RES 3200 - Real Estate Finance - Blogs@Baruch - CUNY

RES 3200 - Real Estate Finance
Spring 2011
Instructor: Mariya Khasina
e-mail: Mariya.Khasina@baruch.cuny.edu
phone: (646) 660-6928
Office Hours: Wed 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Real Estate Dept., Rm. 401, 4th Floor, 137 E. 22nd St.
Course Description
This course offers students a thorough orientation in the fields of real estate investment
and finance. It covers the basics of the real estate investment analysis, mortgage
concepts, and the financing of residential and commercial properties. The topics include
an overview of the major types of valuation models and approaches that are used for
analyzing the chief categories of real properties. Alternative types of mortgages will be
discussed.
Prerequisite
The prerequisite for this course is FIN 3000.
Required Course Materials
Textbook - Real Estate Finance and Investments, 14 th edition by Brueggeman and Fisher.
Financial Calculator
Microsoft Excel
Class Web Page: Hosted by Blackboard
Grading
There will be weekly assignments, one midterm exam, a group project and a final. They
will be graded as follows:
Homework & Participation 10%
Midterm 1 15%
Midterm 2 25%
Project 20%
Final 30%
Attendance Policy
Attendance Policy: Per Baruch policy, if you have more than four absences and are a
freshman or sophomore you will be dropped from the course. If you are a junior or a
senior, it is at my discretion to drop you from the class if you have more than four
absences. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class.

Class Conduct
Cell phones and other electronic communication devices are prohibited during exams.
Please bring your student ID card to class on the day of the midterm as well as to the
final. Any student caught cheating during an exam will receive a grade of zero for that
exam and/or an F for the course and will be reported to the Office of the Dean of
Students for further disciplinary action. Please familiarize yourself with Baruch.s
academic integrity policies:
http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html
http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/help/plagiarism/default.htm
Regrades
No exams written in pencil are eligible for a regrade. To ask for a regrade, you must
submit a written request to me in writing within one week of when the exams are
returned. The request must clearly state what error you believe was made in grading
your exam. Please be aware that if you ask for a regrade, I and/or the grader(s) reserve
the right to regrade the entire exam and, as such, your total score may fall if errors in
your favor were made in grading some parts of the test.
Homework
The key to mastering the material in this course is doing problems. Doing problems is
also the best way to prepare for exams. At a minimum, the course requires you to
complete and submit 8 homework assignments through Blackboard. Blackboard will not
accept late problem sets. I will drop the worst assignment. You can use that either to get
the highest grade possible or if you miss a homework assignment for whatever reason.
While the homework is graded, the goal of the homework is for you to learn the
material: the primary evaluation tools for this course are the exams. I would prefer you
complete the homework individually. You will be much better prepared for the exams
and will get more out of the class if you do the assignments on your own. Thus if you
have perfect homework grades and perform poorly in class it would be a strong sign
that you didn’t do your own work.
Class Schedule
Week 1: Introduction and Chapter 1
Week 2: Chapter 2. Real Estate Financing
Week 3: Chapter 3. The Time Value of Money
Week 4: Chapter 3. The Time Value of Money
Week 5: Midterm Ch. 1-3
Week 6: Chapter 04: Fixed Interest Rate Mortgage Loans
Week 7: Fixed Mortgage Loans
Week 8: Chapter 05: Adjustable and Floating Rate Mortgage Loans
Week 9: Chapter 06: Mortgages: Additional Concepts, Analysis, and Applications
Week 10: Chapter 07: Single Family Housing
Week 11: Chapter 06-7: Mortgages and Review
Week 12: Midterm Ch. 4-7

Week 13: Spring Break
Week 14: Chapter 09: Income-Producing Properties
Week 15: Chapter 10: Valuation
Week 16: Presentations
TBD Final Exam Chapters 1-10
Group Project
There will be one group project assigned this semester. You must work in groups of 3-4
people on this assignment. You must present a 15-20 minute summary of your proposed
project to the class. Please submit both a hard copy of your proposal in class and an
electronic copy to me via email.
Project Overview
Your group runs a small real estate investment fund. You were recently allocated $100
million to invest in New York real estate for 5 years. The requirements (investment
parameters) are as follows:
- All capital must be invested in real estate
- All investment has to be located within 5 boroughs of New York City
- Investment must generate a profit (provide a pro-forma of how this will happen)
You will be graded on the following categories:
- Cash flow analysis, project profitability and viability 55%
- In-Class Presentation & Written Proposal Presentation 30%
- Team Evaluation 15%

Please detach and submit this page with a valuation of your group members along with
your project.
Your name:
Your group members:
Grade (A-F)
1._____________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________________________
Comments: