Moving hasn’t always been this hard. In 2024, with inventory running low and borrowing rates staying high, there were only about four million home sales in the United States — the fewest since 1995. But every week in the Hunt, we bring you the story of someone who made it happen. From New York City down to Georgia, up to Wisconsin and out to California, these home buyers navigated an often bumpy road that led to a starter apartment or a retirement community, a mansion or a mobile home. Here are some of our (and your) favorite Hunts from 2024.
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UNDER $200,000
Starting a New Chapter in the Twin Cities
After his retirement, Mark Dougherty toured condos of all stripes in Minneapolis and St. Paul, looking for a small place that was in decent shape, though he was willing to remodel and customize it. “I need to shake up my life,” he said.
UNDER $300,000
In Search of New Scenery, an American Took a Chance in France
When she retired as an elementary schoolteacher in Seattle, Mary Jo Maddeford tossed around some ideas of where she might like to live next. “I wanted a small town with lots of cute shops and restaurants, but close to some bigger cities,” she said. Her brother, who lives in Lausanne, Switzerland, suggested Evian, the small French city across Lake Geneva.
UNDER $400,000
A Young Family Took Its Chicago Budget to Madison, Wis.
With two children under 5, the Tinklenbergs figured they had years to go before they could afford to buy anything in Chicago. Even after moving to Madison, Wis., they found that three-bedroom homes were renting for over $3,000 a month. So they decided to put their savings to use.
UNDER $500,000
Outside Atlanta, a Mother-Daughter Duo Wanted a House to Share (With Enough Room for Some Privacy)
After six years of living in her first home, in a suburb northwest of Atlanta, Keeva Haynes was ready for a bigger and better place — preferably one zoned for the high school that her daughter wanted to attend. She hoped to find a recently built four-bedroom house with enough space for separate living and working areas.
UNDER $600,000
A New Yorker Decamped to the Philadelphia Area With a Townhouse in Mind
After three decades of moving around the country while working in K-12 education, Jeanine Molock found herself back in her hometown, New York City. “It was not the city I left,” she said. “The areas where I grew up and frequented were no longer affordable.” After she got a job in the Philadelphia area, she went looking for more space, more green and more parking.
UNDER $700,000
A Manhattan Pied-à-Terre for Less Than $800,000? Two Virginia Farmers Gave It a Shot.
After 13 years in Boston, Stuart and Patti Rosenberg made a radical lifestyle change: They moved to rural Virginia and became farmers. But as the years passed, the couple began to miss city life. They had always loved their visits to New York, and the idea of putting down some roots there was exciting.
UNDER $800,000
It Was ‘Love at First Sight’ in the Heart of Rome
Douglas Ritter’s life took an unexpected turn in 2019 when a friend in Rome introduced him to Rosaria Silvano. It was love at first sight, and the couple were soon married. After looking at dozens of apartments close to the city center, they homed in on Trastevere. “We saw every two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment that came on the market for a year,” he said.
UNDER $900,000
In London, He and His Roommate Became Co-Owners
Stephen Downard spent much of his 20s sharing a spacious rental with a longtime roommate in Belsize Park, a leafy, affluent neighborhood of London. Each aspired to own a place of his own in the city, but the London market always held them back. So the two agreed that the best way forward was to continue as co-owners.
UNDER $1 MILLION
A French Émigré Invests in Dubai
Clementine Martini landed in the United Arab Emirates in 2018 with a job at the Dubai tourism board, living in rentals as the city grew around her. She considered investing in property in France or Belgium for additional income, but prices were high, and Dubai was experiencing its own boom. With her rent set to increase, she decided to invest her money in the Gulf.
MORE THAN $1 MILLION
She Defied Her Parents and Followed Her Heart in San Francisco
A gallery director in San Francisco, Sierra Nguyen wondered whether she could find a two-bedroom with an $850,000 budget. Her broker suggested she look at condominiums as well as tenancy-in-common listings, or T.I.C., a kind of group homeownership that is common in San Francisco and more affordable, but comes with added risk.
MORE THAN $2 MILLION
‘No One Retires to California,’ They Thought
After spending most of their adult lives in Arizona, Dennis and Sherry Weiss talked about a permanent relocation to the San Francisco Bay Area. “We went back and forth on it,” he said. “‘No one retires to California.’ We heard that a lot.” The couple, who had casually scouted East Bay locations in the past, concentrated on a strip of 20 miles or so along the San Francisco Peninsula, from San Mateo south to Sunnyvale.
The post Happy Hunting: Our Favorite Home-Buying Stories of 2024 appeared first on New York Times.
