Presuming they didn't have an 'elevator budget,' the two tenants focused on walk-ups for sale on the Lower East Side and in the East Village. Here's what they found.
Emma Coley and Sham Mazumder with Lambrusco in Lower Manhattan, where the couple recently bought an apartment for under $500,000. Andrea Mohin/The New York Times
After meeting in Boston, where they attended graduate school, Emma Coley and Sham Mazumder moved to New York City, renting a one-bedroom on the edge of Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, not far from the Pratt Institute, where Ms. Coley. Studied architecture.
Their small, dimly lit ground-floor unit, which had just one closet, cost $2,400 a month.
"It's always been my dream to decorate and renovate my own place," says Ms. Colley, who has wanted to buy a house in Rochester, N.Y., "ever since I was an HGTV-obsessed middle schooler."
"We started with back-of-the-envelope math to prove that — if we could pull together a down payment and get approved for a good mortgage — paying the mortgage would be a better financial decision than paying the rent," he said
The couple approached Matt DeSilva, an associate broker at Corcoran, whom Ms. Coley had met years ago when he designed a side hustle floor plan for real estate agents. He now works for a nonprofit developer that builds supportive housing and holds a bachelor's degree in urban planning from Harvard University. Mr. Majumder, who hails from Cleveland and holds a Ph.D. From Harvard in government, a writer and a chef.
The couple, both 30, focused on co-ops worth up to $500,000, translating to monthly expenses of less than $3,000.
When it comes to prices, "they were realistic, which is a breath of fresh air, because a lot of people aren't," Mr. DeSilva said. "A lot of times, the lower someone's budget, the higher their expectations."
Although Ms. Colley was happy to stay in her old stomping grounds, Lower Manhattan won out. The couple knew they would get only the basics — no elevator, no dishwasher, no laundry.
"I was quite used to not getting these things," Mr Maunders said. “A walk up is the name of the game. I didn't think we had the budget for an elevator."
Kitchen counter space was important, although, like closets, both were lacking in rent.
Among their options:
Lower East Side Two Bedroom
Andrea Mohin/The New York Times
This H.D.F.C. The co-op was on the third floor of a six-storey walk-up with retail on the ground floor. It was 400 square feet, with two bedrooms — though one was not quite the legal size — and no closet. The apartment was modestly renovated, but the rooms were cramped and Mrs. Colley knew what walls she would hit. The building offered laundry and a storage cage in the basement. The asking price was $499,000, with a median monthly maintenance of $500
East Village Fixer-Upper
This 400-square-foot East Village co-op also had a middle floor with retail space below a six-story walk-up — and it was a fixer-upper. It had a large bedroom and living room, but only a closet and no kitchen. Mrs. Colley had a great vision of swapping bedrooms and living rooms during a complete renovation. There was no laundry room, but in-unit washers and dryers were allowed. The price was $399,500, including about $800 in maintenance.
East Village Renovated Studio
The studio was about 500 square feet on the top floor of a five-story walk-up, and the view included a glimpse of the East River and Con Ed's East River Generating Station. It was a one bedroom before the recent renovation, and had a huge bathroom, a Murphy bed and lots of closet space. There was no laundry room in the building, but there was a laundromat down the block. The price was $499,000, with monthly maintenance in the low $800 range.
