And for a change, let's talk Queens

After reading on Curbed about an apartment in the Citylights building in LIC, Queens, I knew I had to get in my two cents (more like five cents) on it. For those who don't know, this is one of the high rise apartment buildings in Queens directly facing the UN across the East River.

This building and its' apartments have always intrigued me. Way back in 2002, perhaps, I went there to check out a listing. They have plenty of 1100 sqft 2bed 2baths for about $245K (at that time). But the kicker was that the maintenance charges for this unit were about $2K a month. Some similar units had higher charges if they had better views, I think.

I ran the numbers (as I am wont to do) and just couldn't justify it. In the meantime, I had posted a message on the Queens West forum regarding it and was hit from all sides from staunch defenders.

Then the listing on Curbed...a 1200 sq ft 2bed, 2bath for $699K and $2604 a month in maintenance. Some enterprising Corcoran broker had the listing. Either the buyer thought he could cash in on the frenzy or Ms. Dominguez had them thinking that they could.

I mailed my friends at Curbed. See my comment on '...inflating due to their bulge bracket premium...' I made some more comments, specifically on how if you purchased this, your carrying costs (about $5600/month) would also buy you a "$1.2MM apartment with a monthly maintenance of $1200."

Now, Curbed has upped the ante by offering a special reward for the first picture from the open house.