The Ultimate Amenity: Grandparents

By ROBIN FINN

Instead of moving back to their home towns, some affluent New Yorkers with children are buying apartments near their own so their parents can be closer to the grandchildren.
The Hunt

The ‘Just-Do-It’ Apartment

By JOYCE COHEN

Richard Carbone decided to make good on his long-held plan to move to New York.
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Living In | Hastings-on-Hudson

In Varied Housing Size, Diversity Insurance

By ELSA BRENNER

A village in southern Westchester has a diverse housing stock that includes Tudors, colonials, contemporaries and apartments, in many price ranges.
- Slide Show
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House Hunting in ... South Africa

By VIRGINIA C. McGUIRE

The market in South Africa has improved since the global financial crisis.
- Slide Show

Illustration by Nancy Doniger

Big Deal

A Mad Dash to Avoid a Bigger Tax Bite

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO

Sellers and their brokers and lawyers across the country have been scrambling to close deals and avoid January tax increases that will eat into their profits.

Follow Alexei Barrionuevo on Twitter: @alexeinyt

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Getting Started

The Formidable Co-op Approval Process

By SUSAN STELLIN

What you have to go through to get approved by a building’s board of directors is a level of scrutiny that even the wealthiest buyers are not spared.

More Getting Started Columns »

City Room

Big Ticket | Sold for $39,000,018

By ROBIN FINN

A duplex in the selective co-op at 730 Park Avenue, with 12 rooms and 5 terraces overlooking Central Park, was never formally listed.

SEASONAL TOPIC Howie Berman and Jaime Maser live in a one-bedroom in SoHo.

Talking Turkey About Real Estate

By CONSTANCE ROSENBLUM

When family and friends gather over the holidays, talk invariably turns to real estate, especially in the housing-obsessed New York area.

Streetscapes

The town-house garage at 44 East 71st Street, as seen today. The elegant hinged cast-iron door to the left of the entrance was recently restored; its twin is stationary.

When the Auto Moved In

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY

As soon as cars replaced horses, rich men built town houses with garages.

More Streetscapes Columns »

Mortgages

Fewer First-Time Buyers

By LISA PREVOST

At least two national surveys suggest a decline because of tight credit and cash-rich investors.

More Mortgages Columns »

Q & A

By JAY ROMANO

Paying the “mansion tax”; rent abatements after the storm; “windstorm deductible” explained.

Email a Question

This home in Phoenix that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright had been threatened by demolition but has now been purchased.

Sale of Wright House Assures Its Preservation

By FERNANDA SANTOS and MICHAEL KIMMELMAN

A house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Phoenix was sold on Thursday, after it had been threatened for months with demolition.

A four-bedroom modern is on the market in Key Biscayne, an islet off Miami, for $2,400,000.

What You Get for ... $2.4 Million

By MIKE POWELL

A modern in Key Biscayne, a 1909 house in Seattle and a house with an ocean view in Hawaii.

Slide Show

A Suburban Wasteland in Virginia Gets a Modern Urban Feel

By ALISON M. RICE

Fairfax County and developers have transformed Merrifield, Va., not far from Washington, from a dingy crossroads into a vibrant retail and residential community.

The view on Greene Street in SoHo, looking south. High rents and a scarcity of space have sent retailers onto smaller side streets.

Building Sales Surge in SoHo, Especially on the Side Streets

By JULIE SATOW

In the face of little inventory and sky-high rents, the luxury clothing brands that would normally flock to main streets like Prince and Spring are now searching out the smaller streets.

The 30-Minute Interview

Joseph Stettinius Jr.

By VIVIAN MARINO

Mr. Stettinius is the new chief executive of Cassidy Turley, a commercial real estate services firm based in Washington.

DealBook

Banks Seek a Shield in Mortgage Rules

By PETER EAVIS

As mortgage rules under the Dodd-Frank Act are finished, banks and policy makers want legal protections against lawsuits, while others worry that this will deny borrowers a critical safeguard.

The Appraisal

Andrew Rosenwach, center, and his son Henry, right, of the Rosenwach Group, one of the three companies that install wooden water tanks in New York City.

Getting Water to New Yorkers Is a Family Business

By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS

Installing, maintaining and replacing wooden water tanks in the city is largely handled by three companies: Isseks Brothers, the Rosenwach Group and American Pipe and Tank.