When Tom Callahan, a Vermont-born lawyer dwelling in Moscow, agreed to be the Bachelor of the Week for a Russian gossip web site in 2016, he figured it could be a innocent, if not foolish, pursuit.
Dana Callahan, who was born in Kazakhstan and grew up in Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, spied a behind-the-scenes photograph of Mr. Callahan on Instagram and clicked “like.” The DMs flew, and earlier than lengthy they had been an merchandise.
“Dana by no means noticed the article,” Mr. Callahan, 39, recalled. “I didn’t even let her see it till we’d been collectively for years, it was so embarrassing.”
They spent the following two years dwelling collectively in Moscow. After Mr. Callahan’s contract along with his legislation agency ended, the couple decamped to New York Metropolis, the place Mr. Callahan had lived on and off since 2003, and married. Ms. Callahan, now 32, realized English and acquired her grasp’s diploma in vogue historical past and textile research from the Trend Institute of Know-how.
The one-bedroom, rent-stabilized condo they shared in an Higher West Aspect brownstone was the stuff of New York actual property desires, with its proximity to Central Park, hovering ceilings and ornamental fire. After six years, although, they realized that in the event that they wished to begin a household, lofting their full-size mattress and tucking a crib beneath wouldn’t minimize it.
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To purchase a bigger, comparable house in Manhattan, Mr. Callahan, who works at a finance-focused legislation agency, figured they must spend north of $1 million and save for a minimum of one other 5 years. “I’m not from some huge cash,” he stated. “The widespread information I at all times heard was that for beneath $800,000 in Manhattan, you’re not going to seek out something.”
So that they had been shocked after they started perusing actual property websites and located listings for effectively beneath $800,000. “It was type of a eureka second,” Mr. Callahan stated.
When Ms. Callahan came upon she was pregnant final winter, the epiphany morphed right into a deadline.
The couple wished a spacious two-bedroom condo — a spot that didn’t really feel like a downgrade from their rental, however at a worth that wouldn’t cramp their life-style. To seek out it, they knew they must take their $700,000 price range past the Higher West Aspect.
“I wished to have larger home windows,” Ms. Callahan stated. “I wished to have a good-sized lounge” — issues she didn’t have rising up.
She added: “However my dream was simply to have a king-size mattress.”
For assist, they contacted Sargis Mosyan, a dealer with Core Actual Property. “For those who go just a little bit greater above Central Park — Morningside Heights, South Harlem space — the costs change quite a bit,” he stated. “And for a similar worth, you will get quite a bit higher area than, let’s say, on the Higher West Aspect.”
Amongst their choices:
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