Tales of a Reluctant Brooklyn Renter

It seems like such a short time ago. The sky was falling. Heavily inflated New York real estate prices were deflating in 2009, and there were deals, deals, deals to be had.

Well, sort of. There was, at least, this lovely three-bedroom (left) in Brooklyn's family-friendly neighborhood of Windsor Terrace -- not exactly tony Park Slope, my longtime neighborhood, but a nice place with good schools and good neighbors. They eventually reduced the asking price from $649,000 to $599,000.

I didn't pounce on it. The sky had further to fall, I was certain. And there would be plenty of places just like it.