399 and 899. Seevak Research Competition (Independent Study Course).

Students work in groups on a research project. This year's project involve three student groups, each presenting an analysis surrounding the issue of “Problems and Prospects in Commercial Real Estate Investing: Analyzing the Risks and Opportunities." In addition, student groups present to industry judges who award cash prizes for the best presentation.
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240. (REAL840) Advanced Real Estate Investment and Analysis. Gyourko. Prerequisite(s): REAL209 or FNCE209, REAL/FNCE721 (MBA students)

This course, Advanced Real Estate Investment and Analysis, is designed for majors in Real Estate, both undergraduate and MBA, but is also open to finance-oriented students who wish a deeper analysis of real estate investment and investment analysis issues not offered in REAL/FNCE 209 and 721. The course presumes knowledge of real estate finance at a level taught in REAL/FNCE 209 and 721. The class will contain a mixture of standard lectures, guest speakers and case discussions. It will meet once per week for three hours to accommodate the relatively high number of outside speakers and cases in the course. There are three major sections in the course: REITs and Publicly-Traded Real Estate, the Private Real Estate Market, and the CMBS Market. Grading will be based on three extensive case assignments (60%), three homework assignments (25%), and class participation (15%). The readings come from a series of articles provided in a bulk pack and two books: REITs-Structure, Analysis, and Strategy, and A Primer on Securitization. The books are very recent works on the public equity and debt markets in real estate and must be purchased with the bulk pack. The volume of material is not overly burdensome for a course of this type, and all readings should be done prior to the class for which it is assigned. In general I have tried to pair academic papers with recent industry reports, with the goal of marrying sound theory and empirical analysis with relevant current events and practices. Class sessions are organized with the same goal in mind. I will deliver a number of lectures outlining what economics and finance tells us about a number of topics. Generally, these will be followed by guest lectures from industry professionals who will focus on a specific application of the principles introduced in the lectures.
Sample Syllabus