Is Mar-a-Lago really worth as little $18 million, as a court has decided? The answer appears to be no.
In Donald Trump’s ongoing civil fraud case in New York the court has accepted a valuation of between $18 million and $27.6 million for Trump’s palatial residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
Partly on that basis Judge Arthur Engoron has
ruled that Trump committed fraud by listing higher values for Mar-a-Lago, and other properties, to secure bank loans.
However, an assessment of the local property market shows the figure adopted by the court would barely be enough to buy a five-bedroom house in the shadow of Mar-a-Lago.
Mar-a-Lago has been valued at $18 to $27.6 million, according to prosecutors in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial
A nearby 5-bedroom, 6,043 Sq Ft family home on the market for $18.95 million
Currently on sale for $18.95 million close to Trump’s former ‘Winter White House’ is a 6,043 sq ft single family home.
It is a beautiful house with five bedrooms and a garden.
But Mar-a-Lago has 58 bedrooms, and 33 bathrooms, and is 62,500 sq ft surrounded by vast grounds.
Another 7-bedroom house is on sale just outside the Mar-a-Lago gates.
It is 6,488 sq ft and set in 0.49 acres – and is on sale for $40 million.
A key point in the sales pitch for that house is that it is ‘steps from Mar-a-Lago’.
According to the court-accepted valuation, Mar-a-Lago is worth about half as much as the 7-bedroom house – despite being nearly 10 times as big.
The ballroom at the Mar-a-Lago, which was valued at between $18 million and $27.6 million
Nearby, a six-bedroom, 6,488 Sq Ft house is on sale for $40 million
The judge’s fraud decision was based on a Palm Beach County tax assessor’s appraisal value.
Judge Engoron wrote: ‘From 2011-2021, the Palm Beach County Assessor appraised the market value of Mar-a-Lago at between $18 million and $27.6 million.’
In financial statements Trump had claimed it was worth between $426.5 million and $612 million.
Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, has brought a civil case against Trump, accusing him of ‘staggering fraud’.
A 5-bedrooms, 4,494 Sq Ft home just down the road from Mar-a-Lago on sale for $25 million
An aerial view of a $25 million property in Palm Beach, Florida
The Mar-a-Lago estate, which a court values at $18 million to $27.6 million
The billiard room at Mar-a-Lago
Trump attended the first three days of the trial and angrily and has called it a ‘sham’.
He suggested the figures being used by Ms James for Mar-a-Lago were ‘fraudulent’.
The former president added that his home could actually be worth up to $1.5 billion.
Based on currently marketed properties examined by AlertContent.com the assessment of ‘$18 million and $27.6 million’ appears to be radically different from what Mar-a-Lago is really worth.
Sotheby’s international Realty, the luxury realtor, has half a dozen homes for sale within half a mile of Mar-a-Lago.
All of them are on sale for at least $18 million yet none have anything approaching the scale of Mar-a-Lago, which includes a total of 126 rooms, a spa, and an ornate ballroom with chandeliers.
The 5-bedroom house for sale for $18.95 million is a two-story single family home on a modern estate of similar residences.
A 5-bedroom house near Mar-a-Lago on sale for $23 million
The piano room – one of 126 rooms at Mar-a-Lago
It is separated from neighbors by a hedge and has a small swimming pool.
Nearby, a 5-bedrooom house is 4,494 sq ft and set in 0.39 acres, and is on sale for $25 million.
Closer to the size of Mar-a-Lago is the former Palm Beach estate of the late radio host Rush Limbaugh, which was bought earlier this year by cosmetics billionaire William Lauder for $155 million.
But at 24,000 sq ft it is about one-third the size of Mar-a-Lago.
Florida realtors said Mar-a-Lago was a unique ‘trophy asset’ and in a ‘league of its own’ when it came to properties in the area.
One said of the New York judge: ‘He wouldn’t make a very good realtor.’