As they deliberate their wedding ceremony final 12 months, Amanda Ullman and Joe Brent needed to discover greater than only a venue: They needed to agree on the place to stay.
Mr. Brent was renting the bottom ground of an connected brick home throughout from Inwood Hill Park, on the prime of Manhattan. He had just lately (and reluctantly) returned to town from the Hudson Valley for work in musical theater.
“The residence was like a recording studio with some residing facilities in it,” mentioned Mr. Brent, 46, a multi-instrumentalist and composer, who paid $1,800 a month in hire.
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Dr. Ullman, 41, a medical director at a pharmaceutical firm, was residing in a one-bedroom condominium that she owned in Harlem — far too small to accommodate Mr. Brent’s devices and gear.
The couple agreed that they wanted extra space than both of them had. However she needed to remain within the metropolis, whereas he longed to return to the nation.
With the assistance of Jennifer Corcoran, an agent with Core Actual Property and Dr. Ullman’s upstairs neighbor, they figured they may discover a comfortable medium. An early $850,000 supply on a century-old home in Maplewood, N.J., was accepted. “That was the place we thought we might discover the house that we would have liked,” Dr. Ullman mentioned.
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However the couple rapidly backed out, unsure about shopping for into an inflated market in the course of the rush to the suburbs.
So that they settled on Higher Manhattan — Washington Heights, Hudson Heights or Inwood. With a funds of as much as $1 million, they may afford a two-bedroom not removed from the place Mr. Brent lived, which would supply a ways from the borough’s most crowded areas and put them close to a number of massive parks.
“I actually need entry to blue and inexperienced stuff — rivers and bushes,” Mr. Brent mentioned.
The housing inventory within the space was additionally appropriate for his or her wants and tastes. “They actually appreciated the prewar vibe,” Ms. Corcoran mentioned.
Nonetheless, components of the neighborhood had been noisy, with revving bikes and loud music, which involved Mr. Brent. “In the event you’re working with delicate microphones, it’s important to fear about visitors, horns and alarms outdoors your home windows,” he mentioned. “New York Metropolis creates distinctive challenges to recording environments.”
Amongst their choices:
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