It was pretty well known that Jared I had been actively looking for an apartment to buy since our wedding in 2013. And look we did. All in all we probably looked at 100 apartments throughout Brooklyn, and a few in Queens too. But we were either not impressed with the ones we could afford no problem, or loved a few that were just out of our reach or we anticipated would end up in a bidding war.
In late June 2015 we spent a Sunday going to six open houses, and finally stumbled on a few apartments that fell into our budget and which we really liked. And as an added bonus, all three were right in Park Slope. After a busy day we sat down and reviewed three finalists. We knew off the bat one apartment would command a best-and-final offer much higher then the asking price - it was truly a beautiful space. This left us with two locations to choose from. The first - just two avenues away from our little studio - was a first floor walk up in a beautiful brownstone. It had some great features including large, unique wooden doors, a faux fireplace, new kitchen, and the original parquet flooring. It didn’t have a dishwasher or an in-unit washer/dryer which we were pretty set on having. The second apartment was in South Slope just steps from Prospect Park. It was a second floor walk-up in a yellow brick building. The apartment had a bit more of a modern look, and more space with two bedrooms and a study off of the master. Similar to the first apartment it was railroad style and had a fireplace. However, different from the first it had a dishwasher and a washer/dryer in the unit. They were both listed for the same amount so deciding was tricky. We reached out to see if the co-op board of the first apartment would let us install a dishwasher and washer/dryer, and when they declined, we knew the 12th Street apartment was for us. We used the realtor from the first one (we were super impressed by her quick responses and she seemed very knowledgeable on Brooklyn real estate) asking her to help us put a bid in on the 12th Street space. She quickly arranged for us to see it again, guided us in making an offer, and within a few days it was accepted! We worked with a friend/contact I had made at my time at HFH to secure a mortgage with Wells Fargo, and after several months of waiting did a co-op board interview which was mostly a formality. (I mean who would turn us down? We’re charming.) We closed on 11/12 and began to move in that very weekend.
There are a mess of additional details but the quick version works. Suffice to say we were super lucky to find this apartment and are so excited to be just on the other side of our lovely neighborhood.
P.S. Check out below what our apartment looked like when we toured and bought it. We've made a number of changes, so check back to see them soon!
