Lucy Cohen Blatter

This $2,695 no-fee three-bedroom in Ridgewood, Queens,  is less than a block from the Seneca Avenue M train and just a few blocks from Bushwick. And it's obviously been newly renovated, and has three equally sized bedrooms (which is helpful if you're sharing). There are closets and windows in all the bedrooms, though none are all that large.

Another benefit for shares: Guarantors are accepted.

What's a good way to make a small space feel bigger? Supplement said small space with nearly 200 square feet of outdoor space. This $2,995 studio on the northern tip of the West Village (14th Street between Seventh and Eighth to be exact), has a secluded patio with brownstone and treetop views.

While many New York City apartment listings will use the term "basement" or "cellar" interchangeably to describe a space, there are real differences between the two, points out Brownstoner in a recent story. 

While we'd never turn down a beach house, our more practical side yearns for out-of-the-city escapes we could enjoy all year long, during every season.

Enter this $795,000 country retreat in Putnam County's Carmel, New York. It happens to be about a little over an hour north of the city, so it's also rather commutable, if you can't bear to spend just your weekends there.