Earlier this yr, Abbie Lin and Shaman Kothari had been confronted with a conundrum. A brand new proprietor had taken over their condo constructing in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, and was refusing to resume the leases of any of the tenants.
“We by no means thought shopping for a spot can be one thing that might occur for us,” mentioned Ms. Lin, 32. “However our hand was sort of pressured.”
In March, with just a few months left on their lease, the couple examined their funds to determine what they might afford. “We moved fairly rapidly after we realized we may purchase one thing and needed to transfer out by June,” mentioned Mr. Kothari, 32.
[Did you recently buy a home? We want to hear from you. Email: thehunt@nytimes.com]
Desirous to rise up to hurry on the method, they signed up for a first-time dwelling purchaser “boot camp” hosted by Nikki Thomas, a dealer at Corcoran who finally turned their agent.
“These seminars are to arrange individuals for the shopping for course of but additionally assist them determine whether or not or not they’re prepared to purchase within the first place,” Ms. Thomas mentioned. “Abbie and Shaman had the perfect power and angle. Shopping for will be exhausting. It could possibly take a specific amount of emotional stamina.”
Ms. Lin and Mr. Kothari liked Prospect Heights and restricted their search to that neighborhood and those straight round it. Each work in advertising within the tech business and knew that they needed manageable commutes into Manhattan. “We had been sort of spoiled for prepare entry in our neighborhood,” he mentioned.
They settled on a funds of $800,000, searching for one thing handy and pet-friendly. “Our canine handed away earlier this yr,” Ms. Lin mentioned. “However we love canines a lot and know we wish one other one.”
Most vital, they wanted to be versatile about their house expectations. The couple’s rental was a two-bedroom, which made issues simpler on days after they each labored from dwelling.
“At first we had been hopeful we may discover a related house inside our funds,” Ms. Lin mentioned. “However we realized we must downsize.”
Amongst their choices:
Discover out what occurred subsequent by answering these two questions:
