Jennifer Laing

In Joseph O’Neill's “The Referees,” a short story in this week’s New Yorker, the protagonist, Rob, is struggling to gather credible character references in support of an application to rent a co-op in Prospect Heights.

We may be in the midst of a late summer heat wave, but you know that just around the corner... winter is coming.

Buying or selling an apartment is a huge undertaking with equally enormous stakes. Needless to say, you want the job done right. AOL Real Estate, by way of Business Insider, has a good roundup of basic ways to avoid making a major error. We pulled out a few that New Yorkers should keep on their radar:

For buyers:

This duplex rental in a brownstone at 393 10th Street in Park Slope has “family-friendly” written all over it, and a not-too-steep price tag of $4,995 a month.

In Case You Missed It: Every so often, BrickUnderground digs through the archives to find the best advice our experts have shared through the years.