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  1. Photograph: Marielle Solan
    Photograph: Marielle Solan

    Christa Hall and Ryan Perfit in their mid-range 1BR apartment in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

  2. Photograph: Marielle Solan
    Photograph: Marielle Solan

    Mid-range 1BR apartment, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

  3. Photograph: Marielle Solan
    Photograph: Marielle Solan

    Mid-range 1BR apartment, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

  4. Photograph: Marielle Solan
    Photograph: Marielle Solan

    Mid-range 1BR apartment, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

  5. Photograph: Marielle Solan
    Photograph: Marielle Solan

    Mid-range 1BR apartment, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

  6. Photograph: Marielle Solan
    Photograph: Marielle Solan

    Mid-range 1BR apartment, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

  7. Photograph: Marielle Solan
    Photograph: Marielle Solan

    Mid-range 1BR apartment, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

Mid-range 1BR apartment, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

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Christa Hall, 33, communications consultant; Ryan Perfit, 34, director of finance for a media company
Rent: $2,450, including heat and hot water
Deposit: One month’s rent, plus one month security
Broker: Laura Rozos, Corcoran (718-369-8784, laura.rozos@corcoran.com, corcoran.com)
Broker’s fee: 15 percent of annual rent ($4,410)
Moved in: February 2012

THE SEARCH: “We first decided that we were going to look in Brooklyn, but we didn’t know Brooklyn, or even New York that well,” says Perfit, “We both lived in Buenos Aires and had just moved back to the States. We spent a long weekend going to all the neighborhoods in South Brooklyn.” Hall adds, “We asked a lot of our friends for advice on what neighborhoods to look at that would fit our personalities best. We were looking for the niceties of suburban living—trees, bike paths, backyards, relative cleanliness, [that’s] not too loud or busy—but without too much of the gentrification. Basically, the upsides of New York (great food, nightlife and easy travel to the city) without living next to a locally sourced stroller farm and a hipster yoga dojo. We narrowed it down to Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights and Park Slope. We looked at 23 apartments in three days. It was a real mission. We had a couple of brokers doing our bidding.”

Adds Perfit, “We wanted one or 1.5 bedrooms and to be close to a lot of the subways that would get me to midtown [where I work]. A washer-dryer, outdoor space and a big kitchen [with all the amenities] were really important. This was the place we saw the last day we were in town. We found it on StreetEasy [streeteasy.com], and one of our brokers, Laura, showed us the place. We learned that in New York, you can’t take your time. We decided, all right, this is the 23rd one [we’ll see]; if we like it, we’ll take it. I saw the kitchen, the patio…it checked all the boxes, even the washer and dryer.”

Hall says, “We told [Laura] we would take it while we were still in the apartment. [We’d had a prior experience] where we called a broker to make a move on our top choice within 24 hours of having seen it, and it was long gone.”

THE APARTMENT: “It’s a garden apartment in a brownstone, in a shotgun [railroad] fashion. There’s a bedroom, then a living room, [which] opens up to a kitchen with a big island and a little back patio. The bathroom’s off the kitchen.” says Perfit. Hall explains her favorite part is the kitchen: “I wanted a decent-sized kitchen with all the amenities. Also, having the space to barbecue [is crucial]. After living in Argentina, we got really good at barbecuing and needed the space for that.”

THE AREA: “We were looking in South Brooklyn mainly because of the [ease of] transportation. Being close to the park was also an added bonus,” says Hall. “[Prospect Heights] has a really great walking scene. The park is right there, we’re within a few blocks of a number of different subways. Ryan’s seven stops from his work in midtown.” Adds Perfit, “We’re close to a lot of good restaurants and grocery stores [and] ten minutes from BAM [30 Lafayette Ave between Ashland Pl and St. Felix St, Fort Greene, Brooklyn; 718-636-4100, bam.org].”

Soda Bar[629 Vanderbilt Ave between Park and Prospect Pls; 718-230-8393] is closest to our house. We’ve been there a lot,” says Hall. “And we go to the farmers’ market at Grand Army Plaza[Prospect Park West at Flatbush Ave, grownyc.org/grandarmygreenmarket] every weekend.”

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