When Tom Callahan, a Vermont-born lawyer residing 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 residing collectively in Moscow. After Mr. Callahan’s contract together with his regulation 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, discovered English and received her grasp’s diploma in trend historical past and textile research from the Vogue Institute of Expertise.
The one-bedroom, rent-stabilized condominium 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 needed to begin a household, lofting their full-size mattress and tucking a crib beneath wouldn’t lower it.
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To purchase a bigger, comparable residence in Manhattan, Mr. Callahan, who works at a finance-focused regulation 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 mentioned. “The frequent information I all the time heard was that for under $800,000 in Manhattan, you’re not going to seek out something.”
So that they had been shocked once they started perusing actual property websites and located listings for properly under $800,000. “It was type of a eureka second,” Mr. Callahan mentioned.
When Ms. Callahan discovered she was pregnant final winter, the epiphany morphed right into a deadline.
The couple needed a spacious two-bedroom condominium — a spot that didn’t really feel like a downgrade from their rental, however at a worth that wouldn’t cramp their way of life. To search out it, they knew they must take their $700,000 price range past the Higher West Aspect.
“I needed to have greater home windows,” Ms. Callahan mentioned. “I needed to have a good-sized front room” — 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 the event you go slightly bit greater above Central Park — Morningside Heights, South Harlem space — the costs change quite a bit,” he mentioned. “And for a similar worth, you will get quite a bit higher house than, let’s say, on the Higher West Aspect.”
Amongst their choices:
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