Course Review
It is said that the barriers to entry in real estate are low but the barriers to success are high. Most analysts or inve
stors think very intuitively about real estate and that might work some of the time. But if you need consistent success,
you need to treat it like a proper asset class and that comes with a lo
t of unique features and its own set unique valuation methodologies. That is pretty much the focus of this course
. The idea here is to teach you real estate as an asset class and ther
e are few better than Wharton and (Wall Street Prep) WSP who can do that.
Wall Street Prep is essentially one of the top course providers to investment banks and investing firms and have been around for quite a while now. They h
ave partnered with Wharton to bring the best of both world’s to the table and this course is the result of that partner
hip. You will be hard pressed to find a course that perfectly balances aca
demic theory with real world investment experience. The course is well structured, thorough and delivered by legendary leaders and industry practitioners.
This is what institutional investors teach to their hires.
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I won’t go too much to the course curriculum and instead will just link it all below, but here is a brief summary of the modules you will be covering. Firstly, you are i
ntroduced to real estate as an asset class including valuation strategies, investment goals, investment framework, DCF, comparables, return types etc. Financing a
d taxation is next followed by the a module on how the deal actu
ally goes through in real time. There are plenty of case studies here as well. Then you have two more modules on real estate investment analysi
and modeling. This is followed by analysing risk factors both at the proper
ty level and the market level. Lastly, there is an investment case study which is essentially your capstone project.
Real Estate is not just residential properties as most people seem to think. Commercial real estate is what the
biggest banks and funds are generally interested i
n and that is where the mega deals happen. Regardless, both are attractive options and crucial to creatin
g a well-diversified portfolio. REITs have also revolutio
more palatable entry point and greater liquidity. We even have real es
tate derivatives these days that mimic real estate returns while providing investors with the same liquidity as financial instruments.
As attractive as real estate is, investing in this asset class is still a tricky proposition. Some people have a natural panache when it comes to real estate but for the rest of us, these courses offer a great starting point.