Here's a piece of advice that'll help make your apartment search a little less awful (and save you a lot of walking around seeing hopeless places): Look closely at the listing photos. Here on Brick, we look at a lot of New York City apartment listings every day, and have trained ourselves to look for details that might turn a renter or buyer off. Sometimes they're rather subtle, but can have a pretty big impact on your day-to-day life. Behold, four examples below:

It it possible to use a sink without a faucet? We didn't think so. Maybe go check out this Harlem apartment and see for yourself. Perhaps there's some magic at work.

Looking for an excuse not to do the dishes? How about you're six feet tall and may hit your head if you did. At least that seems to be the case in the kitchen in this Ditmas Park apartment.

This "one of a kind" four-bedroom in Bushwick is kind of a cool share, and feels like it's gotten modern updates. But look closely and you'll see the air-conditioning and heat piping running along several rooms. We can't imagine that'd be too pleasant (or quiet) to live with. And depending on insulation, we'd imagine that could get hot in winter. Still, we've got to give the agent credit for even attempting to sell this place's outdoor space (see below). Did somebody say "fixer upper"?

Hope you're not a big foodie, because this Crown Heights studio (which is actually a room), has no stove to speak of. But it does have a microwave, a mini-fridge that's giving us college flashbacks, and if you must cook something, there's a grill outside (see below)!