rewrote the seller disclosure form. The Village started digging up curb boxes to identify lead water service lines. Neither is dramatic on its own. Together they moved the friction earlier in the transaction, which means the sequencing of your pre-listing work matters more than it used to.
The paperwork got harder in 2024. The infrastructure got more visible in 2026.
That is the through-line for this post. If you are selling a village single-family built before World War II, and most of them were, the questions you are answering on paper and the questions inspectors are asking at the curb have both expanded. A polished house that ignores either one now stalls in the same place: the two weeks between accepted offer and clear-to-close.
The village housing stock sets the stage. Scotia sits inside 1.7 square miles with just under 7,700 residents, and much of the housing was built prior to World War II, which places nearly every non-teardown listing squarely inside the federal lead-based paint disclosure regime and the new state disclosure form at the same time.
What actually changed on the PCDS
New York's Property Condition Disclosure Act, codified at Real Property Law §462, has always asked sellers to answer based on their actual knowledge. What changed on March 20, 2024 is the escape hatch. Sellers used to be able to pay the buyer a $500 credit at closing in lieu of completing the form. That option is gone. The current form, issued by the Department of State and effective July 2025, runs 56 questions covering structural, mechanical, environmental, and flood-related items, and it must be delivered to the buyer before the binding contract is signed.
For a Scotia village home, three question clusters do most of the work:
| Cluster | What buyers look for | Common village-home answer |
|---|---|---|
| Age of structure, ownership history | Whether pre-1978 lead-paint disclosure applies | Almost always yes |
| Water source, sewer, service lines | Whether the service line is lead, galvanized, or copper | Increasingly "unknown," pending GLO results |
| Flood/FEMA designation | Whether the parcel touches a Special Flood Hazard Area near the Mohawk | Situational, riverside blocks especially |
"Unknown" is a legitimate answer under §462, but it is not a free one. Every "Unkn" invites a buyer-side inspection request, and a stack of them lengthens the inspection period.
Lead paint and lead pipes are separate problems
They sound alike. They are not the same disclosure and they do not travel together.
Federal lead-based paint disclosure applies to any residence built before 1978. That means the EPA "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" pamphlet, a Lead Warning Statement in the contract, and disclosure of any known lead paint or records. Nearly every village home triggers it because of when it was built, not because of anything specific to the parcel.
Lead in the water service line is a different question, and it is the one that changed in 2026. The Village of Scotia is inventorying every water service line under the GLO Initiative, with technical assistance providers performing exploratory digging, called potholing, in front of properties at the shut-off valve to identify the service line material. After digging, homeowners were sent flushing instructions to move fresh water through the plumbing and reduce potential lead exposure from disturbed debris.
For sellers, this is now an inspection-period question. A buyer's inspector who sees a fresh patch of asphalt or turf at the curb will ask what was found. If the answer is on file with the Village, you want to know before the buyer's agent does.
The sidewalk in front of your house
Scotia is a walking village. The Resident Handbook describes 1.7 square miles designed to be pedestrian friendly, and applications for the Village sidewalk program are issued through the Clerk's Office at 4 N. Ten Broeck Street. That last detail matters because a lifted or spalled sidewalk flag in front of your listing is the kind of thing a first-time buyer's inspector flags in a summary paragraph. Getting into the program before you list is cheaper, calmer, and does not put a repair estimate in front of a buyer during attorney review.
The Village also adopted a new 25 MPH speed limit on village streets in 2026. It is not a disclosure item. It is a talking point when a buyer asks about walkability to Freedom Park, Collins Park, or Jumpin' Jack's, and it favors the pedestrian character of village blocks.
The Mohawk Avenue overlay, if you are near Route 5
If your property sits inside the Central Business District, General Business District, or Waterfront District along Route 5, the Village's architectural review overlay applies to certain exterior actions. Most single-family sellers outside those districts will never touch this. Sellers whose properties abut Mohawk Avenue should confirm before authorizing exterior repairs, replacement windows, or storefront-adjacent work as part of a pre-listing punch list, because the Planning Board process runs on its own calendar.
The NY Forward signal, and how it shows up in comps
In 2026, Scotia was awarded $4.5 million through NY Forward to build a Strategic Investment Plan and fund catalytic projects along the historic Mohawk Avenue corridor and waterfront, building on the Envision Scotia Brownfield Opportunity Area Plan and Downtown Connections Plan. That is a public planning process, not a completed project, and it should not be described to buyers as a lift to value. What it does change is buyer questions. Expect more inquiries about which properties fall inside the planning boundary, what "catalytic projects" are being scoped, and how nearby CDBG-funded work, including the Village Hall ADA accessibility renovation announced in the May 2026 public hearing notice, might affect the block. Preparing an honest, short answer is a listing-agent job.
A pre-listing sequence that matches the new order of operations
The old sequence was clean, then price, then photograph. The 2026 sequence adds two paperwork steps before the sign goes up.
- Pull the property's GLO service line status from the Village. If potholing has happened, get the finding in writing so the answer to the service-line question on the PCDS is not "Unknown."
- Complete the PCDS honestly against the current 56-question DOS form. Where you legitimately do not know, mark "Unkn" and be prepared for the follow-up inspection request.
- Confirm lead-paint compliance: pamphlet, Lead Warning Statement, and any records of prior remediation.
- Walk the sidewalk in front of the house with the same eye an inspector will use. If a flag needs work, contact the Clerk's Office about the Village sidewalk program before listing, not after inspection.
- If the property is inside the Route 5 architectural review overlay, confirm whether any planned exterior repair triggers Planning Board review, and adjust the pre-listing timeline accordingly.
- Only then price and photograph.
None of this is legal advice. §462 is written to require "actual knowledge" answers, and specific questions about disclosure liability, exemptions, or contract language belong with a New York real estate attorney.
FAQ
Does the $500 credit-in-lieu option still exist for the PCDS? No. As of March 20, 2024, sellers of one-to-four family residential property must complete and deliver the current PCDS. The prior $500 opt-out is no longer available.
Do I have to test for lead paint or lead in water before listing? No. New York's disclosure law is based on the seller's actual knowledge and does not require you to hire experts or investigate. Federal law requires the lead-paint pamphlet and warning statement for pre-1978 homes but not testing. What has shifted is that the Village-run GLO service line inventory may already have generated a record for your property, which buyers will ask about.
Is my home in the NY Forward planning boundary? The boundary was identified as part of Scotia's NY Forward application and is centered along the Mohawk Avenue corridor and waterfront. Confirm with the Village if your parcel is close.
If you are thinking about listing a Scotia village home in the next six months and want a pre-listing walk-through that maps the paperwork and inspection sequence against your specific address, Michael Dufek and the team at Dufek Real Estate Group work through this order of operations with sellers every week. Get a Free Home Valuation to start the conversation with a real number and a real timeline.
