Moving From Dyker Hts to a Williamsburg Condo
This weekend’s “The Hunt” column in the Times tells the tale of a couple who decided they wanted to move from their rent-free house in Dyker Heights to a condo in Williamsburg. The pair settled on Williamsburg because the neighborhood offered better value than Manhattan areas like Chelsea and Chinatown; the commute to their flower…
This weekend’s “The Hunt” column in the Times tells the tale of a couple who decided they wanted to move from their rent-free house in Dyker Heights to a condo in Williamsburg. The pair settled on Williamsburg because the neighborhood offered better value than Manhattan areas like Chelsea and Chinatown; the commute to their flower shop on Lafayette Street would take 20 minutes or less; and they were attracted to its dining and drinking scene. However, after the two signed a contract for a $695,000 1-bedroom at 125 North 10th, above, they learned that they had a baby on the way. Since this turn of events happened after last fall’s market implosion, they were able to negotiate a $60,000 discount off list on a 2-bedroom in the same building, and moved in this summer. The most interesting part of the article is the description about how Williamsburg isn’t the perfect match the couple thought it would be now that they have a baby on board: “They are concerned about schools, which they never thought about before. The neighborhood now feels young, and not especially baby-friendly. The Wus wish they could take more advantage of their new neighborhood. ‘When we see people having fun eating at the restaurants, just kind of hanging out,’ Mr. Wu said, ‘we feel like, man, this is what we should be doing! We feel we missed out on the night life here.'”
The Hunt: Shifting Priorities [NY Times]
Ditto, these two’s actions / decisions very un-ASIAN like. Believe they’ve been fully AMERICANIZED – they should’ve drank the tea instead of the koolaid
the amount of downpayments in Williamsburg paid by parents ….
I am a decade older than most Williamsburg residents yet I don’t feel out of place at all when I’m there. I love Williamsburg. Why you can’t go out and enjoy nightlife even if you’re older is a notion that needs changing. One of the things I like about Brownstoner is it’s full of adults, real adults, who both enjoy life and know how to appreciate it.
someone said trust funds for the most part normally dont exist. trust funds are supposedly for like old money types, think like, the howells from gilligan’s island. i think a lot of these people just have parents that are nothing more than 24/7 no fee ATM machines. im not jealous, i SWEAR hahah
*rob*
hey, life’s a bitch for yuppie williamsburg folks. mommy and daddy put down $100,000 for their luxury condo. at the same time their trustfund kicks in beautifully.
Don’t they make pills to prevent this from happening?
it’s annoying when people move somewhere and dont do their research about schools. then they complain about it and dont proactively try to do anything about it. it’s a slap in the face to people who already live in the neighborhood and actually involved in the public schools. why dont parents who move into these kinds of places just homeschool their kids? arent they all creative professionals working from home anyway? stick the little rugrat in front of the tv and call it a school day. just make sure it’s sesame street or something educational or just get them a v-smile. they’d probably be learning a lot more than if they were actually in school anyway.
fyi, i am very anti-home schooling for the most part, but i think in situations like this it could work out. but i guess if these parents dont have time or desire to make the schools better they will not find time in latte-sipping busy lives to home school. sometimes i dont know what kinds of kids have it worse.. the neglected ones or the ones who are just accessories. 🙁
*rob*
When I read this story, I actually wondered to myself “Is the NYT colluding with Mr.B?” This story has many of the necessary elements for a huge number of posts on Brownstoner:
-moving from old-school Dyker Heights to hip Billyburg;
-parents helping out;
-buying Billyburg condo;
-baby arrives – now what to do?
Perfect!
I still maintain, however, that the ultimate story for Brownsotner would be “Sarah Palin purchases a modern condo for her daughter. Chooses Park Slope over Williamsburg”.
Mr. B. would have to increase his server’s capacity on that day!!!
Williamsburg is crawling with babies. They’ll be fine. But I do appreciate how maybe the apt they have isn’t the one they would have bought if they had a baby. That’s regretful. Not to mention the loss of the parking space.
I am puzzled by one thing, though. When they signed for the one bed, they said they might plan to move in two years. It’s not a great idea to buy if you might move so soon.