Should I stay or should I go?

John and I have been indulging in a little real estate fantasizing lately -- yes, you know you're a middle aged married couple when ...

We aren't ready to give up on Manhattan yet. I remain committed to the idea that I moved to New York to live in New York, and there's no other experience in the U.S. like being here. I can walk out my front door and within minutes be at my choice of grocery store, book store, clothing store, news stand or restaurant, not to mention a couple of world-class cultural institutions and Central Park. It's a really amazing way to live, not needing a car and feeling so integrated into a community.

But let's be honest. It's tough being a grown up couple living in 695 square feet. (our rental agent corrected me when I called it 700. thanks for not letting me delude myself into that extra 5, Nick) And if we wanted to own our own place again, this itty bitty place we're in now would go for more than $1 million.

Sometimes we really miss certain parts of Ann Arbor life. For example, we miss having a back yard and a deck. We spent a lot of mornings drinking coffee out there, and most of the summer we'd cook on the grill and eat at the picnic table. We're outside a lot here, too, but it's different when it's a space that's just yours. Here it's pretty infrequent to be able to escape other human beings.

So the fantasy we've been kicking around is getting the best of both worlds. We'll buy a house someplace outside New York but within a semi-reasonable commute. We'll have a little pied a terre in the city. I'll work from home at our country estate a day or two each week, and we'll spend a few nights at our city apartment.

John's starting to look for a day job, so having his steady income contributing to the mortgage could make something like this doable, though maybe a stretch until his children's book sells and maybe I get a promotion or something. It doesn't have to happen tomorrow to be a good idea, right?

That hasn't stopped me from looking at real estate listings to figure out just how big a stretch it is. Back in Ann Arbor, a $300,000 house sounded pretty darned fancy. You know you've been reading the NY Times real estate section too much when a $600k house starts to sound reasonable.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about Tarrytown, a community north of here on the Hudson River. Interestingly, when Lara came to town this past week, she interviewed a Michigan grad who has a high-end farm in Tarrytown. John went with her as the photographer, and several people made offers to come back and check the place out. Is the universe telling me I'm on the right track?

Here's a house I keep daydreaming about. Is it coincidence that it's on John Street?