Though there are perks that come with a top floor apartment, the few hidden flaws cannot be ignored
High-rise buildings today have become a very common sight in our city. Even sky is not the limit today. Hence, lately, we have witnessed an increase in demand for top floor apartments and developers have been providing extra facilities to their potential buy ers if they opt for the same.“We have seen an increasing demand from buyers, mostly for penthouses or top floor apartments. They are willing to pay a premium as well, if the apartment has a city view, sea view or an attached private terrace as it acts as a added bonus,“ says Ravi, proprietor, RK Mumbai Realtors. While Sanam Ibrahim, a resident on the 35th floor of Orchid Towers, Mumbai Central, enjoys the view from her bal cony where she can see the sky and the sea meet, there is also anoth er resident Maria Vaswadawala, residing on the 13th floor at Infinity, Mazgaon who faces problems due to the absenc of a service lift, es pecially when car rying heavy and bulky items. “We always wanted to occupy the top floor apartment because we wanted privacy as well as a personal ter race, which was duly fulfilled when we bought this flat,“ says Ibrahim.She also adds that though they had apprehensions before buying the flat as top floor apartments are prone to leakage, the developer took care of it.
IN THE FAVOUR OF...
The perks of residing in a top floor apartment for resi dents are many and the most common being the view that they get to see from their windows. “It's always windy and pleasant at the top. Also, we can enjoy every season of the year to the fullest, whether it is rains or winters. Especially, during rains, the view from the building is worth a photograph,“ adds Vaswadawala.
Also, people who have always resided on the top floor of the buildings cannot adjust to the middle or lower floor apartments.“The feeling that we are on top of the world is special and on the top floor apartments, you get to experience just that. You are away from the hustles of the locality and you can enjoy the silence. Flats on higher floors have greater monetary value, in terms of resale and the scare of theft and robbery also reduces,“ says Nawaz Kochar, a 17th floor res ident, Noble Tower, Mohd Ali Road. Besides, the com mon factors like a beautiful view from the window, ample sunlight and breeze, there are many other factors as well that have led to the res idents asking for top floor apart ments in a build ing. “There is a premium invento ry attached if you own a top floor apartment. It's a matter of pride for many buyers,“ says of pride for many buyers,“ says Prashant Mirkar, general manager, marketing, House of Hiranandani.
“High Networth Individuals who have a certain standard of living demand top floor apartments. They enjoy networking and entertaining guests. It is a sign of success,“ says Ravi. The opportunity to get a view till the horizon lends a feeling of pride to the residents acting as an incentive to invest in top floor apartments of a building.
“There is no construction taking place or any kind of structure standing, opposite our building. Hence, we enjoy an unobstructed view. According to me, it's one of the biggest USPs of our house,“ says Neha Chopda, a resident residing on the 16th floor, Dream's Building, Bhandup.
THE CONTRARY VIEW
Everything, however, is not hunky dory up there always for the residents. “Shoddy construction often results in roof leakage with a direct affect on the top floor apartments. In the long run, if the society does not maintain the terrace from harsh weather conditions, then a lot of water leakagequick wear and tear exists in the top floor apartments,“ adds Ravi. There are other constraints as well for residents who occupy the top floor. “Floor rise index is incorporated in some of the high-rise projects, which makes the higher floors more expensive than the ones below,“ says Kaizad Hateria, general manager, corporate customer relations, Rustomjee Group. The residents also have had experi ences that have at times made them regret their choice.
“Some years ago, a water pipe on the terrace burst, thus leading to water-logging in my house. It was midnight and in no time, we were all floating in water,“ says Tasneem Jariwala, who resides on the 16th floor of Samson Apartments, Noor Baug.
Another resident Ibrahim also adds, “When we had just moved in the apart ment, there was power cut in the building and the maintenance staff could not locate the switch of the generator for quite some time. This led to the elevator not working that resulted in us climbing 35 floors to get to home.“
The developers point that when buyers come to buy the top floor apartments, there are many apprehensions they face. “The customers harbour reservations towards buying top floor apartments because of the lower liquidity during resale since fewer customers see the value of top floor apartments,“ says Hateria.Factors such as a lack of power back-up, low elevator to flat ratio, shelling twice than the average cost for the flat have also led to buyers being discouraged from opting for top floor apartments.
IN CONCLUSION
There has been an inclination among buyers to opt for top floor apartments on one hand whereas on the other, there are many factors, which pull them back. “Midfloor apartments sell the quickest but with developers taking cognizance of the problems faced by residents occupying the top floor, the residents are definitely looking at top floor apartments,“ says Mirkar.
The developers and residents are both making a joint effort to ensure that if the residents want a top floor apartment, then all their concerns are addressed and even the developers on their part are making sure that through modern design and technology, they provide the best deal.
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