DRAFT
THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
REAL ESTATE and SOCIETY
BUS 135a
Spring 2016
Monday & Wednesday 5pm – 6:20pm
Linda Stoller
Email: lstoller@brandeis.edu
Phone: 617-733-2144
Office Location:
Office Hours:
TBD
1pm- 2:30pm M/W
and by appointment
OVERVIEW
This course serves as an introduction to the real estate industry, touching on valuation, financing
and operations of income producing properties as well as some societal issues related to the
ownership, financing and regulations of real estate. Using lectures, case studies, and guest
speakers, we will explore the largest asset class in the world. We will learn industry
terminology, review determinants of value, and discuss the regulatory and legal environment of
real estate. In addition, we will study affordable and senior housing.
LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Know the terminology used in the real estate industry: develop familiarity with the terms
used in development, financing, leasing and valuation of income property
Be familiar with the legal and regulatory environment for real estate: property rights and
limitations, regulatory concerns, and contracts related to real estate such as leases and purchase
contracts
Understand the sources of capital and capital structure of real estate acquisition: including
the amount, cost, and other market terms for debt
Estimate the value of income producing properties: understand the factors that impact real
estate value including design, markets – including capital markets, public policy and the
financial methods used including the income approach, market approach, and sales approach
with emphasis on the discounted cash flow analysis
Explore societal challenges and opportunities: including affordable housing, senior housing,
green/LEED buildings, and the government role in encouraging these goals
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Attendance and Participation
Class attendance is required and students are expected to arrive at class prepared to discuss the
day’s topics. For a number of classes, a case is assigned. It is critical to the learning process that
each student come prepared to discuss the case and their solutions in detail. Students are
expected to use name cards at every session.
Academic Honesty
You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Please consult Brandeis University
Rights and Responsibilities for all policies and procedures related to academic integrity. Students
may be required to submit work to TurnItIn.com software to verify originality. Allegations of
alleged academic dishonesty will be forwarded to the Director of Academic Integrity. Sanctions
for academic dishonesty can include failing grades and/or suspension from the university.
Citation and research assistance can be found at LTS – Library Guides.
Disabilities
If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to
have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately. Please
keep in mind that reasonable accommodations are not provided retroactively.
Grading
Students will be graded on their class participation, written assignments described below, midterm exam, and final exam. The assignments are a mixture of individual and team assignments.
Assignments will be posted on LATTE approximately one week before the assignment is due.
Unless otherwise indicated on LATTE, students are allowed to discuss assignments with
classmates. However, written assignments should be solely the work of the individual or the
group as indicated on LATTE.
Written Assignments*
30%
Midterm Exam
20%
Final Exam
30%
Class Participation**
20%
*Written Assignments will be posted on LATTE approximately 1 week before they are due
**You are expected to attend each class and to arrive prior to the start time. If you know that you will miss a class, please
contact me ahead of time. Attendance will be taken. If you attend class but do not contribute to class discussion or ask
thoughtful questions you will receive a participation grade of C+. Meaningful participation will improve your participation
grade.
Course Materials
I have created an eBook on the McGraw Hill Create website. To purchase this book (which is a
required text for the course) follow the instructions below:
1. Go to:
https://create.mheducation.com/shop/
2. Select the eBook via the following ISBN number:
9781308732251
3. You can also access the eBook by searching under your instructor’s name – Linda
Stoller. Confirm that the title and course number are correct: Real Estate and Society,
BUS 135a.
4. Add the book to your cart and pay using a credit card. The book costs approximately
$80.
The eBook above consists of selected chapters from Real Estate Principles: A Value Approach,
Fourth Edition by David Ling and Wayne Archer. ISBN 978-0-07-304621-1. NOTE: You may
find this entire text available used in either the 3rd or 4th edition for less than the eBook. Feel free
to choose to purchase in this manner.
In addition, this course utilizes readings and cases from the Harvard Business Publishing. You
will need to establish an account in order to purchase the required materials, if you do not
already have one. Please access the site here https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/43486780
look for Real Estate and Society – Spring 2016.
Harvard Business Publishing materials are in .pdf format and should be viewed with Adobe
Reader which is available free at www.adobe.com You will have immediate access to Harvard
Business Online upon placing the order. For subsequent access, you will be required to logon, so
please save your account settings.
NOTE: This material is copyright protected, so each student MUST purchase their own
course pack and sharing the material from HBS Publishing is expressly prohibited.
CLASS SCHEDULE - Subject to Change at Professor's Discretion
All page references refer to the consecutive page numbers in the
eBook –
Chapter numbers are from the 4th edition hard copy
Session
Date
Day
1
1/13
W
1/18
2
3
1/20
1/25
Topics/Chapters
Reading
Assignments (due
the next class)
Introduction – The Nature
of Real Estate
NO CLASS – Martin Luther
King Day
Ch 1
(p 1 – 19)
See LATTE
Legal Foundations of Value
CH 2
(p 20 – 46)
M
Legal Foundations of Value
Ch 3, Ch 13
(p 47 – 110)
Ch 4
(p 111 –
140)
Ch 4 Study
Questions 4 (p 139)
W
See LATTE
Ch 13 Study
Question 8 (p 109110)
4
1/27
W
Government Controls and
the Regulatory
Environment
5
2/1
M
CASE - Pickney Street
HBS Pkg
See LATTE
6
2/3
W
Capital - Residential
Ch 11
(p 140-173)
See LATTE
7
2/8
M
GUEST SPEAKER –
Alan Schlesinger
See LATTE
8
2/10
W
Capital Sources and
Structures - Commercial
2/15
–
2/19
NO CLASSES – MIDTERM
BREAK
9
2/22
M
Introduction to Mortgage
Debt – Mortgage Types and
Calculations
10
2/24
W
Mortgage Debt Continued –
Commercial Mortgages
11
2/29
M
Valuation Introduction –
Market Determinants of
Value
12
3/2
W
GUEST SPEAKER –
Italo Visco
See LATTE
Ch 17
(P 175-202)
Ch 15
(p 203 –
223)
Ch 16
(p 224 –
248)
Ch 5, CH 6
(p 249 –
278) (p
279-308)
See LATTE
13
3/7
M
MIDTERM EXAM – CASE Millegan Creek Apartments
14
3/9
W
Valuation
15
3/14
M
Valuation
16
3/16
W
Investment Decisions
17
3/21
M
CASE - Angus Cartwright
HBS Packet
W
Marketing and Brokerage
Ch 12
(p 388-422)
3/28
M
NO CLASS – MARCH
RECESS
19
3/30
W
CASE - Steel Street
HBS Packet
20
4/4
M
Affordable Housing
HBS Packet
21
4/6
W
GUEST SPEAKER - TBD
22
4/11
M
Green Building
23
4/13
W
24
4/18
M
25
4/20
W
18
3/23
4/25
–
4/27
26
Overview of Senior Housing
in the US
CASE - Toward Golden
Pond
HBS Packet
Ch 7
(p 310-340)
Ch 8
(p 341–366)
Ch 19
(p 367-387)
HBS Packet
HBS Packet
HBS Packet
TBD
NO CLASSES – SPRING
RECESS
5/2
M
GUEST SPEAKER –
Michael Stoller
FINAL
EXAM-
CASE – TO BE ANNOUNCED
See LATTE
HBS Packet
See LATTE