Virginia K. Smith

New York apartments are absurdly expensive, yes, but your home decor doesn't have to be (Racked NY)

You're not the only one confused by the mortgage process, and the Wall Street Journal offers some much-needed clarity (WSJ)

If there's one thing we never tire of, it's advice on getting through a NYC apartment hunt unscathed. Today, Refinery 29 has a great round-up of wisdom for first-time renters, or those of us who are a little rusty. Full disclosure, they interviewed our Senior Editor Leigh Kamping-Carder for the piece, but we loved the rest of the experts' advice, too. A few key takeaways we learned this morning: 

Come in with a plan...

Manhattan's newest, made-up micro-neighborhood: Stuyvesant Square (The New York Observer)

Sure, roommates can be annoying, but you'll miss 'em once they're gone (Buzzfeed)

While landing yourself in a rent-stabilized apartment is undeniably a major stroke of good fortune—and every renter's dream—it can also be fleeting: 7,596 rent-stabilized apartments turned market-rate in the last year alone, according to a new report from the Rent Guidelines Board, the state agency that regulates the program.