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Academics

The Real Estate Concentration at the UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School is designed to provide MBA students with a broad background in all aspects of the real estate industry. In the past several years, 10-15% of students in the MBA Program have been real estate concentrators. Students from the Real Estate Concentration have taken jobs in real estate investment, finance, development, consulting, investment banking, corporate real estate, and in most other possible fields within the real estate industry. The courses that are required in the concentration are designed to develop exposure, intuition and technical ability that can be applied to a wide array of decision making.

Students in the real estate concentration take four required courses in the real estate sequence. Additional electives are taken depending on the individual student’s area of interest.

Concentration Requirements

First Year

All students in the concentration take the first-year core in Modules I and II.  Students in the real estate concentration take four required courses listed below in the real estate sequence:

1. Real Estate Process (MBA214, Year 1, Mods III-IV). This course provides students with the foundation required to be successful in the highly competitive summer internship job market. The course introduces students to fundamental concepts of real estate, and provides a foundation for analysis of markets, valuation, real estate law, development, capital markets and investment analysis. The course takes a “bottom-up” approach to real estate decision making, focusing on property level decision making. The course is largely case-based, providing an opportunity to make decisions with the same quality and amount of information as practitioners in the field

Second Year

2. Real Estate Development Process (MBA217, Year 2, Mods I-II). This is the capstone course for students concentrating in real estate. It focuses on the analysis of the real estate development process from the perspective of the equity participant. Understanding this perspective is critical for all real estate market participants, since every existing building began as a development project. The course provides an intensive team project that is designed to take students through the steps necessary to develop an actual income-producing project. The steps include:

  • Choosing a site in the community
  • Determining how to attract equity and gain regulatory approvals
  • Developing a site plan and elevations
  • Conducting market analysis
  • Determining profitable and feasible development strategies
  • Creating revenue projections and undertaking financial analysis.

    The teams face scrutiny from panels of experts regarding each of the aspects of development listed above. The panels review and evaluate the projects throughout the course, and at the end of the course serve as potential equity investors. This provides an actual development experience that is as close to reality as possible in a classroom setting. Through the process, students gain a solid grounding in entrepreneurship and business management.

    3. Site Planning (Year 2, Mod I). The objective of this course is to introduce students concentrating in Real Estate Development to site planning and design. Students learn to make basic site plans in order to assess the feasibility of potential development projects. Readings and lectures cover the principles and techniques of preparing site plans, including Conventional, Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) (also known as New Urbanism), Green Building (LEED-Neighborhood Development), and Low Impact Design (LID). Course work is linked to student projects undertaken on local properties. Working in teams, students research zoning regulations and write develoment programs, analyze site opportunities and constraints, and prepare and present sketch site plans using SketchUp design and visualization software. 

    4. Real Estate Capital Markets (MBA215, Year 2, Mods III-IV). This course provides a framework that gives students understanding of real estate finance, real estate investment, and the operation of real estate capital markets. Unlike MBA 214, this course looks at real estate from the “top-down.” It examines the role of capital markets in facilitating development and investment in commercial real estate markets. Topics covered include commercial mortgage-backed securities and structured finance, Real Estate Investment Trust valuation and financial analysis, real estate in the institutional investor’s portfolio, and real options applied to real estate.

    Elective Courses

  • In addition to the required courses, electives from across the university are recommended based on which aspects of real estate students have an interest.  Relevant courses are offered in UNCKenan-FlaglerBusinessSchool, the Department of City and Regional Planning, the LawSchool, and the Political Science Department.  (Please refer to the MBA Handbook for information on how to take courses outside the MBA Program)

    A large majority of the students concentrating in real estate seek employment opportunities in real estate development, real estate finance, real estate investment banking, and real estate investment management. Students have a large number of electives available to them in the first and second years of the MBA Program, and the recommended courses differ depending on which of the career tracks within real estate that a student wishes to take. The recommended courses fall into two categories: Critical Electives to be taken by all real estate concentrators, and recommended courses that differ depending upon whether a student wishes to focus on development, or on the other career tracks.

    Sample course recommendations for two career options are presented below:

    Critical Courses:

    • MBA 253A or B: Negotiations
    • MBA 273: Financial Statement Analysis
    • MBA 259 or 259S: Power, Politics and Influence

    Recommended Courses for Real Estate Development

    • MBA 235, Project Management
    • MBA 280J, Financial Management Decisions and Applications
    • MBA 258F, Private Equity and Debt Markets
    • MBA 258G, Business Plan Analysis
    • MBA 258H, Entrepreneurship, Value Initiatives, and Capital Sources
    • MBA 259G, Creative Financing of New Ventures
    • MBA 259J, Sales
    • MBA 259K, Launching the Company Part 1: Feasibility
    • MBA 251D, Venture Capital Deal Structure
    • MBA 251E, Venture Capital Management
    • MBA 244, Community Development and Venture Capital
    • MBA 250C, Strategy and Uncertainty
    • MBA 276, Advanced Financial Reporting
    • MBA 277, Complex Deals
    • MBA 285C, Financial Modeling
    • MBA 275, Taxes in Finance
    • LAW 270, Real Estate Finance
    • POLI 220, The Politics of Development and Change
    • PLAN 244, Land Use and Environmental Policy
    • PLAN 266, Urban Neighborhood Revitalization

    See MBA Handbook for details on how to take courses outside the MBA Program

    Real Estate Finance, Investment Banking, and Investment Management 

    • Fundamental Principles of Corporate Finance: Open to 1st years only
    • MBA 276, Advanced Financial Reporting
    • MBA 277, Complex Deals
    • MBA 285C, Financial Modeling
    • MBA 280G, Applied Corporate Finance
    • MBA 289, Financial Markets
    • MBA 258F, Private Equity and Debt Markets
    • MBA 258G, Business Plan Analysis
    • MBA 259H, Entrepreneurship, Value Initiatives, and Capital Sources
    • MBA 280G, Applied Corporate Finance
    • MBA 280J, Financial Management Decisions and Applications
    • MBA 289, Financial Markets
    • MBA 289A, Investment Banking
    • MBA 288, Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Restructuring
    • MBA 288B, Financing Deals and Strategic Transactions
    • MBA 275, Taxes in Finance
    • MBA 251D, Venture Capital Deal Structure
    • LAW 270, Real Estate Finance

    See MBA Handbook for details on how to take courses outside the MBA Program.

    Other Suggested Electives

    • MBA 254A, Applied Improvisation for Communication
    • MBA 258A, Entrepreneurship & Minority Development
    • MBA 261, Data, Tools & Analysis
    • MBA 220, Global Immersion Elective (location changes each year)
    • MBA 253C, Managing Workplace Diversity

    Use the following links for additional detail on classes in the Regional Planning and Law Schools.

    Department of City and Regional Planning Course List

    The Law School Course List

    Practicums

    UNC Kenan-Flagler's MBA Program is geared towards developing multi-disciplined general managers with  strong functional expertise and a global perspective. The MBA Program firmly believes that the best method to achieve this goal is by allowing students to apply and test what has been learned through interaction with real-world  problems and practical experiences.

    A practicum is a team project, which enables students to 1) apply or practice what has been learned in the first year of the MBA program and 2) effectively reinforce and build on theoretical and applied classroom learning through practical, hands-on work with a company or organization. Although there is much latitude in what constitutes an appropriate Practicum Project, the requirements  for completing a project are rigorous and demanding. Each practicum team is required to have a faculty advisor, who expects preparation and professional  results equivalent to a 3.0 credit hour academic course, which means a minimum  of 100 hours of work.

    To find out additional information on how to particiapte in a practicum, please visit the Kenan-Flagler Practicum Program website.

    To find out more information on current Real Estate Practicums, click on the Practicums below.

    Zapolski + Rudd, LLC - Retail study on one of its properties in  Raleigh. 

    Cherokee Property Foundation - Create a strategy for identifying and remediating lower-valued contaminated properties within North Carolina

    Concentration Team

    The coordinator for the Real Estate concentration is David Hartzell (Dave_Hartzell@unc.edu , 919-962-3160).  

    Concentration Leader: David Hartzell

    Curriculum Advisor: David Hartzell

    Career Advisor: David Hartzell, Tom Harvey, OCS

    Faculty teaching in the Real Estate Concentration are:

    Chaired (Distinguished) Professors: David Hartzell, David Godschalk (Department of City and Regional Planning), John J. Pringle, James H. Johnson, Anil Shivdasani, Michael Stegman

    Distinguished Scholars: Robert Bushman

    Professors: Robert Adler, John Hand

    Visiting Professors: W. Clay Hamner                                                

    Associate Professors: Joe Bylinski, Mustafa Gultekin, Greg Brown

    Adjunct Professors:Tom Harvey, Mike Miles, Gerald Bell, Edward Cornet, Buck Goldstein, Richard Kouri, Randy Myer

    Assistant Professors: Peter Brews, Merih Sevillir

    Other Program Activities

    In addition to classroom experiences, our students and faculty are actively engaged in a host of Real Estate Club activities.  The Club sponsors an active speaker series, and invited speakers are appropriately timed to augment and extend classroom discussions.  In addition to the speaker series, a number of career panels are held throughout the fall and spring semesters, where distinguished alumni return to campus to discuss their careers.  Active alumni participation serves as the bridge between current and former students, and several alumni events (reunions, informal dinner talks, etc.) are held throughout the school year.

    The Joint MBA/MRP Program

    In the late 1980s, a joint program was developed between the Masters of Regional Planning Department and the MBA Program.  Students with an interest in the interface  between the public and private sectors enroll in this joint program, which takes three years to complete.  In any year, two to five students are enrolled, and they must pass the rigorous admissions criteria of both the top-five ranked  Planning program and the KFBS MBA Program.  The first year of the Joint Program entails taking the core courses in one of the programs, and the second year requires the taking of the core in the other program.  Third-year electives are chosen to prepare the students for their chosen career areas in the area of real estate.  To our knowledge, this is the only joint program of its kind in the country, and it has earned a reputation of uniqueness and excellence.

    For more information about the Masters of Regional Planning degree, visit the Department of City and Regional Planning website.

    The Joint MBA/Law Program

    The combined degrees of J.D. and Master of Business Administration may be earned in four years by enrollment in the joint program of the School of Law and the  Kenan-Flagler Business School.  Admission to each school must be gained independently.  In the program's first year, candidates must take the complete  prescribed first-year curriculum in either law or in business and in the second  year, that of the other school.  In the third and fourth years, elective law courses and prescribed business courses make up the remainder of the curriculum.  A candidate must successfully complete the combination of 74 semester hours in the Law School and 49 semester hours in the Business School. Professor Thomas Hazen is faculty adviser for this program.

    For more information about the Law Degree, please visit the Law School’s website.

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