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 have 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 along 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 acquired her grasp’s diploma in vogue historical past and textile research from the Style Institute of Expertise.
The one-bedroom, rent-stabilized residence they shared in an Higher West Facet brownstone was the stuff of New York actual property goals, 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 regulation agency, figured they must spend north of $1 million and save for no less than one other 5 years. “I’m not from some huge cash,” he mentioned. “The widespread data I all the time heard was that for beneath $800,000 in Manhattan, you’re not going to search out something.”
So that they have been stunned after they started perusing actual property websites and located listings for nicely beneath $800,000. “It was sort 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 wished a spacious two-bedroom residence — a spot that didn’t really feel like a downgrade from their rental, however at a value that wouldn’t cramp their life-style. To seek out it, they knew they must take their $700,000 finances past the Higher West Facet.
“I wished to have greater home windows,” Ms. Callahan mentioned. “I wished 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 increased above Central Park — Morningside Heights, South Harlem space — the costs change quite a bit,” he mentioned. “And for a similar value, you may get quite a bit higher house than, let’s say, on the Higher West Facet.”
Amongst their choices:
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