Posts by Margot Slade:
Radiators are as quaint, and passe, in new buildings in New York as metal-cage, do-it-yourself elevators. But forced air or ductless systems may raise new concerns if they lack humidifiers. "Forced air heating is uber-drying and headache producing. It is a personal deal-killer for me!" says one irate commenter on StreetEasy.com. Another adds: "My apt is dry as a bone during our non-humid winter months...
The final walk-through of your soon-to-be-yours apartment is the last time you can ensure that you get what you paid for, that whatever you paid for isn't blemished (think counters, floors) or broken (appliances, wall sockets, etc.), and if it is, that it will be fixed or replaced. But where do you start, and how long should this take? The Apple, Peeled has posted an excellent, practical, room-by-room checklist.
If you're thinking about subletting your apartment soon (summer, after all, is just around the corner), you may want to tune into a Brownstoner.com discussion in which small landlords are swapping advice on how to pick a good tenant through techniques like Google and Facebook checks. Suggestions include:
For best results when renovating, you may want to dial back on the Grohe faucets and spend $500 on a couple's therapist instead.
A dormant StreetEasy discussion on good/bad NYC brokering has sprung back to life with more unsolicited and sometimes acid advice for the city's real estate agents...here are the highlights:
