Real Estate Investing
Sharpen your acumen of real estate principles, learn how to mitigate risk in real estate investing, and strengthen your strategic decision-making capabilities in the field.
The last few decades have seen rising capital allocations to real estate as bond yields have compressed. With financing attributes beneficial to institutional investors, fund managers, and entrepreneurs alike, real estate has become an avenue to wealth building and a source of portfolio diversification for a wide range of investment entities.
More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the real estate industry across the globe that could last for years. The disruption to financial markets and the global economy presents unique challenges for all aspects of real estate dealmaking, including fair valuation of real estate assets, decision making under uncertainty, regulatory changes, long-run implications of work from home, and risk to tenants whose ability to pay rent has been impeded. Yet, the dislocation also presents tremendous opportunities not seen since at least the great financial crisis of 2008–2010. Hotels and retail properties in particular are ripe targets for distressed-asset investors.
Taught by Columbia Business School’s top real estate faculty from the School’s esteemed Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate, the Real Estate Investing program provides participants with a deep understanding of real estate valuation and investments — sharpening their acumen of real estate principles, teaching them how to mitigate risk in real estate investing, and strengthening their strategic decision-making capabilities in the field.
While touching on residential housing, the six-session program primarily focuses on the acquisition and management of income-producing commercial properties.
For a complete program schedule, download the agenda.
Please Contact Us
Please contact our Learning Solutions Specialists at +1 212-854-3395 for a personal conversation to learn more.
This program is designed to provide a deep dive into the changing fundamentals and emerging opportunities in real estate. Participants build on their existing business knowledge and learn how to apply it to the real estate investment market. Specifically, participants will:
- Solidify their understanding of key real estate investment fundamentals and metrics
- Using real-world case studies, examine determinants of successful real estate investing
- Learn how to analyze the distressed real estate investment opportunities
- Consider the perspectives of investors and investment management firms
- Understand factors that are disrupting the business and explore strategies to improve buying, renting, selling, and managing real estate assets
Upon completion of this program, you will earn three credits towards a Certificate with select alumni and tuition benefits. Learn more.
PLEASE NOTE: The upcoming iteration of the program will take place in a live, virtual setting. See the agenda. You may also view the in-person program schedule for when our in-person programming resumes.
The Commercial Real Estate Asset Class, Iconic Assets, and the Investor Ecosystem
Part 1 discusses the importance of real estate as an asset class and its historical return performance. Real estate forms part of the alternative investment asset class and institutional investors target a substantial part of their alternatives portfolio in real estate.
This session also introduces participants to the various types of real estate assets by discussing an iconic asset in each sector. The discussion uncovers a diverse investor ecosystem.
CRE Fundamentals and Valuation
Part 2 discusses CRE leases and operating expenses, two key fundamentals in any real estate valuation. It provides participants with the tools to project and analyze cash flows for real estate properties, the real estate pro forma. It explains the concept of a capitalization rate and how it is used in valuations. The concepts are applied in a real-world case study.
CRE Capital Structure and Taxation
Part 3 takes a deep dive into real estate financing. It studies how mortgage financing affects the risk and return of real estate investments. The discussion covers several other ways of raising capital for real estate acquisitions and investments such as mezzanine debt and ground leases.
Participants also learn about real estate taxation, an important driver of value in many real estate investments.
Part 4 focuses on real estate in distress. It covers lenders’ and borrowers’ rights and foreclosure processes. It treats distressed investing as part of a broader value investment strategy in the real estate industry.
The Covid-19 pandemic has created many newly distressed assets, allowing investors to find new opportunities to recapitalize and reposition troubled properties and companies. A real-life case study provides participants with the tools needed to analyze distressed properties.
Private and Public Equity
Part 5 discusses real estate private equity (REPE) and public equity vehicles (REITs) and their roles in the CRE ecosystem. It discusses the incentive alignment of managers and investors through the cash-flow waterfall. It contrasts the types of assets that REPE and REITs invest in and the relative liquidity of each investment vehicle.
Real Estate Development, Affordable Housing, and Program Summary
The last part discusses real estate development. It does so in the context of an affordable housing investment case, placing the exercise in the broader context of housing affordability. The session wraps up with a review of the program.
Throughout the program, industry guest speakers will complement the classroom and experiential learning sessions.
For a complete program schedule, please download the agenda.
The program is designed for business professionals on the periphery of the real estate business, including investors who touch but don't specialize in real estate, mortgage lenders, private wealth advisors, chief investment or chief financial officers who do not have a background in real estate but need to acquire or enhance their understanding of the sector. The program would also be appropriate for real estate professionals who need a refresher of the key concepts and an update to new developments, for example, in the area of proptech.
Most recent program participants included, among others, private wealth individuals interested in investing in real estate, private wealth advisors, and senior executives from global venture capital and private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds, consulting companies, investment banks, and real estate development, management, and advisory firms.
Familiarity with Microsoft Excel and basic financial concepts such as net present value, internal rate of return, or discounted cash flow is expected.
Columbia Business School alumni and up to four of their colleagues are eligible for a 25 percent tuition benefit for this program. More on the Alumni Tuition Benefit.
| Industry | % |
|---|---|
| Real Estate | 13 |
| Finance | 13 |
| Consulting | 5 |
| Construction | 3 |
| Government | 3 |
| Entertainment / Leisure | 2 |
| Retail / Wholesale | 2 |
| Healthcare / Pharma | 2 |
| Other | 8 |
| Years of Management Experience | % |
|---|---|
| 20+ | 17 |
| 16-20 | 7 |
| 11-15 | 10 |
| 6-10 | 9 |
| 1-5 | 8 |
Upon completion of this program, you will earn three credits towards a Certificate with select alumni and tuition benefits.
This program is suitable for professionals on the periphery of the real estate business or who do not have a background in real estate but need to acquire or enhance their understanding of the sector. Familiarity with Microsoft Excel and basic financial concepts such as net present value, internal rate of return, or discounted cash flow is expected.