The Real Estate Factor

by Genevieve

Location is everything. As more and more New Yorkers are learning, this adage applies even to love.

The New York Times on Sunday reported that not only are neighborhood-attached New Yorkers averse to dating someone “uptown” if they live “downtown,” the real estate market often pushes couples to move in together or marry sooner to save on rent or appease a co-op board.

Speaking from experience, my spur-of-the-moment self has benefitted from dating someone who lives a mere four blocks away. Proximity brings a desired sense of casualness to the relationship that a 45-minute subway ride never could.

The Times profiled several couples with varying degrees of success integrating real estate into the relationship equation. One couple, who had been dating for a year, broke up a month after moving into a jointly purchased condo. However well or poorly the break-up might have gone down, the business break was clean thanks to a pre-nup-like contract outlining a plan to have her buy him out were they to part ways.

Is there an aspect of your relationship that’s the product of your environment? Share below.