Interview Question - Two Identical Buildings, why would their value differ?
I once got asked in an interview for an internship at a PERE shop the following:
There are two office buildings right next to each other and everything about them is virtually the same. In looking to acquire this property, what are ten things that would explain why the two buildings have different values?
HINT: The one thing that the interviewer stressed in talking about the question is comparing the current loan rate to current market rates. He mentioned that it's an attractive deal if your loan has a lower percentage than current mortgage market rates. Would love if someone could explain more in depth how exactly this would impact the valuation.
I don’t know why the interview would ask for 10 things specifically, that seems odd. Plus it’s hard to think of 10 things on the spot.
Here are a handful of quick answers that come up in my mind:
As for the financing question. If one building has a lower than market interest rate loan while the other does not, all else being equal, that building will return a higher levered return based on the cost of debt.
I think high level, this question is commonly answered through tenant related answers. Building A may have Google anchor tenant whereas building B may have some random regional anchor tenant. In this case, building A is worth more because of tenant quality. Which ultimately means a more secure cash flow stream.
This is a good list of answers. Only other thing I'd add is location. One may be along the main street while the other is in a back alley where it floods. Sunlight and views are also a locational consideration (and operational in terms of sunlight...more sun = higher hvac bills). One may sit in a restrictive association while the other doesn't, etc...
WALT and lease expiration schedule are probably implied in your answer above.
This - the big ones they are looking for are relating to tenants (tenant mix/credit, lease terms, etc.), air rights/additional future density, and location (i.e. does one have direct access to transit or better views, etc)
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