Leigh Kamping-Carder

Q. We bought an apartment and are almost done moving in, but there are a lot of things broken that the sellers didn't tell us about—like the dishwasher, the door and a cracked ceiling. We have the appraiser's notes saying that everything was in working order. What's our best recourse? Would we have a case to sue? 

It's almost that time of year when New York apartment sales kicks into high gear. So next week, BrickUnderground is diving into the nitty gritty of selling with a full week of coverage, from the psychology of pricing to the ins and outs of working with a broker, and plenty of stories  from people who've been there before. (Don't worry, we'll have lots of other posts as well!) 

I recently embarked on a full-scale, top-to-bottom, New Year’s apartment clean. We’re talking scrubbing the baseboards, purging the freezer, polishing the toilet’s nooks and crannies, and everything in between. It's made a huge difference. My apartment isn’t actually bigger or brighter, but it does feel that way, and suddenly spontaneously hosting a friend for a glass of wine feels less like a hardship (“Can he see the cat hair tumbleweeds under the chairs?!”) and more like a pleasure.

We’ve already heard that more new condos are set to go on sale this year, making things a little easier for buyers—the more apartments available, the less crazy the process of acquiring one, after all. But if you’re not in the market for a new development, there’s some good news out there for you, too.