Photo via Wiki Commons

Affordable housing is one of the hottest topics in the real estate market these days. It all started with Mayor de Blasio’s plan to preserve or build 200,000 affordable units over the next ten years, which has resulted in a slew of new lotteries for below-market rate apartments, putting his goal ahead of schedule. And let’s not forget the expiration of the controversial 421-a tax abatement, which provides incentives to developers when they reserve at least 20 percent of a building’s units for low- and moderate-income tenants. But despite the buzz-worthy roll affordable housing has been on, many are still left wondering what exactly it is.

Everything you need to know about affordable housing

Lead image © Daxiao Productions – Fotolio

6sqft’s ongoing series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. This week, now that the city is in high renting season, we’ve researched the best resources for finding a no-fee apartment.

More than half of New Yorkers spend 30 percent or more of their income on rent. Tack on a broker’s fee that could be as high as 15 percent of an apartment’s annual rent, and that burden becomes even worse. Thankfully, there are more and more resources popping up to find no-fee rentals. Aside from the go-to listing aggregators, there’s now roommate-share options, lease break sites, artist-centric search engines, and good old fashioned networking. 6sqft has put together our 12 favorite options, along with the basics of each so you can figure out what will work best for you and how to prioritize your search.

Check out the full list here

Photo via New York Law School/Flickr

6sqft’s ongoing series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. This week, Corcoran realtor Alison McQueen shares her personal guide for first-time homebuyers in NYC.

Many first-time homebuyers in NYC are doubtful they’ll find a great place within their budget, but every single client I’ve worked with has closed on a home, and they say buying was one of the best decisions they ever made. To make this dream a reality, you’ll want a clear understanding of your finances and how much you’d like to spend; the top five things you want in a home; and a sense of your preferred neighborhoods based on potential commute, area amenities; and ideal budget. Sound overwhelming? That’s where a team of professionals comes in, including a real estate agent, real estate attorney, and home inspector. The best way to enter the purchase process is as an informed consumer, as you’ll have an easier time targeting and getting what you want. To make the process a bit easier, I’ve put together a handy list of the key things to consider when embarking on the purchase path in New York City.

All the tricks of the trade

Our ongoing series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. Previously, 6sqft rounded up a list of 10 nearly indestructible plants that are ideal for apartment dwellers with black thumbs. Now, we’re taking a look at plants that are powerhouses when it comes to cleaning indoor air.

Outdoor air quality is a concern for all, but few of us consider the airborne pollutants that have infiltrated our homes. Toxins from carpet, paint, upholstery and cleaning products are just a handful of modern-day products that can degrade indoor air quality, and studies have shown too much exposure to these manmade elements can cause lung and respiratory issues over the long run. Luckily, there are a number of houseplants that moonlight as efficient purifiers. Ahead you’ll find 15 of the best air-purifying plants suited for apartment living, according to Dr. B.C. Wolverton, a scientist who worked with NASA to develop a breathable environment for long-term lunar habitation.

15 plants to help keep indoor air its purest

Image via WikiCommons

6sqft’s ongoing series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. This week, we cover everything you need to consider when raising chickens in the city.

In a city where simply finding a balcony large enough for a pot of basil can be a challenge, one may be surprised to discover that chicken coops can be found across all five boroughs. Chickens were once primarily kept by older city residents, including many who come from places in the world where a backyard supply of fresh eggs is taken for granted. More recently, everyone from Park Slope housewives to Bushwick hipsters appears to be embracing the backyard chicken craze.

More on Raising City Chickens

6sqft’s series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. With temperatures climbing, we put together the best products and tips for keeping your apartment cool this summer.

If you’re not one of the lucky ones who has central cooling in their apartment, the summer months can be a challenge. A regular old fan won’t always do the trick, and traditional wall-unit air conditioners are bulky, hard to install, loud, expensive to run, and often associated with health risks such as respiratory issues, headaches, and skin irritation. If you’re looking to try something new this season, 6sqft has rounded up several products and innovations perfect for keeping apartment dwellers from sticking to the sheets when the mercury rises. We’ve also put together a list of tips for those who want to go completely off-the-grid and for those who simply can’t give up the wall unit, but want to be less wasteful.

Get it all this way

The Jean-Michel Basquiat painting that sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby’s. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s

Our ongoing series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. This week we have tips on how to start an art collection for both fun and future profit.

In May 2017, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 painting of a skull sold for a mind-numbing $110.5 million at Sotheby’s, becoming the sixth most expensive work in history to sell at auction. In fact, Sotheby’s is known to record billions of dollars in art sales annually fed by wealthy art enthusiasts clamoring to hang the most rarefied of works.

But for us plebeians who find the thought of buying fine art alluring but lack the finances needed to bid on a Pollock or a Picasso, what options are available to us?

Ahead, Krista Scenna, an independent curator, gallerist and co-owner of Brooklyn’s Ground Floor Gallery, gives 6sqft the low-down on how regular folks can begin to build a museum-worthy art collection on a budget. Addressing everything from how to vet emerging artists for value to the top three questions you need to ask yourself before you even begin your hunt to simply why you should invest in art in the first place, if you’re new to the world of buying art, this guide is for you!

everything you need to know here

6sqft’s ongoing series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. This week we share the 10 best plants suited for both bright and dark bathroom environments.

Plants are an easy and inexpensive way to spruce up any room in a home, and this rings especially true in the bathroom where design choices typically don’t involve much more than the color of one’s bathmat. However, keeping greenery alive and flourishing in a room where temperatures can shift from cool and comfortable to hot and steamy in just minutes can be difficult. But don’t be deterred from growing a green canopy above your shower. Ahead, 6sqft rounds up 10 robust plants that enjoy high humidity, warm temperatures, and bright or low light.

10 plants to add to your bathroom here

Our ongoing series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. This week, Art Nerd New York founder Lori Zimmer shares her top spots for scoring affordable art in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn has become the place to be for creatives, especially as artists have migrated from Soho and the East Village to Williamsburg, Bushwick, and beyond. Now, blue-chip galleries are sprouting up Brooklyn locations, art fairs have Brooklyn outposts, and artists studios are thriving in neighborhoods all over the borough. Despite the rise of Brooklyn arts (and rents), there are still places to procure affordable art, all while supporting the artists struggling to survive in a very competitive market.

our list here

After finally finding that perfect NYC apartment, it’s time to prove you can actually pay for it. Many NYC newbies and even natives can’t meet landlords’ strict criteria, like having a high credit score or a salary that equals 40-45 times the monthly rent, for example. Which is where guarantors come in–a co-signer who guarantees payment on the lease if it otherwise can’t be made. But this is an entirely additional process, from finding someone who fits the bill to gathering all the paperwork. To make the process a simpler, 6sqft has put together a guide of everything you need to know about using guarantor and some tricks of the trade.

Find out the guarantor basics