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Updated over 6 years ago, 06/25/2018
Office building - ugly?
I'm considering buying this 5-unit office building. It's in a stable, mid-sized Midwestern market with a low (5-ish%) office vacancy rate. Currently 3 of the 5 units are rented. One of the others was occupied by the owner's business, who has apparently moved out of state. It's basically breakeven with 3 of 5 units rented. One more tenant and it's cash flow positive. If fully rented, it would cash flow well and would be about an 11% cap rate at list price.
Only problem is, my wife thinks it's too ugly. I think it's not that bad, but I've run it by others and everyone seems to agree: it's ugly.
I think if we just removed the mansard roof and painted over the outdated colors (including brick), it would look much better. However, the building is situated between two other buildings which are virtually identical. She thinks it would look odd if ours was updated and the others were not.
What do you guys & gals think? Open to opinions and suggestions. Thanks!