Welcome to It Happened One Weekend, our weekly roundup of The New York Times real estate section...
The Hunt: Every "The Hunt" column begins with the Hunters describing the apartment they want, and ends with them rationalizing whatever they came away with. This is The Hunt: Dreams vs. Reality
The Hunters: A husband and wife who just found out they were expecting a child.
Price
Dream: Mid-$400,000s
Reality: $284,000
Neighborhood
Dream: Somewhere in the city with an easy commute to Manhattan
Reality: Secaucus, N.J.
Amenities
Dream: One-bedroom
Reality: Two-bedroom
Summary
This week's Hunters, Ronald and Leslie, met while students at the Savannah College of Art and Design, eventually making the move to New York. They were renting in Sunset Park but got tired of the noise issue (specifically, banging) in the apartment above theirs. They eventually began hunting for a new one-bedroom to actually own, only to discover they needed a place for three people, not two. That meant hunting for a two-bedroom. It also meant their budget in the mid-$400,000s wasn't going to go as far. They looked at several places in various locations, some that would require a lot of work. They even made some bids, only to have them rejected (sometimes without explanation). Then a colleague of Ronald's told him about a two-bedroom at Harmon Cove Tower in Secaucus, N.J. that was about to be vacated. They rented a car and found they loved the place, which has amenities they never thought they could afford. It's now theirs. However, the commute takes longer than they estimated; sometimes the trains wake them up; and they need a car to do grocery shopping. [The Hunt/A Surprise Address: Secaucus, N.J.]
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