Quote:
Originally Posted by Quixote
And this is before mentioning the comparatively great value to be found in suburban Westchester and Fairfield Counties, where you can purchase a spacious stately-looking home on a large lot for $1.5-1.75 million. In tony Scarsdale, there's currently a 6,000-SF, 6-bed, 6.5-bath home on a 1.1-acre lot on the market for a little less than $2 million. The house is ugly, but the fact that you can get that much real estate in a posh suburb just a one-seat, 45-minute train ride away from the heart of Midtown Manhattan is astounding.
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/.../pid_30790724/
Meanwhile, $2 million can't even get you into Atherton. But it can get you this nice 1,800-SF condo in Palo Alto:
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/.../pid_32552644/ |
Scarsdale is definitely cheaper than Atherton, but the math isn't right.
Scarsdale has multiples higher property taxes, plus the highest transfer taxes in the nation, plus a "millionaires tax" on anything over $1 million, plus higher income taxes, plus higher utilities. In part, the home is cheaper because everything else is more expensive.
Property taxes, in particular, play a huge role in home price variation in the NYC metro, and a 500k home can be "more expensive" than a 700k home when you compare the total costs. The same home can have 50k annual taxes in one jurisdiction and 10k annual taxes in another, so home prices, by themselves, aren't particularly useful.
Also when comparing urban real estate, it's critical to distinguish between condos and coops, which have totally different ownership structures and costs. Many coops have very low prices, but this is a function of the coop rules. For example, many coops don't allow mortgages, and require a through vetting of finances, and require minimum wealth standards. And the buyer needs to vet the coop's cash reserves, or there may be a big surprise down the line, with a six or seven figure assessment.