Virginia K. Smith

Looking to buy in NYC on a budget of around $1.2 million? In the interest of speeding up the search, we looked through the current listings for pads in your price range in all five boroughs, from Manhattan condos to a Bed-Stuy multi-family to a waterfront spread on City Island.

You'd think paying your rent on time and in full would be enough to guarantee you a spot in your apartment, sans lawsuits, but not necessarily: a renter in a co-op wrote to the New York Times this weekend about the delinquent apartment owner. Thanks to this landlord's failure to keep up with the building's maintenance charges, the tenant could wind up in hot water, too.

If your roommate's boyfriend is a permanent fixture, time to get real (Gothamist)

A fed up tenant is looking for "horror stories"about one big NYC landlord (Medium)

But blogger beware: one Coney Island co-oper is getting sued for chronicling the board's alleged mismanagement (NYP)

Want the gritty sensibility of exposed wooden beams, while still maintaining a level of comfort and pampering generally reserved for a Fancy Feast cat (or at least, a Wall Street banker)? You're definitely not alone,  and there are plenty of places on the market that boast classic wooden beams, often original to the building.

Wooden beams and exposed brick accent the 22.5-foot ceilings in this $7.25 million Tribeca condo, but the rest of its touches are modern, including heated limestone floors.

As with death, taxes, and rent hikes, if you live in New York, you can always, always count on the fact that out-of-town friends and family will want to crash with you, especially during the holidays. And on the off-chance you don't just happen to have a spacious guest room going unused, Luxury Listings NYC has some tips on making visitors feel pampered, and keeping the peace with guests in close quarters. 

Below, a few key strategies to keep in mind: 

The pitfalls of your parents footing the bill for your Brooklyn apartment (hint: you may not agree on the charms of Crown Heights) (NYO)

Just because your living room is fun-sized doesn't mean you can't decorate it well (NYT)