Leigh Kamping-Carder

Q. I own a two-bedroom condo worth roughly $1.5 million, with a $300,000 mortgage and $500,000 in the bank. I want to buy a three-bedroom for between $2.25 million and $2.5 million. What’s the best strategy to do this? Should I sell the current place and rent while I look? Or make an offer on a new place and hope to sell before I close?

Paint color is a blessing and a curse: a pop of color or a sophisticated neutral can give your room a bright, luxe feel as easily as make it feel outdated, dirty or just plain weird-looking. So we’re pretty into this primer (ahem) on how to work with a room’s light to get the desired effect on your walls, courtesy Apartment Therapy.

Before you commit, test the color with paint chips or samples, and be sure to:

Between the skyscraper prices and rock-bottom vacancies, renting in this town is a bloodsport—but the faintest glimmer of hope may be on the horizon. In 2015, developers are set to build more rentals than any year on record, particularly in cheaper “outer outer borough” areas like Bushwick, Greenpoint and Ridgewood, Queens, The Real Deal reports.

What does a couple without kids (and no plans to have 'em) do with an entire four-story townhouse? In the case of one Prospect Heights pair, the answer was to knock out the four existing apartments and transform the space into an enviable one-bedroom spread across three floors, with a double-height living room, custom floating staircase, plenty of exposed brick, and a leafy backyard. In addition to their dreamy triplex, they created two separate rental units on the top floors of the building.