A Much Needed Price Drop at 324 Pearl St., #2J

When we first crowned this dark 1BR in one of the worst locations in FiDi as our "As If" apartment of the week, we said it was shockingly over-priced at $800,000 for 800 sq ft.

Fast-forward just one month, and this apartment has now been reduced to a more reasonable $695,000, although we still think the price has more to give.

"As If!" 311 Greenwich #6G - $825,000 - 650 sq ft

We debated whether this cute little apartment in one of the only Tribeca buildings that has listings for under $1MM is really the overpriced apartment of the week, but at $1,269 per sq ft, we just can't imagine such a price even in a renovated unit.

Both the Streeteasy ad and the floorplan loudly proclaim this apartment as a "Miracle on Greenwich Street!", although the only thing that we find miraculous here is that some new floors and a renovated kitchen would actually spur anyone to pay $825k for what is essentially a tiny apartment without a W/D in the unit and a "cute" balcony that is good for nothing growing herbs.

Although the renovations in this super small apartment are very nice and we like the location, we can't get over the unbelievable price tag given that a larger unit in the same building with a real balcony and in need of only new floors and some kitchen cabinets failed to sell at an ask of $775,000 and is now no longer on the market.

#6G sold in 2004 for $640,000, which we think is actually quite a reasonable price now, given the relatively low maintenance and pint-sized square footage. Add in the fact that absolutely nothing has sold in this building since September, 2008 and we're pretty sure that there are some sellers with high expectations here.

"As If" (The Overpriced Apartment of the Week) 533 East 6th Street, #6 - $849,000 - 1080 sq ft

We thought we were going to see an underpriced wonderland as we wandered toward this apartment on Avenue B last week. After all, we said, Avenue B is far from the subway and still developing a vibe, so $849k for just over 1,000 sq ft seemed like a reasonable price for what looked like a beautifully finished 3BR floor thru apartment.

Instead, we couldn't believe it when we arrived at this unit and discovered (by running around the ground floor and peering into every rectangular shape that looked like it could hold a person) that this place is an fcuking (not the clothing retailer) 6th floor walkup. "Oh why the heck not?" we said as we climbed stair after stair - we've walked all the way to Avenue B, we might as well see the unit.

After finally arriving at the 6th floor, we wiped off our sweaty brows and decided to have a look around as this would undoubtedly be our last visit to this apartment (unless a helipad is being built on the roof deck that is oh so accessible from the 6th floor). What we found was quite fascinating - this place is actually some artist's studio (and boy is that obvious) complete with only 1 BA, an industrial "kitchen" (basically a huge sink to wash your paint in and a fridge) plus no W/D (ummm...are we actually supposed to carry our laundry somewhere?).

Overall, although the floors are nice and there is (sort of) some square footage in this unit, the asking price is completely ridiculous. Maybe if Halstead gave us an airlift into this place, we'd think about seeing it again.

"As If!" (The Overpriced Apartment of the Week) - 324 Pearl St. #2J - $800,000 - 825 sq. ft.

This week's winner was a no-brainer, although the apartment in the ghetto on Avenue D that we saw was a mild contender. In FiDi, this 1BR, 1BA's block is our absolute least favorite. The apartment is on Pearl, basically right next to the FDR. Yes, you can walk 5-10 minutes and reach a better part of the FiDi or even the South Street Seaport (who wants to go there anyway?), but essentially this location is like living on an on-ramp.

The apartment itself is quite dark, with one tiny window in the living room (no opportunity to create another window) and a bigger (but still too small) window in the good-sized bedroom. There is no W/D in the apartment but the kitchen is renovated. We liked the vaguely S&M details in the apartment (think old chain links) left over from when this building was a book bindery, but none of it makes up for the nasty location and the dark, other buildings view. We're thinking $550K.

753 East 5th Street, #4B - $850,000 - 750 sq ft

"Is Avenue D still ghetto fabulous without the 'fabulous'?", we kept asking ourselves as we walked and walked and walked to this apartment on 5th street and Avenue D. The answer (in case you haven't been to Alphabet City in awhile) is "um...yes" as we discovered while walking past housing projects and sketchy parks on our way to this super weird 3-year old luxury condo building in the middle of a ghetto fringe.

Oh, well we thought - at $850,000, this place will probably be magnificent because of it's subprime location on Avenue D. Instead, we were surprised to find yet another (welcome to Alphabet City) 4th floor walkup (5th floor if you count the stairs in the apartment leading to the bedroom/TV area) that was very, very small for the price (750 sq feet - are you kidding us?). There is a well-constructed loft which currently serves as a second living room, a tiny living room on the first floor and a bedroom on the first floor as well. There is no W/D in this unit, although it does get good light and is overall super cute.

We went up to see the common roof deck as well (what the heck, we said, only one more flight of stairs) which was...about the size of a large terrace. Truly underwhelming - this place was a big contender for our "As if!" award for overpriced apartment of the week, however it was just edged out by the nutso seller over on Pearl.