A Place in Brooklyn, the "Hot Borough" Suzanne Cooke bought a large and sunny one-bedroom in the Clinton Hill Co-ops in Brooklyn in 2000. She lived there happily while working in the television field. In 2007, when she took a job in Chicago producing promos for "The Oprah Winfrey Show," she sublet the apartment. A few years later, because of the co-op's sublet policy, she was forced to sell it, "which sometimes I regret," she said. She hadn't thought she would be returning to New York. After the Oprah show ended, however, she changed her mind. Ms. Cooke, a graduate of Vassar College, returned to her mother's house in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, her childhood home, and landed a job in marketing at NBC News. Then she began hunting for a home to buy in the borough with the help of an old friend, JoAnn Ebanks of Citi Habitats. She hoped to find a two- or three-family brownstone, where she would live in the owner's unit and rent out the rest. She assumed that a price in the $600,000s would land a place near the A train in or near Bedford-Stuyvesant. "You can get anywhere in no time flat on the A train," she said. Still, knowing a brownstone might not be feasible, she kept an eye out for two-bedrooms, at a top price of $440,000. She wanted a second bathroom, a doorman, a washer-dryer and a dishwasher. A view wasn't important. "I knew I would never get a view that would compete with the view in Clinton Hill," she said. She didn't much like new construction, although the duplexes in a new condominium building on Gates Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant were an exception. "I felt like it was my time to have stairs," she said. At that point, a two-bedroom there was around $450,000 with monthly charges in the mid-$500s. Ultimately, though, Ms. Cooke decided she preferred a prewar building. As for the brownstones she saw, many were in grave disrepair, and some were snapped up by investors before she could consider them. One of the few that seemed suitable was a two-family on Hawthorne Street in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, with a big skylight that "lit up the entire house," Ms. Cooke said. The house needed "a lot of work and a lot of love." It had two parking spots in front. Ms. Cooke doesn't drive, but she knew she could rent out the spots. She offered the asking price, $640,000. But another party offered cash. That happened a few times. And, though Ms. Cooke's experience subletting her Clinton Hill co-op had been good, "I thought the brownstone maybe wasn't the best option," Ms. Ebanks said. What if the boiler isn't working and at the same time there is breaking news? So Ms. Cooke relinquished the brownstone idea. She liked a spacious and high-ceilinged two-bedroom co-op on Ocean Avenue in Prospect Park South. It, too, was in need of work. The price was $395,000, monthly maintenance in the high-$500s. "You couldn't tell which bedroom was the master" because both were equally big, Ms. Ebanks said. But the owner decided not to sell and took the apartment off the market. Ms. Cooke was in no rush, but prices were rising and her frustration was growing. At a beautifully restored Crown Heights two-bedroom, a fourth-floor walk-up, "there was a line down the stairs waiting," she said. I knew I didn't stand a chance. She often ran into "the same people I was competing with," she said. She was once stuck in an elevator with other apartment-hunters. "We were talking about how infuriating it was, buying an apartment in Brooklyn, the new Brooklyn, the new hot borough," she said. The apartment was small - and the group collectively decided that "the price was outrageous." Because a friend in a six-story 1940 building on Hawthorne Street kept singing its praises, she found herself back in that area, taking a look. The friend had also mentioned an appealing fact: "She would talk about how many retired West Indian nurses were in her neighborhood," Ms. Cooke said, "and my mom happens to be a retired West Indian nurse." A two-bedroom was available in the friend's co-op, listed at $325,000, with monthly maintenance in the high $700s. And that was it. Ms. Cooke loved the 1,200-square-foot layout, with its large foyer. It would need some repairs, and there was no second bathroom, no doorman, no washer-dryer and no dishwasher. "You don't always get what you want," Ms. Cooke said. That's the lesson there. Ms. Cooke outbid two other prospective buyers and closed in midsummer for a purchase price of $385,000. "After having lost so many places," Ms. Ebanks said, "she was ready to be aggressive." Ms. Cooke has, however, been unable to move in. "It is hard to find a contractor in this city," she said. There are very few people who say they love their contractor. One well-recommended workman was leaving for a monthlong vacation. Ms. Cooke did find a contractor she liked, which was good because more work was needed than she anticipated. The bathroom required a full renovation because of leaking water within the walls. And the replacement of light fixtures revealed frayed wires. Ms. Cooke plans to arrive later this month. "I am excited to see what this next chapter is," she said. So far she has spent one night in her apartment on an air mattress, waking "to perfect light in the bedroom." The A train isn't nearby. "I can live with that reality," Ms. Cooke said. With four other trains to use, her new subway situation "may, in fact, be better."