By Eric Berman, REALTOR® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
TL;DR:
Buyers relocating from Los Angeles to New York usually arrive with two assumptions that need adjusting. The first is that New York means Manhattan — in practice, a large share of people relocating for work in the city end up in Nassau County, Westchester, or New Jersey, and the Long Island commuter towns are frequently the best value of the three. The second is about property taxes. California's Proposition 13 caps assessment increases at two percent a year, so long-time LA owners are often paying tax on a value set decades ago. New York has no equivalent, and a $1.4 million Nassau home can carry $22,000 or more annually. That single line item reshapes the affordability math more than the purchase price does.
The Property Tax Shock Nobody Warns Californians About
This is the difference that catches Los Angeles buyers hardest, and it is almost never explained before they are already looking at listings.
California's Proposition 13, passed in 1978, limits the property tax rate to one percent of assessed value plus voter-approved local additions, and caps annual increases in assessed value at two percent. Critically, a property is only reassessed to current market value when it changes ownership. The practical result is that a family who bought in Los Angeles in 1998 may be paying tax on an assessed value a fraction of what the home is worth today.
New York has no equivalent mechanism. Property is assessed toward market value, and Nassau County property taxes are among the highest in the country in absolute terms. A home in the $1.2 to $1.5 million range on the North Shore commonly carries $18,000 to $30,000 annually depending on the district, and those figures move with local budgets rather than being capped.
For a buyer whose LA property tax bill was $6,000 on a home worth $1.6 million, the adjustment is not marginal. It is the difference between two mortgages. Anyone running affordability numbers should build the actual tax figure for the specific property into the model from the start rather than treating it as a closing detail — and should ask a lender how it affects the debt-to-income calculation, because it does.
One further note: Nassau's assessment practices have been through several changes in recent years and are worth confirming as current rather than assumed. The tax figure attached to any specific listing should be verified against the actual bill.
New York Is Bigger Than Manhattan
Most people planning this move are thinking about the city, and for some that is exactly right. But a substantial share of people who relocate for a Manhattan job do not live in Manhattan, and the decision usually surfaces within the first year rather than before the move.
The realistic options for someone working in the city are Manhattan and Brooklyn, Westchester to the north, New Jersey to the west, and Long Island to the east. Each involves a different commute, a different tax profile, and a very different relationship between dollars and square footage.
What Long Island offers specifically is single-family housing stock on real lots, at price points that buy considerably more physical space than the equivalent in the city, with Long Island Rail Road service into Penn Station and Grand Central. For a buyer coming from a Los Angeles house with a yard and a garage, that continuity matters more than it might sound — the adjustment from a house to an apartment is a bigger lifestyle change than the adjustment from one coast to another.
The tradeoff is the commute and the tax bill. Neither is hidden, and both should be tested rather than estimated.
What the Commute Actually Looks Like
Angelenos are used to thinking about commutes in terms of traffic variability. The LIRR works differently: it runs on a schedule, the schedule is published, and the trip time is what it says it is.
From the North Shore Nassau stations, the ride into Manhattan generally runs somewhere in the thirty-five to fifty minute range depending on the branch, the station, and whether the train is an express. Port Washington sits at the end of its own branch, which means every train on that line serves it. Manhasset sits on the Port Washington branch as well. Other North Shore and Mid-Nassau towns run on different branches with different schedules and frequencies.
Two things worth doing before committing to a town. Ride the actual train, at the actual hour, on a weekday — not once, but for the specific station under consideration. And add the door-to-door pieces: getting to the station, parking or being dropped, and the walk or subway ride at the Manhattan end. A forty-minute train ride is rarely a forty-minute commute.
Grand Central service, added in recent years, changed the calculation for anyone working on the East Side, and it is worth checking which terminal serves a given branch at the hours that matter.
How Buying Works Here, and Why It Will Feel Unfamiliar
The transaction mechanics differ from California in ways that consistently surprise people, and being caught off guard costs time in a competitive market.
New York is an attorney state. There is no escrow company running the closing. Contract drafting and negotiation are legal work reserved to licensed attorneys, and the attorney handles the contract, coordinates the title search, and runs the closing itself. The title company performs mechanical work under the attorney's coordination — the reverse of the California arrangement. A buyer arriving without an attorney lined up will lose days at exactly the wrong moment, and buyers should retain one before making offers rather than after.
The deposit is larger. Long Island runs on a ten percent deposit held in escrow, against the roughly three percent typical in California. On a $1.4 million purchase that is $140,000, and it needs to be liquid and available when contracts are signed.
There is no attorney review period. New York does not use the review-and-cancel structure found in some states. Once both attorneys have negotiated the contract and both parties sign, it is binding. Before that point, acceptance of an offer binds nobody — which cuts both ways and means speed to contract matters.
The Mansion Tax is a buyer cost. New York imposes a one percent tax on residential sales above one million dollars, and the buyer pays it. On a $1.4 million purchase that is $14,000 in additional cash to close, and it belongs in the budget from the beginning. Nassau County faces a flat one percent above the one-million threshold; the progressive tiers enacted in 2019 apply only in cities with populations above one million, meaning New York City alone.
Buyers looking in the Northeast Queens portion of the market — Bayside, Fresh Meadows, Douglaston, Little Neck, Whitestone — should note that the New York City Real Property Transfer Tax applies there at roughly 1.425 percent on sales above $500,000, paid by the seller but affecting negotiations, and that Mansion Tax tiers do apply within the city.
Practical Logistics
Cross-country household moves generally require two to three weeks in transit, and summer booking should happen well in advance. Shipping a vehicle is usually cheaper than driving it, and worth pricing both ways.
The bigger sequencing question is what happens to the Los Angeles property. Selling before buying produces clean funds and a clear budget but may require temporary housing on this end. Buying first means carrying two properties, which on these numbers gets expensive quickly. Renting the LA home is an option, though it has tax consequences worth discussing with a CPA before deciding — including how it affects the federal primary-residence exclusion.
On weather, the honest version: four real seasons, humidity in July and August that has no Los Angeles equivalent, and winters that require actual preparation. Most transplants report the first winter as the hard one and subsequent ones as manageable.
Where to Start
Decide first whether the city or the suburbs fits the household, and treat that as a genuine question rather than a default. Ride the LIRR from any station under consideration at the hour the commute would actually happen. Pull the real property tax figure for any specific property and put it in the affordability model rather than alongside it. Retain a New York real estate attorney before making offers. Budget for the Mansion Tax and a ten percent deposit as cash requirements.
Buyers wanting to see what different price points actually buy across these markets can start with a look at current listings, and more area-specific material lives in the relocation guides.
The Honest Bottom Line
The move is manageable. What derails people is arriving with California assumptions intact — about property taxes above all, but also about how a purchase transaction works and how much cash needs to be liquid at contract.
The buyers who handle this well tend to do two unglamorous things early: they run the actual tax number on actual properties, and they ride the actual train. Both are available before anyone commits to anything, and both answer questions that no amount of online research will settle.
For anyone working through where on Long Island or in Northeast Queens might fit, that conversation is available whenever the timing is right, with no pressure attached.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Property tax figures, assessment practices, and transaction requirements change and vary by property. Confirm specifics with a licensed New York real estate attorney, a CPA, and a lender.
FAQs
How do New York property taxes compare to California's?
Substantially higher in most cases, and the mechanism is the reason. California's Proposition 13 caps annual assessed-value increases at two percent and reassesses only on a change of ownership, so long-time Los Angeles owners often pay tax on a value set decades earlier. New York has no equivalent cap. A North Shore Nassau home in the $1.2 to $1.5 million range commonly carries $18,000 to $30,000 annually depending on the district. Buyers should pull the actual figure for any specific property and build it into the affordability model rather than treating it as a closing detail.
Do I need a real estate attorney to buy a home in New York?
Yes, and it works differently from California. New York is an attorney state — contract drafting and negotiation are legal work reserved to licensed attorneys, and there is no escrow company running the transaction. The attorney handles the contract, coordinates the title search, and runs the closing, with the title company performing mechanical work under that coordination. Buyers relocating from California should retain an attorney before making offers rather than after one is accepted, because getting counsel up to speed mid-transaction costs days in a market where speed to contract matters.
How much deposit is required to buy on Long Island?
Ten percent of the purchase price is the Long Island convention, held in escrow by the attorney — well above the roughly three percent typical in California. On a $1.4 million purchase that means $140,000 in liquid funds available when contracts are signed. Buyers should also budget separately for the Mansion Tax, which New York imposes at one percent on residential sales above one million dollars and which the buyer pays. That adds $14,000 on a $1.4 million purchase, as additional cash to close rather than something financed.
How long is the LIRR commute from Nassau County to Manhattan?
Generally in the thirty-five to fifty minute range from North Shore Nassau stations, depending on the branch, the specific station, and whether the train runs express. Both Penn Station and Grand Central are served, though which terminal serves a given branch at a given hour varies and is worth checking. Unlike a Los Angeles commute, the schedule is published and the ride time is predictable. The piece buyers underestimate is door-to-door total: getting to the station, parking, and the walk or subway at the Manhattan end frequently adds twenty to thirty minutes each way.
Should I sell my Los Angeles home before buying in New York?
It depends on cash position and tolerance for carrying both. Selling first produces clean funds and a defined budget but may require temporary housing on the New York end. Buying first avoids that but means carrying two properties, which becomes expensive quickly at these price points. Renting the Los Angeles property is a third option with tax consequences worth discussing with a CPA before committing — including how it affects the federal primary-residence exclusion, which requires two of the five years before sale as a primary residence.
By Eric Berman, REALTOR® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
Eric Berman | Long Island & Queens Associate Broker | Compass
1468 Northern Blvd, Manhasset, NY 11030
(917) 225-8596 | eric@ericbermanre.com | theericbermanteam.com
