This question is springing out of an earlier discussion I started about buildings. I have been compiling a list of features I personally like and do not like about apartments and buildings in New York as I begin my apartment search. In an effort to avoid buying a flawed apartment, I am curious if others have tips on specific things to look out for, be aware of and avoid. Thank you very much in advance.

For example:

Second floor apartments (due to frequent scaffolding)
Schools and day care centers adjacent (noise, crowds at pickup and drop off)
Cross town bus streets
Hunter College
Noisy mechanical equipment on adjacent buildings

This list you will develop will be incredibly long and useless.

Find some things you like (near subway, outdoor space, location, size etc.) and put them against things you hate (low floor, coops, high monthly maint/cc etc.).

Then make a decision. If you hire a broker, make sure they understand what you want. Also use Streeteasy because the broker won't always show you everything because it doesn't always benefit them too.

Avoid fire stations, hospitals with sirens & street noise.

"I would avoid apartments with windows in the shower."

Why specifically? Just curious.

I've personally never had this set-up, but I also hate the idea.

Avoid windows in the bathroom? This is news to me. Next thing you know those pesky working elevators will be considered a negative.

That one went right over my head. Thanx for the 'splanation.

Most important as Consigliere mentioned is location, size, number of bedrooms /bathrooms, renovated/estate condition, pre-war, postwar or new construction. Once you have decided on a range, adjust for the floors, light and maintenance. If you want outdoor space and views, your options will be severely limited and price will increase significantly. Your original list should only be considerations once you have decided on the above and a BUDGET. You will get real soon once you look at what is available.

Cross town bus streets can be a positive - very wide across the street - nice to walk onto when you leave, more sunlight given more distance across the street, more distance when you look across the street to the neighbors.

Of course, it's tougher on the few narrow streets with cross town buses - 67th/68th

iMHO - buses as they stop and start are one the most annoying noisemakers in the city.

... not to mention that awful farting noise as they kneel and 'unkneel'

Before I had kids, I lived across from a school - very noisy on the very few week days that I was ever around - extremely quiet on the weekends when I actually was around. For the average working NYer, schools make great neighbors. Now that I have small kids, it would not be a great fit but I wouldn't call it a no no for everyone.

But I would love a window in the shower. You can replace the glass for privacy but have great outdoor light.

I love my shower window. It keeps the tub area nice and aired out. No more mildewy shower curtain. There's no privacy glass but we put in a water-proof shade that does the trick. Sometimes, tho, I don't even bother with it.

I wouldn't buy in a ground lease building, the most expensive unit in a building, a ground floor unit (unless it had a private garden/backyard), a unit without electric upgrades, cheap construction where you can hear your neighbors, or in a building that had NOT had regular increases in maintenance (which means they have been living off of reserves or one-time windfalls).