C
aroline and Aaron Sokol loved their one-bedroom rental on the Upper West Side, joking that they could have lived there forever without kids. But after Maxwell's birth in October 2023, they realized it was time to upgrade. They put up a temporary wall for a nursery, but soon felt cramped. "I couldn't fit in that room when I was nine months pregnant," Caroline said.

    The couple considered renting a larger apartment, but the rent would have been similar to their mortgage payments on a house outside the city. With high interest rates, they decided it was worth paying extra for space and flexibility. Both grew up in suburban areas - Caroline in Framingham, Mass., and Aaron in Scarsdale, N.Y. - and wanted the same for Maxwell.

    Aaron commutes five days a week to his Manhattan office while Caroline works remotely as a senior manager at Capital One. They sold stocks, pulled from savings, and got a penalty-free loan against Caroline's 401k to cover moving expenses and furnishings. After visiting about a dozen listings with agents Nicole Orefice and Janine Hennigan of William Raveis, they found three promising options.

    Option one was a fully renovated four-bedroom house in Scarsdale for $999,000, with two bedrooms and a bathroom on each level. Option two was an updated five-bedroom house in the Westchester river village west of Scarsdale for $895,000, with arched entryways and an open-concept living area. Option three was a renovated three-bedroom house in Hawthorne for $749,000, with a living room that opened into an updated kitchen.

    The Sokols ultimately chose the renovated four-bedroom house in Scarsdale, which offered a reasonable commute and recent updates. They were willing to pay extra for space and flexibility, and this house fit their needs perfectly.