Out and About: Before buying, fall in love with the nabe

 

A Central Park block in the mid 90s.

An extraordinarily wise and experienced real estate professional–okay, Paul Purcell is a founder of Charles Rutenberg Realty, with which I’m affiliated–once said this to a seller whose apartment we were pricing:

You’ve got to like the apartment, but you’ve got to love the neighborhood.

Honestly, I’d never considered that criterion with quite so much emphasis.  When I think of it, however, the notion of which part of the city appeals to a buyer naturally has to come first.  (With me, it was one factor on which I have been willing to compromise, having lived in neighborhoods as diverse as Washington Heights and Gramercy Park, among several others.)

But I get it.

We all know that there are

Weekly Roundup: Too much inventory persists

Here’s your chance to catch up with news included to inform, enlighten and perhaps even entertain you. To read about The Big Apple, check out another of today’s three posts.

PRESS MAGNATE’S EX FINALLY GETS TO SIGN ON THE BOTTOM LINE

IRISHMAN, TRAVELER, KNIGHT RIDER, HE IS READY TO TAKE A BEATING ON HIS RANCH

AFTER MUCH SEARCHING, HE DOESN’T NIX A $37,500 A MONTH RENTAL

MRS. G GOES TO WASHINGTON, CUTTING PRICE OF HER FAMILY HOME

RETIRED ATHLETE STRIKES OUT ON HIS FIRST ATTEMPT TO UNLOAD HOME

SALES RISE OF PREVIOUSLY OWNED HOMES, BUT

The Big Apple: Sales spiked last spring, then sagged

LANDLORD SUES BROKER, ALLEGING THAT HIS FIRM DIDN’T LOOK OUT FOR HIS BEST INTERESTS

William Cornwell, a retired advertising art director, hired a brokerage firm to a rent out a studio in his West Village townhouse. Then a broker at the firm made him a proposition he found he couldn’t refuse: Why not rent it to me instead?

The result was that Cornwell, 74, signed two handwritten leases on two studios in his Greek revival townhouse, with the agent and the agent’s father, for below market rate and for terms of up to 20 years.

Now Cornwell is in court battling the broker and his firm, charging the leases violated the obligation under state law that a broker represent a client’s interests honestly, fairly and in good faith.  In addition, the state is now investigating the transactions.

IF YOU USE A COMMON CLOTHES DRYER AND ARE PARANOID ABOUT BEDBUGS,