2 Rent Stabilized Apts = 1 "Second" Home

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/realestate/buying-a-second-home-first.html It helps, of course, if your rent is manageable. Though they’ve been together for more than a decade, Stefan Weisman and his partner, Sean Mills, both college professors who teach in Queens, have each held onto their separate rent-stabilized apartments in the city. “It’s totally a New York story,” said Mr. Mills, who has... [more]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/realestate/buying-a-second-home-first.html It helps, of course, if your rent is manageable. Though they’ve been together for more than a decade, Stefan Weisman and his partner, Sean Mills, both college professors who teach in Queens, have each held onto their separate rent-stabilized apartments in the city. “It’s totally a New York story,” said Mr. Mills, who has lived in the same Cobble Hill duplex for 22 years that he rents for approximately $2,070 a month. “It’s the kind of thing that you don’t give up without a really good reason,” he said, acknowledging, “you would think that a strong and solid and consistent relationship would be the best reason of all.” Mr. Weisman pays about $1,500 for his two-bedroom in Hell’s Kitchen. They had all but given up on the idea of formally moving in together when Mr. Mills visited a friend near Woodstock, N.Y., and persuaded Mr. Weisman to start looking for a home to buy upstate. “When we found out interest rates were really low and the Catskills was a good deal, I kind of pushed forth and we went for it,” said Mr. Mills. In February, the couple bought a $188,000 two-bedroom, log-sided cabin on eight wooded acres in Big Indian, N.Y. [less]