Lucy Cohen Blatter

We peruse a lot of listings here at BrickUnderground,and it's not often we see an apartment with a $150,000 price tag. But behold this Forest Hills studio co-op, which is truly affordable—a rarity in these parts.

The apartment is small, yes. It reminds us of a hotel room, in fact. But it's also got an  updated kitchen (see below) and what appears to be at least one pretty large closet or pantry (also below).

The only thing in NYC that's more mind-boggling than our real estate market  is our parking situation. Try to explain the concept of alternate-side parking to a non-New Yorker, and you'll see what we mean.

If you read here often enough, you've probably noticed that we have a thing for townhouse apartments—they're so quaint and are much more interesting than so many of the cookie-cutter modern apartments we see so often. We're also suckers for sleeping lofts, which open up the space underneath and, if done well, look so much better than a bunk bed.

There's probably no place in the world where the adage "live and learn" is truer than in New York City. First-time renters may think a "cozy" apartment sounds cute; veterans know it's claustrophobic. Newcomers may think that a bedroom that looks out into a courtyard will be nice and quiet; veterans know it's dark — all the time — and that the early morning garbage can rollout will wake anyone from slumber.

If you're interested in renting this $2,295 per month apartment, we suggest you move quickly. Apartments with private outdoor space don't last long. While the place itself isn't big, it would be hard to feel too claustrophobic when you know you can lounge right outside anytime (weather permitting).

Remember the Clapper? And those catchy infomercials? The Gecko Switch is kind of like the 21st century version of that. It's a movable light switch that can be placed anywhere in your home, which means you can turn off the lights without actually getting  out of bed (the main draw of the Clapper, of course).