Students who elect to enroll in the certificate program take a 7.5-credit sequence of MBA elective courses to develop a solid foundational understanding of theoretical and applied aspects of commercial real estate.

All accepted students enroll in the required Real Estate Private Equity (FINC 6560) course and then choose three additional courses from a series of real estate electives. The certificate also requires 1.5 credits from a set of courses in entrepreneurial finance and venture capital, valuation, financial analysis, and modeling, or negotiations.

This course provides an introduction to the world of private equity real estate investment with a particular focus on answering the question, “What is the real estate asset worth?”  Lectures will consider the thought process and mechanics implicit in establishing an asset’s value via proforma statement construction and discounted cash flow methodology.  Lectures will be delivered from the perspective of an equity investor with the intention of instructing each student on the proper approach to measuring the return-generating potential and risk associated with a real estate transaction.

In this course, you will gain exposure and develop a deep understanding of real estate finance from the perspectives of borrowers and lenders. Debt financing is an integral part of value creation in real estate. Yet, beyond returns, investors often will not spend commensurate time to understand and analyze their financing and capital markets strategies.

In this course, you will acquire an in-depth knowledge of the modern real estate investment trust (REIT) and its role in today’s capital and real estate markets.

The goal of this course is to learn the mechanics and concepts of pricing risk in traded real estate debt. As an introduction to structured real estate finance, this course focuses on the real estate debt securities market, including commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), government-sponsored entity (GES) multifamily products, and unsecured REIT debt.

For those who have an interest in creating their own real estate business, this course will introduce the key elements necessary to get off the ground and become successful entrepreneurs.

The Real Estate Clinic is designed to prepare you for graduate-level careers at institutional real estate investment firms by exposing you to the practice of underwriting real estate investments. The Multifamily Clinic introduces an institutional approach to the financial analysis of apartment assets through the use of actively marketed deals and their associated source documents, such as the property’s rent roll and trailing 12 months of historicals.  A multifamily Excel model is utilized throughout the course.

The Commercial Clinic exposes you to the underwriting of live retail, industrial, and/or office assets using an approach typical to institutional investors.  Argus Enterprise is taught and actively utilized in this course.