Buying a penthouse - easy to sell on?

  • Thread starter Finance Debutante
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Finance Debutante

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Hello,

I saw a 3 bed penthouse apartment in a new development in Dublin 15 yesterday which I am very interested in. The location is nice and it has good transport link into city centre etc. It will not be built until end 2006, early 2007. The plan is to live in it for a year or two and then sell it on. I have always wanted to buy a house rather than an apartment as houses seem to be easier to sell on than apartments. However, as this penthouse seems so nice, has the 'wow' factor and is relatively good value, I have changed my mind and am strongly considering going for it. My only worry is that in 2 or 3 years time, I would have problems selling it. Could anyone offer me advice on the market for 3 bed penthouses? Whoever would buy it from me would have to pay stamp duty as it is over the threshold and would no longer be new. So would people be more inclined to spend money on a house rather than a penthouse? Or will there always be a market out there for apartments/penthouses?

Advice greatly appreciated
FD
 
Penthouses are great except for one thing - management fees!
Expect to pay 3 - 4k yearly management fees, its one thing that would definetly put me off buying a penthouse.
I reckon most people that buy penthouses never expect to pay fees like this.
All I can say is beware, especially in a new development beacuse your not going to know what the fee is until after the 1st year.

elk
 
Not all apartment schemes levy the service charge at a higher rate for penthouses than other apartment types.

I live in a top floor apartment (with attic) that could be described as a penthouse, and my service charge is the same as other apartments in my building which have the same number of bedrooms.

This is something you should check with the vendor. Be advised though that service charges can rise quite steeply a couple of years after the scheme is completed.
 
I'd have thought that the number of people interested in buying a penthouse apartment is fairly low, so it could be difficult to sell on.
 
Hi Rainyday,

Yes, I tend to agree with you. I decided not to go for it after all. I know this sounds really awful but my sister-in-law to be, lives in the first phase of the development. She said a lot of the apartments are rented out to the Eastern Health Board. My feeling was that the penthouse was more than double the price of the 1 and 2 bed apartments in the same block. Plus the maintenance fee was double. I would stand to lose more, investment-wise if it turned out that a lot of the apartments were rented out to the EHB. Please don't think I'm a snob!

FD
 
Re: name that tune

Hope I'm not done for libel! It's The Village at Rathborne.
 
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