Once in a while, you time everything right. It was only nine years ago that cosmetic dentist Graziano Giglio and his periodontist wife, Ana, bought a 1,500-square-foot two-bedroom condo on 56th Street between First Avenue and Sutton Place, near their practice, for $296,000. That was 1994, which, in hindsight, turns out to have been the absolute bottom of the housing market. Three sons later, the couple needed additional space, and last April, their broker, Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy’s Eugenia Foxworth, put the condo on the market. Last April, of course, was the absolute top of the market. Foxworth priced the place at $850,000, way more than the Giglios would’ve asked. They were offered full price during the first open house. Looking back, Giglio—now living with his family in a 2,700-square-foot four-bedroom in the same building—says they probably could’ve gotten even more had they held out longer. “Eugenia called me later that week with bids for $950,000,” he says. “But we gave the people our word.”
When Eric McLendon, a former WNBC sportscaster andcurrent actor, first moved to New York from Californiain 1997, he thought seriously about buying in Harlem.Taking the advice of his broker, Corcoran’s VieWilson, McLendon looked at several townhouses nearMount Morris Park. But he ultimately walked away froma four-story, 3,600-square-foot townhouse priced atabout $200,000. “I didn’t know much aboutHarlem,” he says. “I didn’t thinkgentrification was as strong as it is now.” (Hebought on the Upper West Side, near Lincoln Center,instead.) Five years later, McLendon returned to thearea, convinced that he’d missed out onsomething and realizing that rebuilding had mostdefinitely taken root. He got his house—afour-story limestone, off Lenox Avenue a few blocksbelow 125th Street—but for $600,000. “Thetownhouses are jewels up here,” says McLendon.“And it’s much more neighborhoody than Ithought. You can see the sky.” Of course, hewishes he’d figured that out in 1997.“Obviously. I could’ve gotten a betterdeal.”
Karyn Hodge, a computer consultant, and herfiancé wanted to buy a home in Fort Greene.“My son goes to school in Fort Greene, so wedefinitely wanted to be in that area,” saysHodge. But the couple kept getting shelled in biddingwars. “Every time we found a house we liked, wehad to bid $150,000 more than it was worth becausefive other people from Manhattan with million-dollarbankrolls bid on the same house.” Last August,the pair lost a bid on a $995,000 Fort Greenetownhouse on Carlton Avenue, and gave up. Ultimately,they paid $569,000 for a 6,000-square-foot,four-story, six-bedroom Dutch Colonial—inBed-Stuy. It wasn’t their dream neighborhood,but “downgrading” turned out to havesurprising rewards. They got a whole house tothemselves; they paid half what they would in a fullygentrified area; and the sense of community waspalpable. “The neighbors actually came out andgreeted us when we first moved in. They threw a royalhigh-tea ceremony in the mansion across thestreet,” says Hodge, whose skepticism has turnedinto genuine boosterism. “You’d drivearound all day looking for a parking spot in Fort Greene, but inBed-Stuy, I actually get to park in front of my doorevery day.”
When Jeffrey and Heller Goldberg’s twins wereborn in 2000, their family swelled to five—andoutgrew their converted-three-bedroom rental on EastEnd Avenue. The couple started spending weekends withthe classifieds. Searching only within the districtsallotted to P.S. 6 and P.S. 290, they ran across a3,000-square-foot behemoth in July 2000. “It wasan awkward four-bedroom with a monstrousterrace” at Lexington Avenue and 77th Street,says Jeffrey, a lawyer. “It just didn’tlook good, and they were asking $1.6 million.”The Goldbergs took a pass and keptlooking—without luck. “We saw otherplaces, but I kept comparing it to that one. The otherhomes just didn’t have enough space,” saysJeffrey. At the end of 2001, the family caught abreak: The place on 77th Street reappeared on themarket, asking $1.3 million. This time, the couplejumped in and bargained hard—they won’tsay exactly what they paid, but they’ll allowthat it was about $1 million. Some of the savings aregoing toward improvements. “I had an architectsee it, and we decided to knock down all of thosewalls and rebuild,” says Jeffrey. “And wemade a home.”