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What kind of a house can you get for $1 million?

BY DANIEL BUBBEO | daniel.bubbeo@newsday.com

April 4, 2008

What $1 million buys in Hampton Bays, Front

This house sits on an acre. (Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr. / April 1, 2008)

Josh Fox and David Kanfer's house looks like a million bucks. More precisely, $1.1 million, the asking price for the Hampton Bays residence that's a second home for Fox, a financial adviser, and Kanfer, a lawyer, from Manhattan.

That figure will buy someone four bedrooms, an office,

3 1/2 baths, an 1,800-square-foot unfinished basement, an outdoor Jacuzzi, a pool, a basketball court and a plot of land just shy of an acre.

For anyone house-hunting, Fox and Kanfer's home answers the question: "What can you get on Long Island for $1 million?" If the neighborhood is Sea Cliff, Islip, East Patchogue or East Williston, the answer may differ.

"You can still get a lot for $1 million, but there have also been houses that I've sold for over a million that really needed updating," says Elaine Flynn, a real estate agent with Eric G. Ramsay Realtors in Bay Shore. "There are many people in Brightwaters with old-fashioned homes that sold for a million or more and people had to redo them. Certainly 10 years ago, you would have gotten a lot more property for $1 million."

Upkeep on those homes calls for a hefty six-figure income, says Peter Elkowitz, chief executive of the Long Island Housing Partnership, a nonprofit developer of affordable housing, based in Hauppauge. "With $1 million, you're talking about larger estates. Most people have to put up a very substantial down payment, $250,000 to $500,000," he says. "You really need about a $400,000-a-year salary to afford it."

Also attached to the $1 million price tag is a mansion tax, which calls for the new owners to pay an additional 1 percent of the home's sale price. "People who can afford over a million dollars don't mind paying the mansion tax," Flynn says.

Most of these million-dollar manses are "step-ups," Elkowitz says, the next level from that median-priced home. Much of the down payment usually is from the sale of the buyer's current residence, he says.

At press time, the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island's Web site had 914 homes listed for $1million to $1.5 million in Nassau and Suffolk. These five are examples of what a price tag of roughly $1 million can get you.

Islip: 4 bedrooms, complete renovation

John Russell, 46, and his wife, Michelle Polidoro, 45, purchased their Islip Victorian 14 years ago for $265,000. Since then, they've spent about $500,000 more to completely remodel it.

"We renovated every floor, every wall, every ceiling. We did all the wiring. We probably spent $100,000 just on the kitchen," Russell says. "Our plan was never to leave here."

Polidoro, an obstetrician-gynecologist, was hit by the epidemic forcing many doctors to leave Long Island - escalating malpractice insurance rates. So, the couple decided they wanted to move to North Carolina with their three young sons. Their house is now on the market at $999,000.

"I am actually a Realtor, so I think I priced it attractively," Russell says. "Last October, we did a refi and I had an appraisal come in at $1.1 million. Those comparisons are still good, but I wanted to get it in under a million so there wouldn't be a mansion tax."

The 4,000-square-foot renovated home, which is listed with Eric G. Ramsay Realtors, sits on a 1-acre plot, has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a refinished kitchen with granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances, full basement, a new boiler and oil burner and central air. The annual taxes are $16,400.

"I poured my heart into it. I was the general contractor for the job, so I was involved every step of the way. That gave me an absolute custom job," Russell says. "I was able to say, 'I don't like the way you do that' and had it done my way. I feel like I've created a great house to pass on."

Hampton Bays: 4 bedrooms, built in 2005

Josh Fox and his friend David Kanfer were looking for a summer house in the Hamptons where they could get away from the grind of working, respectively, as a financial adviser and a lawyer - just a place to kick back with a glass of wine on the patio or lounge in the pool.

They're selling the house for $1.1 million, which Fox says was how much it cost them to build it in 2005. "That was at the height of when things were great. Then it was like, 'Hey we're done and let's watch the real estate market plummet,'" Fox, 31, says.

Fox, whose primary residence is in Manhattan, spent two summers at the Hamptons house, which is listed with Prudential Douglas Elliman Realty and has annual taxes of $9,300. His plans for this summer might point toward Miami, provided they can find a buyer for their second home. As a bonus, the furniture is part of the deal.