Barton Laski, professor of languages at a southern university, owns a small office building adjacent to the university campus. He acquired the property 12 years ago at a total cost of $740,000—$69,000 for the land and $671,000 for the building. He has just received an offer from a realty company that wants to purchase the property; however, the property has been a good source of income over the years, so Professor Laski is unsure whether he should keep it or sell it. His alternatives are:
Keep the property.
Professor Laski’s accountant has kept careful records of the income realized from the property over the past 10 years. These records indicate the following annual revenues and expenses:
Rental receipts $ 170,000
Less building expenses:
Utilities $ 29,900
Depreciation of building 19,400
Property taxes and insurance 21,000
Repairs and maintenance 11,900
Custodial help and supplies 44,900
Total Expenses:127,100
Net operating income $ 42,900
Professor Laski makes a $13,900 mortgage payment each year on the property. The mortgage will be paid off in 10 more years. He has been depreciating the building by the straight-line method, assuming a salvage value of $9,400 for the building, which he still thinks is an appropriate figure. He feels sure that the building can be rented for another 16 years. He also feels sure that 16 years from now the land will be worth 2.10 times what he paid for it.
Sell the property.
A realty company has offered to purchase the property by paying $207,000 immediately and $28,000 per year for the next 16 years. Control of the property would go to the realty company immediately. To sell the property, Professor Laski would need to pay the mortgage off, which could be done by making a lump-sum payment of $89,000. Professor Laski requires a 12% rate of return. (Ignore income taxes.)
Required: a. Calculate the net present value of cash flows using total cost approach if he keeps the property. (Use the appropriate table to determine the discount factor(s) and round final answers to the nearest dollar amount.)
b. Calculate the net present value of cash flows using total cost approach if he sells the property. (Use the appropriate table to determine the discount factor(s) and round final answers to the nearest dollar amount.)
c. Would you recommend Professor Laski to keep the property or to sell?