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Penthouses (apartments not magazines)

post #1 of 14
3/30/10 at 11:25am
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Edited by merkur - 7/30/11 at 12:52am
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post #2 of 14
3/30/10 at 11:45am
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post #3 of 14
3/30/10 at 11:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by merkur View Post
I am considering renting a penthouse to live in. Has anyone here ever lived in a penthouse? What have people found to be pro's and con's (apart from cost) of penthouse living? Would anyone ever consider buying a penthouse to live in?

Can be annoying if you live on a very high floor and the penthouse has a dedicated elevator.

Other than that it isn't usually any different than living in any other part of an apartment building.
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post #4 of 14
3/30/10 at 12:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by merkur View Post
I am considering renting a penthouse to live in. Has anyone here ever lived in a penthouse? What have people found to be pro's and con's (apart from cost) of penthouse living? Would anyone ever consider buying a penthouse to live in?

As they tend to be the largest units in the building, your association fees will be very high (if owning). You also suffer from the "best house in the neighbourhood" problem - if the building loses value through no fault of your own, you'll lose big.

Here in Orlando there's a ton of high rises that were built during the boom which are mostly empty (speculator owned or unsold units) and vastly overpriced for the area. As the economy crashed then the units got foreclosed and some of the condo associations went bankrupt, in which case all the owners in the building are screwed. It's now nearly impossible to get a loan for a condo around here as the lenders require the association to be in good financial health and are wary of loaning for a half-empty/high foreclosure building. Lots of deals for cash buyers, though.

I don't live in a penthouse but I do live in a "luxury high-rise" (which built dual penthouses but no-one in this town can afford to rent them, so they're unfinished).

It's pretty cool - no maintenance hassle, staff are super nice. Not sure I'd buy in these buildings though as the condo fees would be another third to a half of the mortgage payment, renting actually works out quite cost-effective in these buildings.
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post #5 of 14
3/30/10 at 12:57pm
I've lived in a penthouse. All it means is there is no floor above it. i.e. there is no intrinsic gain/loss.
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post #6 of 14
3/30/10 at 1:03pm
Nice view? Getting laid because you have a penthouse apartment?
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post #7 of 14
3/30/10 at 1:05pm
No noisy upstairs neighboors?
Ability to have your moning coffee outside on sunny days?
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post #8 of 14
3/30/10 at 1:14pm
Leaky roof possibility.
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post #9 of 14
3/30/10 at 1:38pm
Less noise as someone else said. The ones I have lived in have had larger glass/window area.
Also bigger balconies.

One thing I liked was that during the night the elevators revert to an optimal park positions, top floor, middle, bottom, so getting up at 5am, I mostly always had an elevator first thing.

Downside would be a fire or power failure, but not really worse than all higher level floors. Also, weekends can be annoying getting access, but again the same for all high levels.

This is for penthouses in buildings over 25 stories. The dynamics change the lower the building height.
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post #10 of 14
3/30/10 at 1:54pm
Definitely not the way to go unless you can afford it many times over. By "afford it," I don't just mean the face value or sticker price, so to speak, on the apartment. I also mean the shifts in building value and neighborhood value, which will -- as someone else pointed out -- affect you the most out of anyone in the building.

There's also the lion's share of building/association fees. Chances are, your fees will be out of proportion to your actual usage of resources and utilities within the building. You're basically subsidizing everyone else in the building -- especially if the building has one of those quasi-socialistic, communal fee structures for utilities usage. In theory, everyone pays a roughly equal share that covers all utilities usage across the building. In practice, often the apartment size or price is used as a means of apportioning the fees. The bigger your place, the higher a percentage of the pot you'll pay -- regardless of your actual usage.

You have to decide if all these headaches outweigh the benefits, or vice versa.
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post #11 of 14
3/30/10 at 2:02pm
I wouldnt mind a penthouse in this building
Musashi-Kosugi Park City Towers - Mid Sky Tower

The smaller top floor (59th Floor, 2 bedroom) units are about $1.2mil, or you can get a 4LDK two floors down for 1.6mil, though it still has a large roof balcony.

I transfer at that station every day. Kind of an odd place for such upscale condos, but beautiful buildings.
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post #12 of 14
3/30/10 at 2:02pm
In general, living in a penthouse will afford the occupant more opportunity at Penthouse-styled escapades.
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post #13 of 14
3/30/10 at 2:21pm
Thread Starter 

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Edited by merkur - 7/30/11 at 12:58am
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post #14 of 14
3/31/10 at 6:14am
You should get a penthouse with a rooftop garden.
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