Penthouse apartment: what makes the extravagant real estate? – Definition

Penthouses, much like the loft, originated in the US and were a way to create exclusive living space above city homes. Since the space for single-family homes is limited in the inner city, the free flat roof areas were used to create more living space that meets the demands of wealthy customers. To this day, the concept has endured and spilled over to us in Germany, rarely in the form of entire penthouses and much more as penthouse apartments. The luxury factor has remained.

Are you looking for a suitable apartment – whether as a tenant or investor? Then take a look at our guide to apartment types A-Z!

Features of a penthouse apartment: Great views and lots of space

The location on the roof, or on the top floors of a building leads to special qualities of the living environment, which otherwise only a few properties bring with them. On the one hand, this results in a very special view, which in itself already costs its price. In addition, penthouses are much more likely to have terraces and roof gardens that are part of the property than other types of apartments. All these circumstances lead to the fact that penthouse apartments are among the most exclusive types of apartments. In addition, a mass of penthouses is larger than the average apartment unit. This automatically means that several bedrooms and often multiple bathrooms are part of the apartment.

You want to live in the big cities of Germany? Here you can find the most expensive streets in Berlin and Hamburg!

Penthouses vs Penthouse Apartments: Comparison and differences

In the previous text, penthouses and penthouse apartments were used virtually synonymously. Although there are very great similarities between the two types of apartments, they are not exactly the same thing.

Advantages and disadvantages are often very similar, and applicable to both types. Nevertheless, we would like to tell you the small but important differences. Especially if you are looking for a new or even your first home, it is relevant for you to know the differences between the two forms.

Penthouses are actually entire, smaller houses that can be found on the roof of an apartment building. This form of house makes sense especially in big cities, with huge apartment buildings, as this way well-paying customers can be offered a unique living experience.

Penthouse apartments are usually not inferior to penthouses in the quality of their equipment, however, it is not a house, but often the well-developed, top floor of an apartment building, which was additionally equipped with terraces or balconies. Nevertheless, you can also count on a large living space here.

Advantages & disadvantages of the penthouse: height, location and prices

Despite the high demands that building project managers place on penthouses, the living experience in a class of its own cannot be enjoyed without disadvantages, which are easy to avoid if implemented correctly and are hardly given any weighting.

Advantages: Living on a large area with views & tranquility?

Penthouses and penthouse apartments naturally come with a number of benefits that vary from property to property. You can definitely expect luxurious amenities, but these depend on the individual apartment. Almost always, however, you can enjoy the following benefits:

• Terrace and balcony areas
• Large living space
• Luxury equipment

Disadvantages: Not for people with a fear of heights – costs and prices

The nature of this type of housing is that the apartments are located at the very top. The associated view and the wide outdoor spaces make penthouse apartments extremely attractive. For some, however, this circumstance also results in a few disadvantages:

• Not for people with fear of heights
• Large window areas that require professional cleaning
• Often highly priced
• Rare: A penthouse is rarer to find than, for example, an apartment or the old building

Penthouse apartment as an investment: yield, investment & profitability

When it comes to investments, many see real estate as a suitable option, as cities in particular have seen a major increase in value in recent years. In addition, the demand for certain types of housing always falls and rises with demographic trends. A property is therefore still one of the most popular forms of investment. What it is all about, you will learn in the following.

Why real estate? Buy and let: Yield & Income

Real estate is often preferred as an investment to other forms of capital investment because, if managed well, it can generate higher returns and never completely lose its value. Some people also associate real estate with the possibility of being jointly responsible for its performance.

But in real estate is by no means the quick, easy money. Building projects and apartments, as well as houses require maintenance and services, because tenants of course pay not only for the offered living space, but also for maintenance and repairs. In this thesis, however, it is assumed that you yourself are the owner and landlord of a property and therefore directly affected by these claims.

• Buy and rent property

Investment forms Real Estate: Financing, Funds & Loans

This is not always the reality. There are different ways to invest in real estate. Especially as a retail investor you are particularly protected in the market, but at the same time you have limited options. Retail investors are those who have limited financial market knowledge. Retail investors are only allowed to invest small to medium amounts. The Small Investor Protection Act, or KASG for short, ensures that you enjoy special protection in crowd investment situations.

If you do not yet have full confidence in the real estate and financial market, other options are open or closed investment funds. If these are of interest to you, it is worth arranging a meeting with your bank advisor or researching the different funds on the Internet to find a suitable one for you.

As always, when it comes to investments, it is important to keep in mind that these are always associated with a basic risk, which is not even by a protective law out of the world. It is therefore advisable to inform yourself extensively about the options.

The classic purchase of a property is considered a direct capital investment and, although it is regulated by a contract, owning and, above all, renting out a property involve no small amount of work. The secondary activity should not be underestimated. It is also important to know that rental income also affects the tax bracket.

• Real estate financing

Checklist penthouse: What should be considered when buying

You have thought about buying your new home and have come to the conclusion that you want to take the step to finally become a homeowner? Then we have the ultimate checklist for you with points that you should definitely check before buying.

• Window insulation
• Service charge settlement of the previous tenant
• Orientation & Sunlight
• Need for renovation
• Neighborhood
• Proximity to public transport
• Parking

Realtors: better chances of finding the perfect penthouse?

Especially when it comes to luxury properties like penthouse apartments, it often pays to hire an agent to find the right apartment for you. Open viewings in penthouse apartments are rare and usually these are also advertised exclusively through brokers.

Additionally, self-building is pretty much out of the question. The best thing to do is to take a look at housing projects in the area you are interested in to get an overview of offers and prices. If you find that the options don’t fit your vision, a realtor can help you find alternatives.

Agents usually know the housing market of the city in which they operate like the back of their hand and will definitely be able to tell you where to find properties that meet your requirements and also help you to check your ideas as needed and adapt them to the circumstances.

Brokerage and commission

Many believe that hiring a real estate agent can make finding a home easier. Actually, this is also true, but already in the search for brokers you should keep your eyes open, because broker is not a protected job title. So, theoretically, anyone can call themselves a realtor.

A few red flags when hiring an agent can be, for example, that payment is demanded in advance, because actually the fee of an agent is a contingency fee and is only due when an apartment is brokered. Of course, certain services can be charged beforehand. However, these costs should be treated transparently from the beginning.

If, for example, you notice that an estate agent keeps charging you for things without discussing them with you beforehand, then you should definitely address this and see if the cooperation changes as a result. Especially when looking for an apartment, there is a legal limit to the broker’s fee. This may not be higher than two net cold rents plus VAT.

Purchase contract: Have it checked or check it yourself

The purchase of your first property is almost complete. You’re standing in front of your purchase contract and suddenly you’re panicking. What if there’s something in there that you overlooked? Let’s take a step back and come back to your contract.

Before the purchase contract: care & attention are required

Have you taken a look at the land register? This can give you information about many things that could otherwise potentially cause problems. Who are the neighbours, is the seller actually the sole owner?

Do you have full plans of the house and land and do they match what you have seen. An honest seller should willingly provide you with all documents, after all he has nothing to hide. Also, you can get the land registry excerpts independently of the seller on the Internet.

Potential pitfalls in the purchase contract: checklist

You should receive the purchase contract from the notary at least two weeks before the date set, in order to be able to check it thoroughly. Help from a lawyer is definitely beneficial here. However, if you want to check the contract yourself, you should pay attention to the following points in any case:

• Full details of seller and buyer
• Clear designation of the object of purchase
• Fixed prices and deadlines
• Fixed handover date
• Defects

More on the topic: Luxury real estate as a capital investment

This article didn’t answer all your questions, or you want to learn more? We have a wide range of additional articles to answer more questions, such as: What should I look for when buying real estate, or is real estate worthwhile as an investment? If you are also interested in real estate as an investment, check out our statistics on trends in the real estate market!

• Buy luxury real estate
• Real estate as an investment
• Real estate statistics

Marketing Podcast: Basics + Expert Tips

Let’s start with the marketing basics. Further reading: all articles. Because in our podcast you will not only get to know extremely practical examples of large companies and corporations, but also the little basics of marketing, from social to content marketing to offline marketing, trade fairs, POS and Co.

Marketing Podcast: Spotify, iTunes, Amazon & Co.

Marketing pursues one goal above all: sales are promoted through targeted marketing. The secret recipe: a “proof of concept”, i.e. a working business model. The same can be applied to your marketing, a functioning marketing channel is worth more than ten different attempts. With us you will learn about the individual channels, instruments and methods in marketing. We speak at a high level with insights, but also break down all the steps so that beginners can follow along.

Now stream & learn for free on:

• Spotify – Marketing Podcast
• ITunes – Marketing Podcast
• Amazon – Marketing Podcast
• Deezer – Marketing Podcast
• Google – Marketing Podcast

Marketing mix: instruments, methods and strategies

It sounds simple enough, but there’s a lot that goes into the marketing mix these days, and new methods are being added all the time. The strategies and methods have diversified. From newspaper articles and posters to radio advertising, TV advertising, online marketing, social media marketing and even more specifically content marketing.

The best way to learn marketing is definitely to learn from examples (and yes, mistakes). Galileo already said:

We can only see so far because we sit on the shoulders of giants.

That means: Learn from the mistakes or successes of others to plan your marketing campaigns as optimized as possible right from the start. In the same way, you need to understand marketing learning:

• Either: Trial and error (try it yourself)
• Or: Learning from others

The more examples you hear, the more conclusions you can draw for your activities.

In the beginning, for you as a beginner, it’s all about building your own working channel. The big question:

Where do you find your specific target group?

Example Amazon: Find and expand your target group

Explained very simply: Look at Amazon. The goal has always been to sell all kinds of products, to all kinds of audiences. But you can’t do that on day one.

The more specific the target group, the more specific the product, the lower the investment in advertising. But they started with books and book lovers. Why focusing makes sense, you learn in the Marketing Podcast!

Marketing explained simply: basic knowledge, marketing mix and tasks

You want to learn marketing? Then you should first deal with the question of what your specific goal is!

What do you want to have accomplished in three or five years?

What skills, abilities and knowledge do you want to possess?

Depending on the specifics of your profession or even your business, you need to focus on individual areas that promise you the most profit.

Marketing jobs

As a marketing manager you can (at the beginning) never dance on all weddings. That’s why jobs in marketing are so diverse. Here is a small overview.

Jobs in Marketing:

• Marketing manager
• Product Manager
• Sales Manager (Sales)
• Online Marketing Manager
• Social media manager
• Media planner
• Market Researcher
• Project Manager

There are hundreds of books for every single area of marketing, with hundreds of pages each. There are many good marketing book recommendations, but the best recommendation is: practice, practice, practice!

That’s exactly why we launched our Marketing Podcast, with best practices from our agency! Books rarely lose their relevance as quickly as in marketing. Whether big business or start up, every year new methods come into play, new social networks, new offline marketing options. We take you with us into the marketing jungle. Here you will learn what is important, especially in online marketing.

Now on Spotify: Our Marketing Podcast!

Expert Know-How: Marketing Examples

Podcast on marketing strategy and methodology – every week we, Lasse and Lukinski, explain business and marketing details from real agency life. It’s all about practical examples from corporations, international marketing campaigns and of course real life hacks that we might have just found out this week! No matter what your job as a marketing manager entails, you’ll learn the right tools and strategies here.

Marketing Tools: Software for Marketing

In addition to marketing methods and strategies, you also need software and tools for reporting and monitoring.

With software you can cover different areas, e.g. keyword research to discover trending topics (for example via Google Trends) or also frequently searched topics (XOVI, Sistrix & Co). There is also software for re-targeting, e.g. for Facebook Ads.

A very large area where we talk about these blocks of topics, among others:

• Keyword and topic research tools
• Email Marketing Tools
• Graphic Tools
• Video Tools
• Audio Tools
• Influencer Marketing Tools
• Promotion, retargeting and personalization tools

Frequently asked questions about learning marketing

Finally, a few common questions that come to us not only through the podcast, but also at the agency via email and on Instagram.

What do you do in marketing?

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, marketing is all about driving sales of products (whether physical or digital, individual or subscription). Already Henry Ford said, founder of modern automation:

For every dollar you put into your product, you have to have another one ready to make it popular

True words, from one of the greatest entrepreneurs that’s been on this planet. And of course, we also talk about famous personalities in our Spotify Podcast. From Höhle der Löwen with Carsten Maschmeyer to Elon Musk and his crazy projects around electric cars and space travel. You’ll learn that and more, in our Digital Marketing Podcast. As mentioned, there are many strategies, methods and also marketing tools with which you can reach target groups extremely precisely.

KPI: Key Performance Indicator

The mix of strategies is just as important as the performance on the individual platforms, as well as their reporting and monitoring. Here you check the important key figures (KPI: Key Performance Indicator).

With these metrics you can compare different time frames, e.g. the current and the previous month. This in turn allows you to optimize your content and ads.

That’s the typical marketing cycle you go through.

1. Establish ideas / strategies
2. Launch campaigns
3. Evaluate campaigns / ideas
4. Optimize campaigns / ideas

You can learn a lot from all these insights, for new campaigns.

What is there for marketing?

This question can only be answered very briefly, as the answers would be very long. In marketing, there are nowadays so many areas, as never before. From classic direct marketing to ultra modern methods such as digital content marketing via magazines and influencers.

The marketing methods are of course extremely different. With event marketing you are directly at the target group, content marketing is very passively scattered. A currently very well-known example is influencer marketing. People with a large reach use, test and rate products on their social media channels. Through these recommendations, their followers become aware of the product. Keyword sales promotion and recommendation marketing.

Through cross-channel marketing, you can then connect different areas with each other and, for example, send influencer marketing directly to your own Instagram shop. Instagram shopping is an increasingly important topic, especially for target groups between 18 and 35 years.

Marketing areas

Here is a small excerpt of the different marketing areas:

• Direct Marketing
• Content marketing
• Social media marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Guerrilla marketing
• Experiential Marketing
• Marketing through trade fairs

Source: Social Media One:

What are the 4 marketing tools?

If you want to have a job in marketing later, you have to deal with the basics. No matter if you study business or watch YouTube videos and learn. No matter how, the first thing you will learn are the 4 P’s of marketing.

Strategies like to be expanded, so there are now also 5 P in marketing, 6 P marketing. But these four basic aspects in marketing are the central ones that have worked since Henry Ford.

Price, Product, Place and Promotion!

The mix of these sub-areas enables the optimal marketing of products.

Price: Cheap cheap or… High price segment?

Price – price is the core segment in marketing for almost everyone. Do you operate a low price strategy or a high price strategy? You know it yourself, from every supermarket or online shop, there are cheap products and there are the expensive branded products.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. However, the active decision and positioning is important for your brand image.

Product: quality, quantity or both?

Product – Your product is what draws and keeps customers. Customers become repeat customers and so customer lifetime value becomes an important aspect. Instead of constantly winning new customers, ensure with a good product for regular customers and referrals.

Ask yourself, honestly: would you recommend your product to your friends?

In the area of product policy, you deal specifically with your product range or the individual, specific products. Here you learn a lot in the Marketing Podcast, in our special on the Lean Canvas (episode 4, 5 and 6), on the topic of developing a business idea.

From the business idea it goes at some point to the horizontal and vertical product or assortment acquisition.

Place: POS, trade fair, infrastructure & Co.

Place – where do you need to offer your products or services? And do you only stay online, do you only sell stationary or do you combine analogue and digital marketplaces? In this area of marketing, you decide on your sales locations, which can be very specific or very general. Very specific, like a shop in a prime city centre location, or very general, like a shop on the Amazon platform.

Promotion: marketing the idea

Promotion – marketing is what it ultimately comes down to. As mentioned before, Henry Ford once said that for every dollar you put into a product, you have to have another one ready to make it known.

Promotion, within the marketing mix, is all about this aspect! How do you get people to pay attention to your product? And more importantly, how do you get the people who have become aware of your product to become buyers?

What are marketing measures? Example: Content Marketing

Here is a small example of what such an elaborate marketing campaign looks like.

What is content marketing? How does content marketing work? You already know the typical advertisement. Big, loud, colorful, and most importantly, noticeable. Content marketing is extremely passive in comparison.

A simple example would be this: Your company is about to release a new, very innovative product for electric cars. Of course, the classic marketing channels can be used, e.g. TV advertising. Ultimately, however, many users will set out and actively search for reviews, tests or even testimonials in search engines or social networks.

If you don’t think about this aspect of marketing when releasing your product, you run the risk of negative reviews, no matter how small, quickly moving up in Google’s algorithm or on Facebook.

Accordingly, it needs alternative facts, testimonials that have been placed. E.g. at larger online portals, magazines or blogs. These articles are not written in an advertising form, but at first glance very neutral and objective.

Why without advertising? The important thing is that there is (not negative) opinion!

25Even if this absolute value is neutral, it is better than any negative rating. Even much better, people don’t perceive this form of placement as advertising at all. Accordingly, you should also hold back on marketing buzzwords and resort to simple language when using such content marketing. Of course, only if it fits, if you are in the field of real estate, insurance or finance on the road, had to have language accordingly information density.

Lean Canvas Special! Develop and test business idea

1. Product (problem / solution) and USP
2. Key figures, unfair advantages and target group
3. Marketing and finance (costs/revenues)

Product (Problem / Solution) and USP – Part 1

The Lean Canvas is a variation of the Business Canvas. Instead of complex key partners you focus on the business idea. In the first part we talk about the 9 steps of the Lean Canvas, more specifically about steps 1-3: Problem, Solution and USP. To “invent” profitable business models you need to know the needs of your target group. In the Lean Canvas you look at problem and solution. From this you create the next steps, for example the USP, the Unique Selling Proposition. Many see this USP as “what am I”. But the USP is much more precise and concrete. Learn how to develop your business idea in the first part of the Lean Canvas.

In this podcast episode, you’ll learn, among other things:

• Lean Canvas Part 1: Problem, Solution & USP

Key figures, unfair advantages and target group – Part 2

In part two, we focus on steps 4-6 in the Lean Canvas. Especially key figures! These are very important to validate (test) the potential success of your business idea. After that we jump to an extreme advantage for you as a founder and foundress, the “unfair advantage”. In the next step we start marketing with the target groups, a big topic from print to social ads on TikTok – as an example.

Marketing and Finance (Costs/Revenues) – Part 3

Marketing and Money! In part 3 of the Lean Canvas we talk about the last 3 of 9 steps: marketing, costs and revenue. Of course only ultra abbreviated, but with a lot of know how and practice. From online marketing (like social media) to offline marketing around POS, trade shows and direct mail, yeah right…. Letters! Last big focus is your revenue streams: How do you make money? More importantly, how do you turn customers into real repeat customers to stretch the “customer lifetime value”? That’s what you’ll learn in the third part of the Lean Canvas (Developing a Business Idea).

Starting Sunday on Spotfiy!

Pinterest for SEO and Advertising: Hidden Champion

The share price of Pinterset is currently breaking the boundaries of all social networks. With a rise from around 18 US dollars to over 60 US dollars in less than 12 months, Pinterest has more to offer than many think. From aspects of search engine optimization to advertising on Pinterest. This episode on Spotify show is about the magic behind Pinterest marketing and the question: why do so few businesses use Instagram? Learn about the benefits.

Learn in this marketing podcast episode:

• Pinterest underestimated? Share price and performance
• Pinterest from SEO perspective, example decoration ideas

Facebook Algorithm and Affiliate Marketing

In the second episode of our marketing podcast, we talk about two topics: Facebook Algorithm and Affiliate Marketing. The Facebook algorithm needs to be understood, especially if you want to do more “than just” normal advertising on Facebook. We’ll also talk about passive income and affiliate marketing. Where do you start? What affiliate marketing platforms are out there? And… is affiliate marketing worth it? Insight.

In this podcast episode, you’ll learn, among other things:

• Facebook Algorithm from a Cognitive Perspective (3 Learnings)
• Affiliate Marketing and Basics

Fake reviews in online shops

Fake. In this podcast episode we discuss how easy it is to create your own evaluations and what effects they have. In addition, Lasse has news again, from customer projects, so directly, best practice!

That’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

• Fake reviews: Government reprimand against comparison portals
• Text spinning: Create ratings automatically

Marketing Podcast: Spotify, iTunes, Amazon & Co.

New now! Lasse & Lukinski, the podcast on Social Media One. Two marketing super nerds, one studio! One went to college, the other likes to watch breakfast TV. We discuss media weeks & more! Each week we come across new methods and strategies. Marketing is moving faster than ever. New social networks come into play, others lose relevance for certain audiences. We also usually come up with live hacks between the lines, which we leave uncut in the podcast. Real-world agency experience with million-dollar adspend. We want to give you inputs that you can use to grow yourself, your business and your brand. Follow now & never miss a show.

Now stream & learn for free on:

• Spotify – Marketing Podcast
• ITunes – Marketing Podcast
• Amazon – Marketing Podcast
• Deezer – Marketing Podcast
• Google – Marketing Podcast