Leah Hochbaum Rosner

Can you remember the last time you wrote a good, old-fashioned letter? Probably not. But if you find yourself involved in a bidding war, you might just have to try it. It may seem crazy, but sellers have actually been known to accept lower offers because they identify with one bidder over another after receiving one of these “love letters,” which detail why a prospective buyer is oh-so-besotted with their home. But what should you say in such a letter? And what should you leave out?

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably noticed that rent stabilization is a hot topic this week, as our lawmakers in Albany attempt to reach agreement on how to extend the (now-expired) rent laws that protect about 1 million rent-regulated apartments. But there are lots of misconceptions about rent stabilization. We clear up a few: 

The Hudson Yards project, which will bring residential and office skyscrapers, a four-star hotel and 14-acres of public outdoor space to the far West Side—won’t be complete for almost another decade, but many buyers are wondering whether to move to the area now, way before prices rise. And where exactly should you go? Ana Weisberger of Citi Habitats clues you in in this week’s Buy Curious.

THE WISH LIST:

Photo above look familiar? Us too, unfortunately. Here's how to make sure your electrical outlet's not a safety hazard, something that's especially important since we're all about to plug in our A/Cs on a regular basis.

When you're new to New York City, the rental market can seem hard to navigate. (It even mystifies us old-timers.) Below, five commonly asked first-time renter questions, answered.

Panicked you might have seen a bedbug in your apartment? It's a type of anxiety that runs rampant in New York City, we promise (and it's part of the reason our bed bug posts are so popular). But you might not have real cause for concern just because you saw something crawling around. Here are some insects that you might be seeing and mistaking for bedbugs: