How to Buy and Remodel
a Condo or Coop Apartment in New York City

Relative to most of civilization, New York City is truly unique when it comes to buying and remodeling a home. On the surface of it, it may seem like it’s the same process you would find in other cities and states. It’s not. This site will provide a practical overview and plenty of advice regarding the in’s and out’s of buying and refurbishing an apartment anywhere in the city, but we will focus on the special challenges found in Manhattan.

If you can manage the price of admission to the housing market here, part of what you go through will be typical of the procedure anywhere. You'll research properties, go to open houses, adjust to sticker shock, retain a real estate agent, and probably need to obtain a large mortgage. And, once you get a new home you will likely want to do some renovations - hopefully before moving in. It all sounds fairly straight forward, but there are a number of aspects to the process that make it a singular experience. Some guidance can really help.

We’ve Been Through It

We have been through the process ourselves and know from direct experience what is involved. We want to share what we’ve learned and help you go through the experience informed and with your eyes open, right from the start. As anyone who has been down this road in NYC knows, it is fraught with challenges and perhaps a land mine or two, and inevitably there will be some frustrations. But it can be a relatively pleasant experience if you are forearmed with some key knowledge and know what to expect.

Our bottom line intent is to help you get through the whole ordeal with your sanity intact and a beautiful apartment of your own that will make you proud and nourish your soul.

Please feel free to meander Through the Site It’s been a labor of love to put it together. We think we’re offering a significant resource in one location. Here you’ll find just about everything you need to know to be knowledgeable about the Manhattan real estate market, the process of purchasing, as well as what to expect if you decide to renovate. We hope you’ll find the suggested links sprinkled throughout the pages a nice bonus – providing additional useful information, alternative points of view and hopefully inspiration, too.

Contents

The bulk of the site is contained in two sections:

The Buying Process – The Menu for Purchasing an Apartment

The Remodeling Process – The Menu for Renovating an Apartment

In addition we offer: The Blue Pearl Digest

The Digest is a monthly column providing our take on something we find relevant, fascinating or valuable with regards to buying or remodeling in the city. The topics are diverse and include some mix of the following: updates on interest rates, sales trends, interesting legal issues, new condo or coop projects, design trends, home furnishing stores or on-line sites worth exploring and anything else that piques our interest or strikes our fancy.

We also offer for purchase an eBook version of the Buying and Remodeling sections of the website. This is for those of you who want the site content in an easily accessible, book style pdf format with all links active. You then have the option too of printing out the contents and reading them at your leisure.

Please return to the site periodically and watch for announcements regarding eBook revisions and additional titles for purchase.

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