Lucy Cohen Blatter

It seems like we hear that mortgage rates are at "all-time lows" all the time. But now they may very well be. That's good news for anyone looking to buy an apartment in New York City, sure, but it might be particularly helpful for apartment owners (with mortgages in tow) who are looking to pay a little bit less per month.

To even consider this studio at 42 West 73rd Street, between Columbus and Central Park West, you've got to like prewar character (and have the budget to spend $2,600 a month). Assuming you do, there are some real plusses to this apartment in a four-story brownstone—and minuses too (this is Manhattan after all). 

Buyers are liars—or so the saying goes among New York real estate brokers. What they mean is that apartment hunters set out with a list of new-home essentials and, by the time they sign a deal, wind up with something entirely different.

The benefit of an L-shaped studio is that, even though the place is technically only a single room, the layout more or less eliminates that feeling of sleeping in your kitchen. That's why we like this Ditmas Park co-op, which is on the market for a reasonable $225,000. It's compact, but doesn't feel cooped up. 

Got $800,000 burning a hole in your pocket (or at least a bank's go-ahead for a loan)? We've found apartments across all five boroughs that'll fit your budget, from a one-bedroom condo in Midtown to a four-bedroom house in Beford-Stuyvesant, with lots in between.