BrickUnderground

Who doesn't love a good round of "Would You Rather"? We've decided to give the age-old party game a real estate twist in this new every-so-often column.

Today we're kicking things off with our first totally hypothetical question: Would you rather pay $1 million for a fourth-floor walk-up that’s 1,500 square feet and gorgeously renovated with outdoor space--or use that same million to buy a 900-square-foot generic apartment in an elevator building?

We asked five New Yorkers to choose--and explain. 

This $690k two-bedroom, 1.5 bath West 82nd Street co-op welcomes pied-a-terre purchasers.

Did the nice weather this weekend inspire an unusual number of out-of-towners to go house hunting for a pied-a-terre in the Big Apple?

Perhaps. Today's Open House Scorecard--rounding up the 10 open houses buyers perusing StreetEasy saved to their open-house calendars more often than any others this weekend--features several apartments that go very light on purchasing restrictions.

On the Upper West Side, a $690k two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath co-op (pictured) on West 82nd Street between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue could also be purchased as a pied a terre. 

This 2-bedroom, 1-bath $1.3m West 21st Street co-op needs a second bathroom to put it squarely in the $1.2m-$1.4m sweetspot for a two-bedroom. On the plus side, it's downtown and the $1,076/mo maintenance is low.

You’d have to be living in a cave or on a desert island not to know how hot the New York real estate market is this spring.

Gary Malin, president of Citi Habitats sums up what everyone is thinking: “We are in an appreciating market right now and prices have the potential to reach all time highs in the near future. ...If the sales market continues on this path, it will surpass its previous high, which was set in 2008, some time this year."

The reasons: shrinking inventory, low mortgage rates, international buyers. A perfect storm. So how do you know if you should take the plunge and put your apartment on the market?

Here are 4 questions to ask yourself.

Classic townhouse details have been restored in this $3,500 four-bedroom in Prospect Heights/Crown Heights on which the owner is still putting the finishing touches.

According to the listing, this $3,500 four-bedroom is in Prospect Heights, but we think that's pushing it a bit. The location is better described as Crown Heights. Either way, it sounds like a pretty good deal

Pros: Although the apartment has been recently renovated (as you can see from the photo of the kitchen), architectural features such as a fireplace, moldings and frames have been retained and restored.

Cons: The apartment is a third-floor walk-up.There's only one (small-looking) bathroom.