CRP 386.12 Seminar
Tues/Thurs 9:30 – 11:00am, GOL 2.110
Open to all SOA and non-SOA graduate students
Jake Wegmann: jagw@utexas.edu
Understanding how investors decide whether or not to proceed with real estate projects, and how they are financed, is essential to an understanding of the development process. This course will be beneficial to students whether their primary interest lies in regulation, management, lending, investment, policy, or some other aspect of real estate project development. Students of this course will come away with a high degree of comfort with the pro forma, or real estate project budget, as a keystone skill set that will be developed throughout the semester. No pre-existing knowledge is assumed other than simple pre-calculus math and basic familiarity with Microsoft Excel.
The course will introduce students to key technical concepts, such as the time value of money, the measurement of return on investment, the effect of leverage, and tax implications of debt and equity finance, that are applicable in any context. Students will also learn about the finance of market rate housing, rental housing subsidized with Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and commercial real estate projects. Students will also learn about the development process: who is part of the team, who makes the decisions, and what motivates them. They will learn about the various phases of development, from feasibility analysis to land acquisition to construction to lease-up to permanent loan closing. They will learn about how development differs across the industry’s various “food groups” of multifamily, land development/homebuilding, office, industrial, retail, and others. Smaller individual and group assignments earlier in the semester will give students an opportunity to reinforce their understanding of the various concepts that are introduced throughout the course. The class will also feature occasional visits from guests and field visits (close to campus) in order to impart a “real world” perspective.
