The primary time Jenn Leyva moved to New York, it was to start out faculty at Columbia College. After commencement, the San Diego native headed to Seoul for a two-year stint educating English after which returned to town in 2015 to pursue a profession as a public faculty trainer. However she was quick on funds, so a buddy supplied to sublet her a room in a home in Midwood, Brooklyn, the place she would have six housemates.
Ms. Leyva, now 32, jumped on the likelihood. By 2021, she was a middle-school chemistry trainer in Manhattan, nonetheless dwelling in that Midwood home. She took Zoom calls in a nook of the communal lounge and made positive to at all times wash her dishes.
“I shared a rest room with two different roommates,” she mentioned. “Our kitchen had two fridges, and we had a six-burner range the place two folks may simply be cooking on the similar time.”
All of the whereas, she was tucking cash away in a financial savings account, hoping to amass a down fee for a spot of her personal. She figured she may spend as much as $2,000 a month on a mortgage, which, along with her financial savings, would enable her a funds of round $350,000 for the acquisition. Because the pandemic started to wane and rates of interest crept up, she determined the time had come.
“I wished to a minimum of begin trying and see if there was something I preferred that I may afford,” she mentioned. “And if there wasn’t, I figured I may wait and preserve saving cash.”
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She was pleasantly shocked by the choices she discovered on-line: a handful of studios for lower than $400,000, simply south of the Brooklyn Bridge, within the nook of the borough the place leafy Brooklyn Heights meets Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn. And the entire flats met her standards: They have been inside strolling distance of a number of subway strains, had a tub in addition to a bathe, and had a separate kitchen area the place she may get pleasure from her elaborate baking initiatives.
It felt too good to be true. “Studios have been low-cost, as a result of everybody was nonetheless working from dwelling and wished a one-bedroom with a separate sleeping area and work area,” Ms. Leyva mentioned. “However my work area is in Manhattan.”
She teamed up with Leora Blumberg Rubinstein, a realtor with Douglas Elliman, who permitted of her technique. “Generally when you’ve got a very pretty neighborhood that’s additionally tremendous costly, it’s worthwhile to take a look at the perimeter to search out one thing that meets your funds,” she mentioned. “Jenn was very open-minded.”
Among the many choices:
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