If reading The Hunt stokes your deepest hopes that someday everything in life could work out, then you, too, are obsessed with the New York Times Sunday Real Estate section. Join us as we venture into the depths of this weekend's installment.
Jeff Kwong and Bob Moriarty were leaving Denver with hopes of finding a nice one bedroom on the Upper East Side, close to East 68th and York where Bob worked. They tried to branch out to areas downtown but realized they would get a lot more bang for their buck uptown. After an upsetting co-op board rejection, the two trekked on and found a place they liked close to Bob's work. Too bad he had changed jobs and now worked in New Jersey.
They wanted a one-bedroom in a dog-friendly building in Manhattan. Something on the Upper East Side within walking distance of Mr. Kwong’s new workplace, Weill Cornell Medical College, at York Avenue and East 68th Street, would be ideal. They hoped for their own washer and dryer. Their budget was $650,000 to $675,000. Ms. Crone showed them a one-bedroom at the Fontaine, a postwar co-op building on East 72nd Street. At less than 700 square feet, it was on the small side, but it had a sunny southern exposure and a brand-new kitchen. The price, $525,000, was right. Monthly maintenance was around $1,150.
But they couldn’t possibly decide right then
At Century Towers, a postwar condo building on West 12th Street, $625,000 would buy only a 500-square-foot studio with a sleeping loft and an especially tiny kitchen.
At Number 5, the modern sliver building at 5 East 44th Street, a one-bedroom condo was listed for $699,000, with fees of around $750. The couple loved the sleek style, but thought there was too much bathroom and too little bedroom.
“We were looking at overall the best bang for our buck,” Mr. Kwong said. So they decided on the first place they had seen, the apartment at the Fontaine, offering $475,000. They settled at $500,000, less than the $590,000 they had received for their Denver house.
The co-op board had turned them down.
Ms. Crone took them to 515 East 72nd Street, a condominium conversion that incorporated an enormous fitness center.
Last winter, they bought a one-bedroom apartment there for the listing price, $665,000
· A Big-Time Dose of Downsizing [NYT]
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