Original subtitles

We both really love the fast pace

and the hustle and bustle of new york city.

Where's dada? Where's dada?

Jia: And now we have our 1-year-old son,

jackson, and we've always been in this tiny, tiny one-bedroom,

so it's time to get into something bigger.

It can get stressful in new york.

The kitchen is tiny.

It's like I'm shaquille o'neal in here. Yeah.

There's no bathtub.

How am I gonna bathe jackson in here?

I think they built in a solution for us right here.

We'll wash him car-wash style with this.

[ laughter ] just hose him down.

Plus it being crazy expensive.

$875,000.

It's a little bit over budget.

It is a little bit scary.

Where is the washer and dryer?

I'm really surprised hila's even showing me

a place without a washer and dryer.

It's the number-one thing I've been asking her

to show us in every single apartment.

In midtown in her price point, it's nearly impossible.

[ doorbell rings ]

♪♪

♪♪

jackson.

Check this out.

Jia: Where's dada? Jackson: Da!

Yeah!

I work in the fashion industry.

I work in finance as a bond analyst.

Jackson.

Look at dad.

We met walking down the street in toronto.

Jia lived in toronto.

I was traveling through canada.

She came to houston to visit,

which is where I was living at the time,

and we got married a year after we met. Uh-huh.

And that was 15 years ago now.

New york was always on our list of places

that we really wanted to live in.

I think we both love the city.

It just has this energy,

and now we have our 1-year-old son, jackson,

so it's the three of us,

and we've always been in this tiny, tiny one-bedroom.

We have a crib at the foot of our bed.

It's just toys everywhere.

It's just too small. We've outgrown it.

I would love a place that was at least

800 square feet, 2 bedrooms, ideally 1 1/2 baths.

I really hope we can find a pre-war place

that has a lot of charm, maybe some hardwood floors.

Place with a little bit of history,

place with some character to it,

not just one of the brand-new condos

that are nice and have all the amenities.

But there's no feel to them.

They're like human filing cabinets.

Oh, I would love a brand-new condo

that's renovated and new inside.

So the exact opposite? [ laughs ]

I don't care when the building was built.

Michael says the places I like look like bank vaults,

and I would love to live in a bank vault

[ chuckles ] if I could convert it into an apartment.

I really hope we can find a washer and dryer.

That seemed difficult when we look online.

In our current apartment,

we don't have a washer and dryer,

and that's really challenging, especially since we had jackson.

To lug all the laundry down to the, you know, laundry room

plus carrying him is really challenging.

It would be easier just using, like, a cleaning service

where someone just comes to our house,

picks up the clothes,

magically folds them someplace else,

and then just brings them back,

just like that story book where the elves came

and made the shoes in the middle of the night.

But then somebody is touching your dirty laundry --

some random stranger, and you don't --

but that's their problem, isn't it?

No. [ laughs ]

for me, the budget is $800,000,

but I feel like even that

is more than I would actually want to spend,

so I'm hoping to get a place well below that amount.

I think we can spend more than that.

I think we can go up to $900,000.

I definitely want a bathtub.

I have to bathe jackson, and if we don't have a bathtub,

it's gonna be really hard.

Nicola: Hey. Jia: How are you?

Good. Mwah.

Hi. Have you found a place yet?

No. No?

It's hard. [ laughs ]

yeah. Yeah.

So, where are you looking?

We'd like to stay in the city. Yeah.

We both agree on that, but I think where we disagree

is I'm looking for a place that's more...

Has that sort of classical new york feeling to it.

For me, the most important thing in a home

is the neighborhood that it's in --

neighborhood that's conducive to meeting our neighbors

and making some connections with them

and forming a sense of community.

And I think jia wants to stay only in manhattan, right?

Yeah, I want to stay as, like... In the core.

...Central manhattan as possible. Right. Right.

Good luck... Cheers!

...On finding a new place! Good job!

[ laughing ] that's an aggressive cheers.

The neighborhood doesn't look quite as residential

as I'd hoped it would be.

Doesn't have that sort of communal,

old-new-york neighborhood sort of feel to it, you know?

Still a lot of commercial. But there's still a lot of people out here.

♪♪

hey, michael!

Hey, jia! How are you?

How's it going? Good. Nice to see you.

We are looking at a pre-war building...

Oh, great. ...Built in 1916...

Awesome. I love to hear it.

...Used to be a postcard factory.

Oh, interesting history.

And it's beautifully renovated.

Oh, nice.

I really like that it's in midtown east.

It's so central to everything.

I'm showing this apartment today to jia and michael

because I think it's a really great combination

of both characteristic

and really beautiful features for michael,

and at the same time,

there's renovated, modern finishes for jia.

Jia: This is nice.

Michael: Yeah, it's a dramatic entryway.

I like the brick element and the floor,

and I love the high ceilings.

All the lighting is so girlie and beautiful.

I love it. [ laughter ]

hila: Michael?

I'm going to be agnostic on the lighting for...

[ laughter ] ...Diplomatic purposes.

I don't see any windows in the living room here.

Oh, yeah.

We can see where the windows are in a minute.

Are you ready to see one of the bedrooms? Yeah.

♪♪

oh, this is where the windows are.

This actually used to be a balcony,

and they closed it off...

Ah. ...To become a bedroom.

I don't like that the windows are only in the bedroom

if we have the doors closed, though.

This actually used to be a loft,

and none of these walls are weight-bearing,

so if you want at some point to change it up, you can.

Oh, that's great. So we have lots of flexibility.

I mean, I don't know -- if it was jackson's room,

I don't know if I'd like these sliding doors and windows

for safety, you know?

Seems small for a master,

and it seems dangerous to be jackson's room.

You want to check out the other bedroom

and see if that one would be yours or his?

Yeah, for sure. All right. Let's check it out.

♪♪

[ michael laughs ]

jia: This is big. It is.

I don't know about this one

for jackson's room or the master.

It's bigger, so it'd be better as the master.

So, this leads us back to the dining area.

Oh, we have a dining area. That's awesome.

Do you guys host much?

We don't now, but we want to.

I'd love to have a dining room.

We have been living on tv trays

for our entire relationship -- like we're in college.

We're in our 40s,

and we don't need to be eating off of tv trays.

[ clicks tongue ]

jia wants to host people more than I do.

[ laughs ]

a dinner party is just signing up for an evening of work.

Yeah, I love hosting, but yeah.

Check out the storage behind you.

Well, that's nice. Yeah.

But where is the washer and dryer?

This co-op actually allows

either a dishwasher or a washer-dryer.

Oh, I have to have a washer and dryer

and a dishwasher.

That was, like, the number-one thing on my list.

Well, is there a laundry in the building?

There's a beautiful, big laundry room downstairs.

I hate lugging laundry

out of the apartment and up and down.

And especially with a 1-year-old, it's so hard to do.

I'm really surprised hila's even showing me

a place without a washer and dryer.

It's the number-one thing I've been asking her

to show us in every single apartment.

I know jia really wants an in-unit washer-dryer,

but in midtown in her price point, it's nearly impossible.

Jia: The kitchen is tiny. Michael: It is small.

It's like I'm shaquille o'neal in here. Yeah.

I do like these flecks of gold in here --

this, like, disco granite they've got in here.

I love that there's a dishwasher.

♪♪

I like the rainfall shower head.

That's cool.

Aesthetically, it's really nice and well done,

but there's no bathtub.

How am I gonna bathe jackson in here? I hear you.

You can put in a bathtub. Jia: I don't know.

I really want to get a place that's move-in ready.

I don't want to do a bunch of renovations.

Michael: I think they built in a solution for us right here.

You just wash him car-wash style.

[ laughter ]

check out the rooftop.

Jia: Oh, wow. Michael: Wow.

-This is nice. -This is nice.

Look at this beautiful direct view

to the empire state building.

It's amazing views

all around every corner of the building.

It's incredible. Yeah.

There's a lot of room for jackson to run around.

Hila: Did you see the toys over there?

Oh, yeah. So there's definitely kids in the building.

Yeah, that's good to know. That's nice.

Overall, I think it's a contender.

I mean, I like that it has high ceilings,

really good lighting.

I love that it used to be a postcard factory,

so there's history to the building.

Yeah, I really like how central it is.

Like, I like midtown east.

The hardwood is really, really pretty.

The dining room is a little bit small.

I don't want it to be cramped

once we put our dining table in there.

The kitchen was a little bit bigger, as well.

I really love that it has a dishwasher.

The washer and dryer is the biggest thing for me.

And then in the bathroom,

I don't know what we're gonna do without a bathtub.

How will I -- you saw the hose, right?

Oh, I'm not using the hose to bathe jackson.

That's not an option. So fancy.

I'd still like to maybe check out some places

that are a little bit more residential or communal-feeling.

All right. Let's see what I can do.

♪♪

we're looking at approximately 760 square foot.

Jia: Oh, that's small.

We're in about that size now, and it feels small to us.

♪♪

these brownstones are nice,

but I've found they're rarely modern inside.

Michael: But they do look charming and pre-war.

This is exactly kind of

the old new york neighborhood I had in mind.

Hi, hila.

Hey, hila. Hey, guys! Welcome.

Welcome to fort greene, brooklyn.

What did you think about the neighborhood?

It's good. It's a nice street.

It just took a really long time to get here.

And from my work, it's far.

I just don't want to commute back to manhattan

for all of my work meetings.

We're looking at approximately 760 square foot.

Oh, that's small.

We're in about that size now, and it feels small to us.

Yeah, but you figure you get rid of 50 pairs of shoes,

all of a sudden, the space just opens right up.

[ laughter ]

absolutely not.

No? No.

♪♪

oh, this is nice.

Yeah, I like it.

I love... It's got a nice...

...The brick wall. ...Living room.

Old original floors.

The floors are nice.

Fireplace. Oh, yeah.

I also like that there's wood sprinkled into the brick here.

Oh, I didn't notice that. Wood and brick combines.

I don't love the wood, but...

No? ...I do like the brick. [ laughs ]

it's, like, the story of the building

built right into the wall of the house.

I guess so. [ laughs ]

if these walls could talk, what would they say?

I have a surprise for you guys right behind that door.

Check it out. [ laughs ]

it's done. Oh, wow.

The search is over. A washer-dryer!

[ laughing ] thank you for the washer and dryer. Yay! Yes!

I don't really love that it's in the living room. What?

But it's nice that we can -- but it's in the house!

Come on, jia. Yeah, I know,

but we have a 1-year-old,

and then there'll be laundry in the living room,

and it'll be messy.

It's within the four walls of the house.

That's true. I think that's a win.

That's true.

Yeah, I think you have to expect some compromise.

We're probably unlikely to get everything on our wish list,

and a perfectly placed washer and dryer

might be one of those things

that we have to give a little bit on.

Jia: I like that there's a dining room.

That's fantastic. Yeah.

Isn't that nice? Yeah, this is nice.

Is there no dishwasher?

There is no dishwasher in this apartment.

Oh, yeah. That's not gonna work.

That's how you got me a washer and dryer.

You got rid of my dishwasher.

It's either/or. Come on, jia. That's what you do.

We need to finally do my plan

of just having one plate each

with one fork, one knife, one spoon.

The dishes will never stack.

Says the guy who... You don't even need a dishwasher.

...Can't put his laundry into the laundry basket.

You're gonna wash your dishes after every meal?

I don't think so. Why are you bringing up old stuff?

We're talking about dishes. I don't think so, no.

I'm talking dishes. She's talking laundry.

Those are two completely separate issues.

Oh, this is nice.

Michael: Yeah, it is nice. Jia: Yeah.

Decent size. Mm-hmm.

The bigger of the two? It is the bigger of the two.

Oh, well, it's kind of small for a master.

Okay. Oh, this is tiny.

Well, especially for all of jackson's stuff.

Maybe it's time for him to learn

to edit his possessions, live a possession-free life.

[ laughs ] [ laughing ] maybe.

Thank you. Little bit tight in there.

This is tight all right. It feels okay.

It needs an update.

That's the biggest thing.

At least there's a bathtub.

I love a modern home with really clean lines,

and I don't really see that here.

The house is older, and it doesn't really have

any of those elements that I'm looking for.

♪♪

the brooklyn market is definitely heating up,

so if this is a contender,

we should talk about it seriously.

You know, it's in brooklyn, and it's really far for me

to commute back to any work meetings.

Hila, I would really just love to see a place

with more square footage.

I wouldn't mind going up to harlem.

Feel like we might get more bang for the buck up there.

♪♪

the home is a little bit over 1,300 square foot.

It's huge. Yeah.

It's $875,000.

[ doorbell rings ]

♪♪

I really love this style of house,

and it's an actual neighborhood,

and you can feel an actual sense of community here.

We'd, like, get to know people.

I love harlem.

It'd be great to raise jackson here.

The brownstones are beautiful. Mm-hmm.

I just really hope it's renovated and modern inside

'cause often, these places aren't, you know?

Hi, hila. Hey, hila.

Hey, guys. Welcome. Hi.

This is an awesome condo

that was built in the 1880s... Awesome.

...And was converted to condos a few years back.

It's an expensive place.

It's also really big, though.

It is. It is.

We'll have to see if it's worth it,

I guess, when we get inside.

Even though the new york city market

is stabilizing a little bit,

you'll still have to pay for that washer-dryer,

building amenities, and, of course, square feet.

Michael: Are we there yet?

Jia: [ laughing ] that is a lot of stairs.

Hila: [ exhales sharply ] catch your breath.

That's not good for my asthma.

[ laughs ] it's not so bad by yourself,

but I imagine carrying jackson and his stroller...

Oh, yeah. ...Up the stairs every day.

An escalator in, that'll be our first...

Uh-huh. Sure. ...Home improvement.

I love these floors and how old they look.

They're all scuffed and marked

like there's a story in every scratch.

But this kitchen... Yeah, let's check it out.

...Is not good.

Yeah, the kitchen tiles...

Why is there duct tape on the floor?

What's happening? [ laughter ]

these kitchen tiles might also be from the 1900s. Hila: Yeah.

You know, I don't mind the tiles. What?

Yeah, they're funky. Yeah.

Funky? When do you like these kind of tiles?

Because they look kind of moroccan-medallion.

They look kind of cool. Moroccan-medall--

that's the style, moroccan-medallion?

[ laughter ]

I can't believe that she likes this floor.

This is opposite of everything she's ever liked.

What michael doesn't realize is that the moroccan trend,

it's in style right now.

This kitchen is not good.

It needs a gut reno.

I don't like it. It's so old.

I just don't want a place I need to renovate.

Michael: Oh, look at this room. Look how big it is.

There's three bedrooms in this whole place.

We would only need two,

which means you could have an amazing office down here.

Jia: That's a good idea. This would be a huge office.

Yeah, that's a pretty big perk

that we haven't had in any other place.

I could see myself living in this house

only because it's such a large space, which we need.

We have a growing family and a 1-year-old son

who's only getting into everything

more and more every day.

Jia: Oh, that's nice.

Hila: Yeah, I thought you'd like it.

I love that there's big windows here, lets in lots of light.

Have this faux fireplace, which is kind of interesting.

Yeah, it's a really nice, big open space.

Do you like the ceiling fan?

No. No?

No. [ laughter ]

it's got kind of this throwback, harlem-cotton-club

kind of feel to it.

You hate my floors in the kitchen,

but you like this fan?

[ laughter ]

oh, good -- more stairs.

I know. This is a lot of stairs. Great.

Hila: This is a king-sized bed.

Yeah, and there's still plenty of room.

Yeah, it's a good size.

There's also a big closet. That's good.

I like it.

I don't like these floors at all.

These are the kind of floors

that, to me, they never feel clean.

Yeah.

The bathroom needs a total renovation like the kitchen.

This is the full bath?

This is the full bath.

Yeah. That is correct.

This is a really small full bath.

I'm really afraid that a lot of what I've seen

needs to be renovated,

which is gonna make this house unaffordable for me.

I have a surprise for you, jia.

Okay.

Check out the in-unit washer-dryer.

Ohhh. Oh.

Awesome. Okay.

Well, this place is redeeming itself.

So, there's a washer and dryer here, so I guess that's it.

Search is over.

We can just move right in tomorrow.

I should have brought my clothes with me.

What do you think about the half bath?

Yeah, I definitely don't like the bathrooms in this house.

But, you know, there's no bathroom on the floor below us,

but at least this bathroom is, like,

one step from the bedroom, so...

Yeah, but that's... ...That's good.

...A big problem that there's no bathroom

on the main floor, too, because you'd always

have to come upstairs to go to the bathroom. Right.

Look at this enormous bedroom.

This is nice. Yeah. Yeah.

It's a really good size,

and then it has really big windows.

And three of them -- that's great.

We use this as the master, we'd have our own closets.

Yeah. That would be awesome.

Yeah, I'd finally have enough space

free from all your junk.

[ laughing ] yeah, or the other way around.

In the past, we've only had hers closets,

so forget about a his-and-hers closet.

So I think that's gonna go a long way towards

opening her mind up towards this place.

♪♪

I love the neighborhood.

I love the facade of the building outside,

the sort of classic brownstone with the stoop

that we could hang out on in the morning.

I don't so much care for the stairs.

Two flights of stairs in the house,

that'd be kind of a lot to handle with jackson.

I do love, love, love

that there's a washer and dryer in the unit,

and it's actually, like, in its own closet,

in its own space.

I really like that it has 1 1/2 baths,

and it has a bathtub, which is nice,

but I feel like it's a bathtub I want to throw in the garbage.

[ laughter ] it totally needs a full reno.

And the kitchen also needs a reno.

Everything feels really old,

and I would really, really love it to be modern.

But is it old and outdated, or is it historic and charming?

It's old and outdated.

[ laughter ]

the market is really hot right now,

so I really recommend starting to think

at least about putting in some offers.

Okay. Sure.

Yeah. All right. Let's go talk it over.

♪♪

I know we've seen so many properties.

What were your favorites?

Well, I really like the midtown co-op.

It's a really good amount of space.

Yeah, I really liked that one, too, for the location

'cause it is midtown.

The rooftop was amazing.

But it was also kind of commercial,

lot of office buildings all around.

Mm-hmm.

It's missing the washer and dryer, which is huge.

I love that it had a dishwasher,

but it's also missing a bathtub.

[ laughter ]

it didn't feel that modern from the outside,

but when you get inside, they've really done a great job with it.

What do you think about the brooklyn brownstone?

The street was really beautiful, but I hated the commute.

I loved the facade of the building.

It also seemed like a neighborhood

where people would eventually get to know their neighbors.

If we're gonna buy a place,

I would love for it to be a little bigger.

Yeah. [ sighs ]

but that living room was beautiful

with the brick accent wall and that fireplace.

Kitchen was so tiny, and it was missing a dishwasher.

But it did have a washer and dryer in the unit, right?

That's true.

It seems to always be one or the other.

Yeah. Life's full of tough choices, man.

How did you feel about that condo in harlem?

That was my favorite neighborhood.

I also really liked the exterior.

I loved how huge it was, but it needed work...

Mm-hmm. ...For sure.

And that one had a ton of stairs.

With jackson just, you know, still being a little wobbly

when he walks around and stuff... [ laughter ]

I don't know that that's gonna be great for us.

It did have both a washer and dryer.

Yeah, I did love that.

Felt a little far to me.

I felt like I was not in manhattan.

I feel like unless we live

on the top floor of the empire state building,

everything is gonna be far for you. That would be nice.

[ laughter ]

♪♪

[ doorbell rings ]

[ jackson cries ] I know. I'm coming.

Are you hungry?

We decided to go with the midtown co-op.

We closed on it 2 weeks ago and moved in 1 week ago.

Eat up. Om!

The asking price was $749,000.

We ended up getting it for $730,000.

Hila was really helpful in negotiating a lower price.

Process wasn't so smooth.

We had a hard time dealing with the seller,

but in the end, we got it.

It's a little busier here

than some of the other neighborhoods

we were thinking that were more residentially oriented,

but I think we've been able to compensate for that

because within our building,

people are really friendly and welcoming.

We don't have a bathtub here, which was a concern for me,

but it hasn't been so bad.

We got one of those plastic baby tubs.

And then sit here, and I get soaked, as well.

Throw it. Yeah!

Good job. Good one.

I'm really looking forward to seeing jackson grow up here.

This is actually his first room he's ever had.

Actually, the very first day we got here, we were like,

"where's your room?" and he immediately pointed

to the largest room in the house and walked on in,

so we gave him that room.

[ jackson speaks indistinctly ]

yeah.

Not having an in-unit washer and dryer

has already been a pain in the butt,

but it's worth it because the place is just so nice.

All right. [ coos ]

yeah, I think buying the house

has changed our life for the better.

Jia is definitely happier.

Oh, I'm excited to come home every day.

I didn't think we'd find a place this nice.

I just love it.