This is the syllabus for REFM’s Principles of Commercial Real Estate Finance self-study course. You can purchase the course here.
The course is based on the top graduate-level real estate finance textbook, Real Estate Finance and Investments: Risks and Opportunities (Linneman). A copy of the Third or Fourth Edition of textbook is required. The textbook is not included in the cost of course registration, so if you do not already have one, you may order one here.
Coursework Free Samples
- Module 1: Risks And Opportunities; What Is Real Estate?; Global Real Estate
- Textbook Readings:
- Ch. 1: Risks And Opportunities
- Ch. 2: What Is Real Estate?
- Ch. 2 Supplement A: International Real Estate Investing
- Video Lecture
- Slides
- Linneman Audio Interviews:
- Textbook Readings:
- Module 2: Time Value of Money and Discounted Cash Flow; Real Estate Cycles
- Textbook Readings:
- Prerequisite I: The Basics of Discounted Cash Flow & Net Present Value Analyses
- Ch. 20: Real Estate Cycles
- Video Lecture (start at 17:24 mark)
- Excel
- Slides
- Linneman Audio Interviews:
- Textbook Readings:
- Module 3: Fundamentals of Commercial Leases
- Textbook Reading:
- Ch. 3: The Fundamentals of Commercial Leases
- Video Lecture (start at 38:47 mark)
- Excel
- Slides
- Linneman Audio Interviews:
- Sample Retail and Office Leases
- Textbook Reading:
Balance of Coursework
- Module 4: Property Level Pro Forma Analysis; Financial Modeling; Internal Rate of Return; Amortization
- Textbook Readings:
- Ch. 4: Property Level Pro Forma Analysis
- Ch. 4 Supplement A: The Connection Between Capital and Physical Markets: Drivers of Real Estate
- Ch. 5: Financial Modeling
- Prerequisite II: IRR: What It Is and What It Isn’t
- Prerequisite III: Amortization Fundamentals
- Excel for class (included with self-study course)
- Slides for class (included with self-study course)
- Blog Post: Pro-Forma Formulas Decoded
- Linneman Audio Interviews:
- Textbook Readings:
- Module 5: Due Diligence; Capitalization Rates
- Textbook Readings:
- Ch. 6: Real Estate Due Diligence Analysis
- Ch. 7: The Use And Selection Of Cap Rates
- Excel for class (included with self-study course)
- Slides for class (included with self-study course)
- Linneman Audio Interviews:
- Textbook Readings:
- Module 6: Development Pro Forma and Feasibility Analysis
- Textbook Readings:
- Ch. 8: Development Pro Forma Analysis
- Ch. 9: Development Feasibility Analysis
- Excel for class (included with self-study course)
- Slides for class (included with self-study course)
- Linneman Audio Interviews:
- Introduction of Homework #1, “The Upzoning Decision”
- Case Study Assignment
- Case Exhibits
- Completed Excel Pro-Forma for By-Right Scenario (included with self-study course)
- Guide to Working With Macros
- Textbook Readings:
- Module 7: Debt Financing
- Textbook Readings:
- Ch. 12: Should You Borrow?
- Ch. 13: The Use of Debt and Mortgages
- Excel for class (included with self-study course)
- Slides for class (included with self-study course)
- Linneman Audio Interviews:
- Textbook Readings:
- Module 8: Bankruptcy; Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS)
- Turn in Homework #1; Introduction of Homework #2, Multi-Tenant Asset Acquisition Modeling (included with self-study course)
- Textbook Readings:
- Ch. 11: Real Estate Bankruptcy Basics
- Ch. 14: Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities Basics
- Supplemental II: A Look At A Real CMBS Issue
- Excel for class (included with self-study course)
- Slides for class (included with self-study course)
- Video: The Crisis of Credit Visualized
- Article: Present At The Creation and Destruction Of CMBS
- Article: Betting On The Blind Side
- Linneman Audio Interviews:
- Module 9: Ground Leases; Real Estate Exit Strategies
- Textbook Readings:
- Ch. 15: Ground Leases As A Source Of Finance
- Ch. 16: Real Estate Exit Strategies
- Excel for class (included with self-study course)
- Slides for class (included with self-study course)
- Sample Document: Ground Lease
- Linneman Audio Interviews:
- Textbook Readings:
- Module 10: Real Estate Companies; Real Estate Private Equity; Real Estate Investor Perspectives
- Review Homework #1
- Textbook Readings:
- Ch. 10: Real Estate Company Analysis
- Ch. 17: Real Estate Private Equity Funds
- Excel for class (included with self-study course)
- Slides for class (included with self-study course)
- Structuring Real Estate Deals: An Investor’s Perspective
- Linneman Audio Interviews:
- Module 11: REITs and Liquid Real Estate; Corporate Real Estate
- Homework #2 due; Review Homework #2
- Textbook Readings:
- Ch. 18: REITs and Liquid Real Estate
- Supplemental I: Returns Characteristics of CRE
- Ch. 19: Corporate Real Estate Decision Making
- Ch. 21: There Are A Lot Of Right Ways To Do It
- Ch. 21 Supplement A: Some Observations On Real Estate Entrepreneurship
- Excel for class (included with self-study course)
- Slides for class (included with self-study course)
- Linneman Audio Interviews:
You can purchase the self-study course here.
Bruce, is it possible to have all the syllabus in downloadable versions? I purchased the course but the first lectures are only available on YouTube and I’d like to keep them on my iPad as well. Same for the rest of the audio interviews.