AFTER he graduated from Binghamton University in 2006, Jason Fallon faced a decision. He could rent an apartment in New York City and begin his professional life or he could visit his girlfriend, Rebecca Bear Dallis, who was spending her junior year abroad at the University of Sydney.  He chose the monthlong vacation: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji.  After his return, at the behest of Ms. Bear Dallis’s parents, he went to live with them in their Tudor-style house in Douglaston, Queens.  “He cooks and stuff,” Ms. Bear Dallis said. “He is the perfect houseguest.” His main expense was his mobile phone, so he saved as much money as possible from his job writing financial software. When Ms. Bear Dallis graduated from Binghamton the following year, she still had some of the money she had been allotted for college. The couple promptly bought a Park Slope condominium for $340,000.  Their one-bedroom had around 400 square feet. “It should have been a studio,” Ms. Bear Dallis said. The bedroom was so small that they placed their bed on stilts, hanging a clothes rack beneath.  Ms. Bear Dallis, 25, an accountant, was away most of the week, working in Columbus, Ohio. “The job was 100 percent travel,” she said. “My hotel room was bigger than my apartment.”  It was difficult to keep the place neat. When Ms. Bear Dallis was home, she often dropped her suitcase in the living room and her papers on the kitchen counter. “If I made a mess and left the next day, I didn’t have to see it,” she said.  The couple’s favorite feature was the large terrace off the living room, which they filled with potted plants. Their Norwich terrier, Twix, liked it too.  Every workday, Mr. Fallon, 28, would take Twix in a carrier on the F train and drop him off to spend the day with Ms. Bear Dallis’s mother. (The family had downsized from the Douglaston house to the Court Street Lofts in Carroll Gardens.) He would then jump back onto the subway to travel to his job in Midtown, reversing the handoff in the evening.  After four years, the couple had enough money to buy a larger place. Their budget was $750,000 to $850,000. This time, they wanted two generously sized bedrooms. When they have saved enough for a wedding, they plan to marry and have children, and don’t want to move again. They also wanted outdoor space for their beloved plants, some from the Douglaston yard. A location convenient to Carroll Gardens, preferably on the F line, was important for Twix’s sake.  A washer and a dryer, either in the apartment or the building, were also essential. Every Sunday, the couple did their wash at the Bear Dallis place at the Court Street Lofts. “There is nothing quite like having your own laundry,” Mr. Fallon said.  Last summer, they contacted Rafa Maciejak of the Park Slope office of the Corcoran Group, who had been the sales agent at the Court Street Lofts. He showed them the Silhouette, a new four-unit condominium building in Greenwood Heights. Both the third- and fourth-floor apartments had more than 1,300 square feet, plus a balcony and private rooftop space. The configuration was less than convenient — to reach the roof, it was necessary to leave the apartment and climb some stairs. It was also farther out than they had planned. Still, the building was so nice they found themselves comparing everything else to it.  During their hunt, they realized that few apartments had suitable combinations of indoor and outdoor space. Exterior stairs were hard to avoid. If an apartment had a sufficiently large yard or terrace, the living area was too small. Other times, a big yard and a big apartment came with a big price tag. That was the problem at Third + Bond, well located in Carroll Gardens. Large and lovely yards went with three-bedroom duplex units, costing well over $1 million.  The couple loved the top-floor apartment at 667 Carroll Street, a renovated brownstone on a tree-lined block of prime Park Slope. Private space on the roof was included. But, at less than 950 square feet, the apartment was a bit too small and, at $859,000, a bit too costly. (That sold for $823,000.)
Jason Fallon and Rebecca Bear Dallis bought a 400-square-foot place in Park Slope after graduation. Four years later, they were able to upsize to a two-bedroom.