mirnell

silver_chipmunk accidentally makes a good point: it's all about what your personal needs are. Granted, she got crazy-lucky with her Hobbit Hole, but still: if you thought you could deal with renting a basement or upstairs apartment (they're very popular in Queens, especially in my area; most of the attached brownstones like mine in my neighborhood are actually two-family houses), you could probably find something affordable pretty quickly. And lots of times these are cheaper than a regular co-op or condo, because you're paying just rent--often pretty low rent, since you have what in other places amounts to a room rather than a whole apartment--and your own utilities, as opposed to rent/mortgage, maintenance, all the associated costs (like tipping doormen), etc.

(Hey, silver_chipmunk, can mirnell come over to your apartment one of these days to see what it's like? Like I said, you got majorly lucky, but it would be a start for her to see how your place is set up.)

*really needs a New York City icon; reminds herself to ask silver_chipmunk if she can borrow hers*