Nine years ago, Jeremy Jankowski moved to New York from his native Florida, landed a job as a media buyer and found a place with roommates in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, later moving to Williamsburg.
He noticed that the ad salesmen he dealt with always wore nice clothing, and wondered how they could afford it. “I realized you made so much more money on the sales side,” he said.
So he switched, and now works in ad sales for Refinery 29, a women’s lifestyle website. He saved his commission checks diligently, always with the aim of buying a place. He watched as housing prices skyrocketed and Williamsburg developed.
In the fall of 2012, fleeing rising rents, he moved to the East Village. Within weeks, his apartment was flooded by Hurricane Sandy. So he returned to Williamsburg, this time with his fiancé, Brooks Corrigan, who is from Northern California and had been renting a tiny room in Bushwick.
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For a little less than $3,000 a month, the couple, now both in their early 30s, rented a one-bedroom. Their new rental building in rapidly-changing South Williamsburg had a postcard view of the Manhattan skyline.
“Within a year, we got a grocery store and about 10 different restaurants,” Mr. Jankowski said.
Last winter, with a budget of up to $950,000, he became serious about buying. A colleague referred him to Parul Brahmbhatt, a saleswoman at Compass. His aim was a condominium likely to appreciate in value. “We’ve always loved Williamsburg, and it’s really our home,” he said. “We didn’t want to leave.”
The couple visited the Williamsberry, also in South Williamsburg, a condo conversion of a former noodle factory. The bedrooms in the one-bedroom units were too small to accommodate their furniture, but they loved the two-bedroom being used as the model apartment, a generous 1,200 square feet. But at more than $1.5 million, it was beyond Mr. Jankowski’s price range.
He made an offer for a one-bedroom of nearly 900 square feet at the Allan Building on Williamsburg’s north side. It was listed at $995,000, with monthly charges of less than $800.
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The seller wouldn’t negotiate, Mr. Jankowski said. It later sold for $980,000.
“They were so ready to make a move, I almost had to slow them down,” Ms. Brahmbhatt said. “They were the opposite of the client who is dillydallying.”
Ultimately, the couple decided to pool their resources to buy what they really wanted, a two-bedroom. They found one at the Ikon near McCarren Park, another factory conversion. It was listed at $1.325 million; common charges were around $950. They were outbid, and it sold for $1.376 million.
They kept returning to the Williamsberry. They walked past often. The two-bedroom they initially loved had central air-conditioning, a stacked washer-dryer and a huge kitchen with two refrigerators. Having cut back on travel and eating out, “we saved in order to make this a reality,” Mr. Jankowski said. “That’s why we cook at home so much.”
They were betting on neighborhood appreciation, too. “South Williamsburg hasn’t fully developed yet,” said Mr. Corrigan, who works in the fashion and beauty field. “That was kind of the selling point.”
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Though sunny, the apartment looked directly into the base of the Williamsburg Bridge, a repository for trucks and traffic equipment. “I hate the view so much,” Mr. Corrigan said.
But both were willing to make the sacrifice.
“They considered a unit that made sense for them,” Ms. Brahmbhatt said. “The same apartment with a nice, open view may have put them in a financially uncomfortable position.”
They settled on a price of $1.4 million. Monthly charges are a bit more than $2,100. After negotiations, the sponsor agreed to pay much of the transfer tax and some of the legal fees. The wait was torturous, but they and their little dog, Venya, finally arrived in the fall.
They found the noise from the bridge bothersome. So they added double-glazed soundproof windows after a demonstration by a friend who had such windows in her Murray Hill apartment. As soon as their friend’s windows were opened, the city roared to life outside. “It was like pressing ‘view’ on a video,” Mr. Corrigan said.
To minimize the presence of the bridge, the couple added shades and curtains, with plans to add another layer of curtains.
“I have such a good eye for design that we’ve made the apartment look so beautiful,” Mr. Jankowski said. “I still get a little drunk and dance around the kitchen because I never thought I would be able to live here.”
