COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE ANALYSIS AND INVESTMENT
ONLINE SHORT COURSE
Explore a data-driven, finance-focused approach to commercial real estate, with tools, terms, and theories pioneered and developed by MIT’s Emeritus Professor David Geltner.
6 weeks, excluding 1 week orientation.
7–10 hours of self-paced learning, entirely online.
Email: mitsap@getsmarter.com
Call: +1 617 997 4979
ABOUT THIS COURSE
Commercial real estate offers you the opportunity for lucrative long-term investment, which serves as a hedge against the volatility of common investment markets. This course applies concepts from financial economics to commercial real estate, providing you with methods to answer real estate investment questions, along with the tools necessary to make sound investment decisions in the real world.
To generate a holistic overview of real estate analysis and investment, this program will consider real estate from both the micro and macro perspectives. At the micro level, you’ll be introduced to the basic principles of real estate assets and the valuation of individual real estate investments. At the macro level, you’ll examine real estate capital markets consisting of a portfolio of numerous individual properties.
Taught by leading MIT emeritus professor, David Geltner, the Commercial Real Estate Analysis and Investment online short course from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning begins with an overview of fundamental economic principles and progresses to more complex financial and investment analysis. By the end of the program, you’ll walk away with the ability to apply cutting-edge insight to current investment property markets.
“Professor Geltner does a fantastic job at designing and delivering the course content to his students in just six weeks, using a smart combination of short videos, infographics, and written notes. The content is easy to follow, yet useful and educational. I believe the knowledge gained in this course will certainly be useful in my real estate career, and I would highly recommend anyone interested in starting or advancing in real estate to take this course.”
Teddy Lu
Research Analyst
WHAT THIS PROGRAM COVERS
This six-week online program presents you with a comprehensive overview of key financial tools and principles relevant to commercial real estate investment.
Starting from a micro-level perspective, you’ll apply core economic concepts such as returns, risk and uncertainty, opportunity costs, discounted cash flows (DCF), net present value (NPV), and financial leverage to inform real estate investment decision-making. On the macro-level perspective, this program investigates portfolio theory, performance attribution, and benchmarking.
You’ll also have the opportunity to analyze the viability of real estate development projects in terms of project costs and benefits. These projects will be considered against the backdrop of the broader markets shaping investment today.
A POWERFUL COLLABORATION
The MIT School of Architecture and Planning is collaborating with online education provider GetSmarter to create a new class of learning experience — one that is high-touch, intimate, and personalized for the working professional.
ABOUT MIT SA+P
The MIT School of Architecture and Planning is one of five schools at MIT, and comprises six main divisions. Alongside the MIT Center for Real Estate (MIT CRE), MIT SA+P includes the first Department of Architecture in the US, founded in 1868. It also contains the oldest continuous Department of Urban Studies and Planning, founded in 1933. The MIT Media Lab launched in 1980 at SA+P. The School is also home to the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism, which is dedicated to guiding the future of the built environment and cities, and the groundbreaking program in Art, Culture, and Technology.
ABOUT THE MIT CENTER FOR REAL ESTATE
Envisioning the real estate industry’s integrated stewardship of its land and products, the MIT CRE provides tomorrow’s practitioners with the means to transform an ever more vital, global, and complex market. Through research and education initiatives, MIT applies its tradition of excellence in technology, knowledge transfer, and global reach to the real estate industry, developing innovations to help practitioners build responsibly and profitably.
ABOUT THE MIT REAL ESTATE INNOVATION LAB
The MIT Real Estate Innovation Lab is a research and development laboratory for the built environment that measures the financial and economic performance of innovation in real estate, design, and planning. It’s a team of interdisciplinary researchers in planning, design, finance, and economics using data science and machine learning techniques to explain and predict the impact of innovation and technology in real estate.
About GetSmarter
GetSmarter, part of edX, partners with the world's leading universities and institutions to select, design and deliver premium online short courses with a data-driven focus on learning gain.
Technology meets academic rigor in GetSmarter’s people-mediated model, which enables lifelong learners across the globe to obtain industry-relevant skills that are certified by the world’s most reputable academic institutions.
As a participant of this program, you will also gain unlimited access to edX’s Career Engagement Network at no extra cost. This platform will provide you with valuable career resources and events to support your professional journey. You can look forward to benefits including rich content, career templates, webinars, workshops, career fairs, networking events, panel discussions, and exclusive recruitment opportunities to connect you with potential employers.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
You’ll be welcomed to the program and begin connecting with fellow participants, while exploring the navigation and tools of your Online Campus. You will be alerted to key milestones in the learning path, and review how your results will be calculated and distributed.
You’ll be required to complete your participant profile and submit a digital copy of your passport/identity document.
Please note that module titles and their contents are subject to change during program development.
Apply financial economic concepts and tools to real estate investments.
- Recall basic concepts relating to commercial real estate investment
- Discuss the reasons why developers invest in commercial real estate
- Apply different methods to measure the return on a real estate investment
- Calculate the standard deviation (a measure of risk) of different real estate investment projects
- Practice calculating discounted cash flows
Analyze interactions within the real estate system, and the space market in particular.
- Recall the three major elements in the real estate system, and their interactions
- Identify key asymmetry in the space market dynamics
- Apply microeconomic principles to the real estate space market
- Analyze the real estate space market using the economic principles of supply and demand
- Identify market indicators that can be used to forecast future demand and rents in the space market
Evaluate individual real estate investments using financial tools.
- Recognize the importance of the cash flow proforma when considering a real estate investment
- Identify ways to avoid making incorrect assumptions when completing a cash flow pro forma
- Derive the appropriate opportunity cost of capital to use when evaluating a real estate investment
- Evaluate potential real estate investments using financial tools
Show the impact of leverage on a real estate investment's growth and yield.
- Identify the effects of leverage on the risk and return of a property investment
- Show the effect of leverage on an investment's growth and yield
- Define terms associated with real estate debt
- Identify the seniority of claims in investment and the order in which debts become payable
- Calculate outstanding loan payments and balances
- Apply mortgage underwriting criteria to evaluate a commercial mortgage application
Use strategic and tactical tools for evaluating and managing a portfolio of real estate investments.
- Explain how modern portfolio theory can be applied to real estate investments
- Calculate the optimal mix of risky assets in an investment portfolio
- Demonstrate the usefulness of performance attribution for evaluating real estate investments at the macro level
- Use performance attribution to evaluate a real estate investment manager's performance
- Recognize the need for benchmarking when evaluating a real estate investment's performance
- Discuss why some types of funds cannot be benchmarked using the classic return metrics of the stock market
Evaluate real estate development projects using financial tools.
- Recall the steps in the real estate development decision-making process
- Discuss the purpose of conducting a simple financial feasibility analysis of a real estate development project
- Apply the net present value (NPV) rule to real estate development decisions
- Derive the opportunity cost of capital of a real estate development project from the NPV
- Evaluate how forecasting and economic value analysis influence real estate investment decisions
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE
This program is designed for finance, investment, and real estate professionals seeking an in-depth understanding of real estate finance to guide their investment decisions.
Whether you’re a banker, investment analyst, portfolio manager, or if you’re wanting to broaden your understanding of real estate markets, this course will be relevant to you.
If you’re a real estate professional, engineer, or construction manager looking to gain skills to analyze the financial viability and investment potential of your projects, this program will benefit your work. If you are looking to transition or grow into a real estate investment role, this program will give you the competitive edge required to set you apart from the rest.
QUANTITATIVE BUT ACCESSIBLE
While there are no formal prerequisites for this program, general numeracy skills are recommended as you will be expected to engage with quantitative content. If you aren’t from a quantitative background, there will be resources available for revision of numerical concepts and calculations, as well as ongoing support to guide you through content-related challenges.
THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU IF YOU WANT TO:
DEVELOP NEW COMPETENCIES
Explore a finance-focused approach to commercial real estate investment, drawing on quantitative concepts and data.
APPLY NEW SKILLS
Learn about unique tools, terms, and theories that have been pioneered and developed by industry expert, Emeritus Professor David Geltner.
VALIDATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Earn a digital certificate from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, as proof of your commercial property investment knowledge and skills.
ABOUT THE CERTIFICATE
This program offers you the opportunity to earn an MIT School of Architecture and Planning digital certificate as validation of your skills.
Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with a digital certificate you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the course handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the program.
Your certificate will be issued in your legal name and sent to you digitally upon successful completion of the program, as per the stipulated requirements.
WHO YOU’LL LEARN FROM
These subject matter experts from MIT guide the program design and appear in a number of program videos, along with a variety of industry professionals.
YOUR FACULTY DIRECTOR
Emeritus Professor David Geltner
Emeritus Professor of Real Estate Finance at the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and Associate Director of Research at the MIT Center for Real Estate
GUEST EXPERT
W. Tod McGrath
VP of Finance at Boston Properties, and Lecturer at the MIT Center for Real Estate
HOW YOU’LL LEARN
Every course is broken down into manageable, weekly modules designed to accelerate your learning process through diverse activities:
- Work through your downloadable and online instructional material
- Interact with your peers and learning facilitators through weekly class-wide forums and reviewed small group discussions
- Enjoy a wide range of interactive content, including video lectures, infographics, live polls, and more
- Investigate rich, real-world case studies
- Apply what you learn each week to quizzes and ongoing project submissions, culminating in the ability to make informed, practical investment decisions that are backed by cutting-edge insights and financial economics
YOUR SUCCESS TEAM
GetSmarter, with whom MIT SA+P is collaborating to deliver this online program, provides a personalized approach to online education that ensures you’re supported throughout your learning journey.
HEAD FACILITATOR
A subject expert who’ll guide you through content-related challenges.
SUCCESS ADVISER
Your one-on-one support, available during University hours (8a.m.–5p.m. EST) to resolve technical and administrative challenges.
GLOBAL SUCCESS TEAM
Available 24/7 to solve your tech-related and administrative queries and concerns.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
BASIC REQUIREMENTS
In order to complete this program, you’ll need a current email account and access to a computer and the internet, as well as a PDF Reader. You may need to view Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, and read and create documents in Microsoft Word or Excel.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
We recommend that you use Google Chrome as your internet browser when accessing the Online Campus. Although this is not a requirement, we have found that this browser performs best for ease of access to program material. This browser can be downloaded here.
BROWSER REQUIREMENTS
Certain programs may require additional software and resources. These additional software and resource requirements will be communicated to you upon registration and/or at the beginning of the program. Please note that Google, Vimeo, and YouTube may be used in our program delivery, and if these services are blocked in your jurisdiction, you may have difficulty in accessing course content. Please check with an Enrollment Adviser before registering for this program if you have any concerns about this affecting your experience with the Online Campus.
