City guides
City guides
City-by-city references for residential real estate practice in the major US metros, local market dynamics, sub-markets, and the city-level taxes and customs that layer on top of state rules.
The 5 guides below cover metros where local practice diverges meaningfully from the state-level framework. Each pairs the market-narrative context with cross-links to the relevant state guide and to the calculators that estimate the all-in math.
City guides
- GeorgiaAtlantaA plain-English overview of residential real estate in Atlanta, Georgia's attorney-required closing practice, the deed transfer tax plus intangibles tax structure, the metro's sprawling sub-markets, and the homestead exemption stack that varies meaningfully by county.
- IllinoisChicagoA plain-English overview of residential real estate in Chicago, the layered transfer-tax stack (state + county + city, split between buyer and seller), Cook County's triennial assessment dynamics, the high-rise condo market, and an attorney-customary closing practice.
- CaliforniaLos AngelesA plain-English overview of residential real estate in Los Angeles, Measure ULA's mansion tax above $5M, the spread of micro-markets across a sprawling metro, escrow-driven closings, and the Mello-Roos and supplemental property-tax dynamics specific to newer developments.
- FloridaMiamiA plain-English overview of residential real estate in Miami, the post-Surfside condominium safety reforms (SB 4-D), the international-buyer dynamics that distinguish Miami from most US metros, hurricane-and-flood insurance pressures, and the documentary stamp tax burden.
- New YorkNew York CityA plain-English overview of residential real estate in NYC, the co-op vs condo distinction, the Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT), the mansion-tax cliffs at $1M+, and a market that's structurally different from the rest of the country.
- CaliforniaSan FranciscoA plain-English overview of residential real estate in San Francisco, TIC vs condo vs SFR scarcity, rent-control implications for sellers, the city's progressive transfer-tax brackets at higher prices, and the tech-cycle volatility that characterizes the local market.