NEW YORK—Musician Jeremy Wilms and actress Di Quon Wilms wanted to buy their first home together after their daughter was born, and they wanted to stay in Brooklyn. But three months of searching Prospect Heights and Clinton Hill left them feeling discouraged about the housing market in New York City.
“It was just very quickly evident that the prices were just insane,” Wilms said. “Basically converted one bedrooms that were maybe 700 or 800 square feet for half a million dollars and up—that just seemed insane. Even if I had the money, it seemed nuts to me that people would live like that.”
They started to house hunt in California, where they could both work, and in Atlanta “where the grandparents live.” They also considered following other hip Brooklynites to Maplewood, one of New Jersey’s more liberal communities—but the commute to Midtown Manhattan looked like a nightmare.
Wilms plays bass in a band that is releasing an album at the end of March. He has a steady gig in Midtown every weekend, and does production for different music studios during the day.
