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 subsequent two years dwelling collectively in Moscow. After Mr. Callahan’s contract together 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 obtained her grasp’s diploma in vogue historical past and textile research from the Trend Institute of Expertise.
The one-bedroom, rent-stabilized house they shared in an Higher West Aspect brownstone was the stuff of New York actual property goals, with its proximity to Central Park, hovering ceilings and ornamental hearth. 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 reduce 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 not less than one other 5 years. “I’m not from some huge cash,” he stated. “The frequent data I all the time heard was that for under $800,000 in Manhattan, you’re not going to seek out something.”
In order that they had been stunned after they started perusing actual property websites and located listings for nicely under $800,000. “It was sort 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 house — a spot that didn’t really feel like a downgrade from their rental, however at a value that wouldn’t cramp their way of life. To search out it, they knew they must take their $700,000 finances 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. “In case you go slightly bit larger above Central Park — Morningside Heights, South Harlem space — the costs change rather a lot,” he stated. “And for a similar value, you may get rather a lot higher area than, let’s say, on the Higher West Aspect.”
Amongst their choices:
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