Virginia K. Smith

Q: My lease requires that I buy renter’s insurance, or risk being in breach. I don’t own anything of significant value, and would prefer to just pay for damage as it comes up. I realize this doesn’t provide liability coverage, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take in lieu of paying $206 a year. Can my landlord really make me buy a policy?

A: In a word, yes! Your landlord is well within his or her rights to ask you to take out a renter's insurance policy as a condition of your lease, say our experts. 

Little upgrades can have a big impact on your final selling price (NYT, previously)

The next stop for artists priced out of Brooklyn: Pittsburgh? (Brooklyn Based)

New Yorkers are nothing if not industrious—and eager to get a deal at any and every opportunity. Naturally, that extends to our real estate transactions. Next week, we're tackling the wide world of For Sale By Owner apartment sales—that's FSBOs, to you—with coverage on everything from how to pull one off, what a FSBO is like from the buyer's perspective, and how much money ditching a broker really saves you, along with stories from sellers who've gone FSBO and lived to tell the tale.

Ridgewood is still cozy, less affordable than it used to be (NYP)

Another day, another fun map, this time of playgrounds where kids get the most injuries (DNAinfo)