The most important person in your building, and how to co-exist

Many say he's the most important person in the building. Love him or hate him, chances are you'll need your super's help at some point. 

So this week's SurvivalList focuses on supers -- how to deal with them, how to spot shady ones and how to pay them.

Of course, we've had our fair share of posts on not-so-super supers (there's the one who made tenants call him Rambo and flipped through Penthouse in broad daylight, the one who may or may not have stolen a bag of bones and a soda bottle from a tenant's doorstep, and the one who insisted on tips before doing anything and took a cut from the other staff's tips).

For these types of situations, we have several helpful posts -- including "Not-so-super supers & what to do about them" and "Do I have to give my creepy super a key to my apartment?" (To avoid this kind of situation in the first place, we recommending asking the neighbors about the super before you move in).

Want stuff done fast? Consult "7 ways to charm your super besides paying him off."

Of course, not all supers are bad, corrupt or need you to go overboard on the charming, and some go way beyond the bare minimum -- picking up packages and consulting on renovations. (It's just the bad ones we find most fun to read about.)

For those who do their job well (or at least the very least do their job), we offer tips on tipping the super year round.