Leigh Kamping-Carder

Choosing a contractor is an essential—if headache-inducing—part of any renovation that's not a DIY job. And one of the first steps to hiring said contractor is making sure they’re licensed, as the home improvement site Sweeten recently pointed out. Sure, it’s not the most, ahem, groundbreaking piece of advice.

A studio in Harlem for less than $500 a month? Better act now (DNAinfo)

How sad is it that when we watched comedian Scott Rogowsky’s tongue-in-cheek hunt for an “affordable” apartment on the Williamsburg waterfront, we actually thought, hey, that’s not the worst method we’ve seen for finding a place? In his latest video, spotted by the blog Bedford + Bowery, Rogowsky stops into luxe developments like 184 Kent Avenue and the Edge, asking brokers and building staff how to get one of the places upstairs.

Q. I'm shopping for a co-op, and I have two young children. Will they have to do anything as part of my application for an apartment, like come to the board interview or get reference letters? Will I get turned down if they don't like my kids?