Homebuyers in their 50s and 60s typically downsize as they become empty nesters and ease into retirement, especially in Florida. But not Mitchell Rechter and Emily Weiss.
They met two years ago on a blind date. Both had moved to South Florida about a decade before — Ms. Weiss, 58, from southern New Jersey, and Mr. Rechter, 66, from the Detroit area — and subsequently divorced.
Their relationship blossomed quickly. Three months after they met, Ms. Weiss’s lease ended and she moved into Mr. Rechter’s two-bedroom townhouse, which he had bought the year before. It was in Boca West, a sprawling gated community in Boca Raton, Fla., about an hour’s drive north of Miami, with about 3,500 homes built around a golf course and country club.
[Did you recently buy a home? We want to hear from you. Email: thehunt@nytimes.com. Sign up here to have The Hunt delivered to your inbox every week.]
“I wanted to see whether I liked Boca West, and then I would look for my own place,” Ms. Weiss said. “But very quickly, I knew I wanted to live with Mitch and he knew he wanted to live with me.”
Mr. Rechter’s 1,460-square-foot house was “a hangout where everybody comes,” he said. The couple hosted friends to watch their favorite football teams (Philadelphia Eagles for her, Detroit Lions for him). Ms. Weiss’s adult son would visit often, as would Mr. Rechter’s grown nieces and nephews, and their children.
With all the activity, “it felt a little tight,” he said. “I just felt it was time to upgrade.”
Ms. Weiss needed some convincing. “Usually, people at this age are downsizing,” she said. “But Mitch talked about how our families are actually going to be growing. And we wanted people to stay with us, so it made sense.”
The couple linked up with Hailey Desser, a broker with eXp Realty, and committed to their search over the summer, when many seasonal residents in Boca Raton return north. “It was the time to strike because there’s less competition,” Ms. Desser said.
The goal was to stay in Boca West, where they had cultivated a lively social life. “All parts of my life are ending up here,” Ms. Weiss said. “I’m seeing people from my hometown, people that I met in college.”
The 1,400-acre community comprises various subdivisions that were developed with different home styles, effectively creating distinct neighborhoods. They aimed for a three-bedroom house with about 2,000 square feet and an airy, open layout. Mr. Rechter was keen on getting a two-car garage.
While they were open to doing a joint renovation, Mr. Rechter would buy the property on his own, setting a budget of around $800,000.
Find out what happened next by answering these two questions:
Leave a Reply