Is Mar-a-Lago really only worth $18 million, as a court has decided? The answer seems 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.
Judge Arthur Engoron did so partly on the basis of this
ruled that Trump committed fraud by reporting inflated values for Mar-a-Lago and other properties to secure bank loans.
However, an assessment of the local real estate market shows that 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 is valued at $18 million to $27.6 million, according to prosecutors in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial.
A nearby 5-bedroom, 6,043 sq ft family home for sale for $18.95 million
Currently for sale for $18.95 million, near Trump’s former ‘Winter White House’ is a 6,000-square-foot 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 60,000 square feet, surrounded by extensive grounds.
There is another 7 bedroom home for sale just outside the gates of Mar-a-Lago.
It measures 6,488 square meters and sits on 0.49 hectares – and is for sale for $40 million.
A key point in the sales pitch for that house is that it is “just steps from Mar-a-Lago.”
According to the appraisal accepted by the court, Mar-a-Lago is worth about half as much as the seven-bedroom house, despite being almost ten times as large.
The Mar-a-Lago ballroom, which was valued at between $18 million and $27.6 million
Nearby, a 6,488-square-foot, six-bedroom home is for sale for $40 million
The judge’s fraud decision was based on a Palm Beach County tax assessor’s assessment value.
Judge Engoron wrote, “From 2011 to 2021, the Palm Beach County Assessor estimated the market value of Mar-a-Lago to be between $18 million and $27.6 million.”
In financial statements, Trump had claimed the value was between $426.5 million and $612 million.
Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, has filed a civil lawsuit against Trump, accusing him of “stunning fraud.”
A 4,494 sq ft, 5-bedroom home just down the street from Mar-a-Lago for 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 angrily attended the first three days of the trial, calling it a “sham.”
He suggested that the figures Ms. James used for Mar-a-Lago were “fraudulent.”
The former president added that his house could be worth as much as $1.5 billion.
Based on currently marketed properties researched by Dailymail.com, the “$18 million and $27.6 million” estimate appears to be radically different from what Mar-a-Lago is actually worth.
Sotheby’s International Realty, the luxury real estate agent, has a half-dozen homes for sale within a half-mile of Mar-a-Lago.
All retail for at least $18 million, but none come close to the size of Mar-a-Lago, which includes a total of 126 rooms, a spa and an ornate chandeliered ballroom.
The 5-bedroom home for sale for $18.95 million is a two-story single-family home on a modern estate with similar homes.
A 5-bedroom home near Mar-a-Lago for sale for $23 million
The Piano Room – one of Mar-a-Lago’s 126 rooms
It is separated from the neighbors by a hedge and has a small swimming pool.
Nearby, a 5-bedroom, 4,494-square-foot home located on 0.39 acres is for sale for $25 million.
Closer to the size of Mar-a-Lago is the former Palm Beach estate of late radio host Rush Limbaugh, which was purchased by cosmetics billionaire William Lauder for $155 million earlier this year.
But at 2,000 square feet, it’s about a third the size of Mar-a-Lago.
Florida real estate agents said Mar-a-Lago was a unique “trophy asset” and was in a “class 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 real estate agent.”