Advanced Real Estate Development and Finance

This course builds on GSD 5204 and comparable introductory real estate courses offered by other schools at Harvard. The course covers five main topics: (1) advanced financial analysis for land and building development, (2) Secondary mortgage markets, mortgage-backed securities and residential securitization, (3) CMBS and commercial securitization, (4) REITs and public real estate markets, and (5) portfolio analysis. The objective of the course is to give students in-depth financial analytical skills for the dominant forms of real estate financing, fund management, and development. Using case studies and lectures, the course focuses on advanced real estate finance topics for all major real estate product-types including apartments, office, retail, industrial, single-family, and land development. The course also emphasizes financial structuring and key decision-making for all phases of the development process including site selection, due diligence, design, financing, construction, leasing, operations, and sales. The course will be team-taught by five faculty, coordinated by Professor Richard Peiser. Each faculty member is a specialist in the area he/she is covering in the class:Richard Peiser – land and community development, 5 stages of income property analysis, non-performing loansBill Apgar – mortgage-backed securities and residential securitizationCamille Douglas – commercial mortgage backed securities and commercial securitizationGlenn Mueller – Real estate investment trusts and cycle analysisJames Hoffman – Portfolio analysisReadingsProfessional Real Estate Development: the ULI Guide to the Business, 2nd Edition, by Richard Peiser, published by The Urban Land Institute, Washington, D.C., 2003.(PRED)Articles and case studies assigned by the faculty for each class.Assignments and GradingCase studies will be the focus of most class sessions. Students are encouraged to work together in study groups to prepare the cases for discussion and to perform the analytical computations emphasized in each case. Each professor may give homework assignments that are due on the date of the class for which the homework is assigned. They may also take class participation and case presentations into account. There will be a single major term paper that will constitute the major basis for grading. Students will select one of the five faculty members to work with on their term paper. It is expected that they will consult the faculty member at least twice during the term. That faculty member will be responsible for giving the student feedback on the term paper and for issuing a grade. Term projects may be any one of the following: (1) a term paper on a topic selected by the student, (2) preparation of a case study on a complex real estate project. The project may be a either a privately-sponsored or publicly-sponsored project in the United States or abroad, or (3) analyzing a complex deal, fund, or other investment opportunity. Term papers are due on May 20th.