She Wanted a Brooklyn One-Bedroom for Less Than $500,000. But Where? (2024)

Lindsey Williams moved to Manhattan for an internship with a clothing designer 15 years ago, when she was fresh out of Auburn University, in her native Alabama.

She stayed for a decade, moving among rentals and roommates and working as a pattern maker in the garment district — more interested in how clothing was made than in fashion.

“It’s rare for a young woman to be a pattern maker,” she said. "Normally, it’s old Italian men. I work out the actual cut. People who just go out and buy clothes don’t realize what goes into making the shirt you wear every day.”

After her father died, Ms. Williams moved to Nashville to be closer to family. She bought a tiny bungalow there for $189,000 in 2018 and worked for a uniform and workwear company. But a few years later, she “felt the calling that I needed to come back to New York,” she said. “Nothing compares.”

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Her best friend from high school had recently moved to Greenpoint, Brooklyn, so the timing felt right. Ms. Williams, now 38, rented out her Nashville house and returned to the city a year and a half ago, taking a job as a technical designer in the apparel industry.

She initially rented a one-bedroom in Bedford-Stuyvesant. It was cramped, but had an office space where she kept her dress form, clothing samples and sewing machines. A leak from a bathroom above dripped into her office. The landlord fixed it, but it recurred.

“I didn’t want to have water from other people’s bathrooms leaking into my home, which seems a pretty reasonable request,” she said.

Frustrated, she contacted an old landlord she liked and asked if he had any rentals available. He referred her to his agents, Beatriz Moitinho and Aryka Ortego, of Keller Williams NYC.

“I assumed I would rent for the rest of my life because I didn’t think owning a place was at all attainable,” Ms. Williams said.

But when she perused the agents’ website, she was surprised to see that prices seemed within reach. With an inheritance from her grandmother, she set a budget of less than $500,000 and began looking for a prewar one-bedroom co-op somewhere in Brooklyn, where her monthly outlay would be no higher than her rent, $2,850. She wanted something with a workable kitchen and not too many stairs for her two short-legged dachshunds, Elvis and Hank Williams Jr.

“The monthly prices looked like something she could afford,” Ms. Moitinho said. Ms. Williams’s finances also made her eligible for some Housing Development Fund Corporation co-ops, which have income restrictions and sometimes other requirements.

Her agents encouraged her to hunt slightly above her price range. “There is a little wiggle room, depending on the motivation of the seller,” Ms. Ortego said. If a place was priced low enough, Ms. Williams was willing to renovate.

Among her options:

No. 1

Crown Heights H.D.F.C. Co-op

This one-bedroom was on a low floor in a 1926 elevator building. It was around 680 square feet, with three closets, a foyer with a door into the living-dining room, and a renovated kitchen with a window and a pass-through. The building had a live-in super, a laundry room and a shared courtyard, and the co-op had an asset restriction as well as an income restriction. The asking price was $370,000, with monthly maintenance in the mid-$500s.

No. 2

East Williamsburg H.D.F.C. Co-op

This one-bedroom was on a low floor in a small, circa-1920 walk-up building off Bushwick Avenue. It was around 600 square feet, with a shotgun layout facing north and south. The apartment had two closets, French doors and a small office off the big kitchen. The building was self-managed and had free laundry in the basem*nt, as well as storage space. The price was $525,000, with maintenance in the low $800s.

No. 3

Prospect Heights Co-op

This one-bedroom was centrally located, just across from the Brooklyn Museum and Prospect Park, on a low floor in a 1931 barrel-front limestone walk-up. It was 600 square feet, with south-facing windows, three closets and an outdated open kitchen and living area divided by a strangely placed island. The price was $475,000, with maintenance in the $800s.

Which Would You Choose?

Which Did She Buy?