Featuring real estate articles and information to help real estate buyers and sellers. The Nest features writings from Georges Benoliel and other real estate professionals. Georges is the Co-Founder of NestApple and has been working as an active real estate investor for over a decade.
Quick answer: Before you make an offer on an NYC apartment, check five free city sites beyond ACRIS: DOB BIS for building violations and complaints, HPD Online for landlord history and housing court cases, ZoLa for zoning, FloodHelpNY for flood… Read More
Quick answer: ACRIS is New York City’s free property records database, covering Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx from 1966 to today. No login, no fee, at a836-acris.nyc.gov. It will also test your patience. Co-op sales often show no price.… Read More
Quick answer: ACRIS covers deeds, mortgages, and liens, but it doesn’t touch building violations, illegal work, zoning limits, flood risk, or contamination history. For that you need a handful of other city and federal databases: DOB NOW for permits and… Read More
Quick answer: A cooperative apartment lien search is a public records check your attorney orders to confirm the seller’s co-op shares and proprietary lease aren’t tied up by debt. Because co-op shares are personal property, not real estate, they aren’t… Read More
Quick answer: eAccessNY is New York State’s official portal for real estate license records, run by the NY Department of State. Anyone can use the free Public License Search to check a broker or agent’s license. It shows whether the… Read More
Quick answer: Westchester County doesn’t use ACRIS. Its property records are maintained by the Westchester County Clerk’s Land Records Division and are searchable through a separate portal called Westchester Records Online (WRO) at wro.westchesterclerk.com. You can search deeds and mortgages by… Read More
Quick answer: RP-5217, the Real Property Transfer Report, is a New York State form. It must be filed with every deed recorded in the state, including NYC. This report feeds the state’s property assessment data. It is not a tax… Read More
Quick answer: You can look up any NYC property’s tax bill for free through the Department of Finance’s Property Tax Bills and Payments portal, using either the address or the property’s BBL (borough-block-lot) number. The same BBL is what links… Read More
Quick answer: New York’s pied-à-terre tax is a new annual surcharge on non-primary-residence properties in NYC — houses over $5 million and condos/co-ops over $1 million — effective July 1, 2026. Rates range from 0.8% to 6.5% of the full… Read More
You signed for two years. The apartment is good, the location is better, and the rent made sense on the day you signed it. Then week three arrives, and you’ve learned the building’s schedule without trying. Hallway door slamming somewhere… Read More
The Noise Question Every NYC Buyer Should Ask Before Closing The showing was on a Tuesday at two in the afternoon. The building was quiet, the light was good, and someone mentioned prewar construction and thick walls, which everybody nodded… Read More
Learn how a real estate rebate works, how much you can save, and whether it’s legal and tax-free — plus how NestApple pays buyers up to 2% back at closing.
Buying your first rental property in New York, even for a first-time investor, can be extremely lucrative in terms of income potential. That said, managing a rental is just as complicated everywhere else in the country. Many self-managing landlords assume… Read More
The biggest mistake vacation home buyers make isn’t choosing the wrong location – it’s assuming the property will easily pay for itself. Rental income can certainly help offset ownership costs, but only if you’ve planned for everything that comes with… Read More
Hiring movers in New York City has a reputation for being a gamble, and not without reason. The market is huge, the quality varies wildly, and the pricing is often deliberately opaque. But relocating in the five boroughs does not… Read More
