Half-Course: Real Estate Options in Emerging Markets

Course Number 1405

Visiting Lecturer Nicolas Retsinas
Late Winter, 15 session half-course
1.5 credits
Exam (or option of Paper)

Career Focus

For students seeking a career in developing or investing in real estate in emerging markets domestically and/or internationally. The course is for those students who are aware of the potential and the opportunity for investment returns in markets that are often perceived as too risky and/or too poor to generate either short-term or long-term profits.

Educational Objectives

  1. How to assess market context;
  2. How to distinguish between perceived risk and real risk;
  3. How to understand the role of the public sector;
  4. How to reduce agency risk; and
  5. How to mitigate overall development risk including regional and project risk.

Course Framework

Real estate in domestic and international markets is best learned through a rigorous and thorough understanding of the context, the role, and the perspective of actors from both the private sector and the public sector.

The course has three objectives: 1) to understand the risks and rewards in emerging markets; 2) to learn to navigate a development project in a non-traditional setting; and 3) to assess the potential of public-private sector partnerships.

The course begins with an opening lecture on the development process including the issues one faces in assessing and organizing the necessary components of the investment decision. The focus will be on contrasting the economic, demographic and political context for development in emerging markets with traditional real estate settings.

Through cases, the course will investigate how entrepreneurs and investors analyze real estate development options. The cases will illuminate how developers and lenders analyze markets and development opportunities, with emphasis on the pricing and management of risk. Cases will not overlap with those offered in Real Property.

This would be followed by an examination of the complexities of interacting with the public sector in developing affordable housing in the United States. The cases will demonstrate how subsidy programs intersect with conventional real estate development and financing.

The course will then shift focus to emerging markets around the globe. Using cases, the course will include an analysis of the legal and financial infrastructure for real estate finance in developing countries. We will examine changing institutions, new private sector actors, and evolving public policies. The course will address the connections (or lack thereof) to global capital markets. Cases will include pure private sector responses, not-for-profit initiatives, and public-private sector partnerships, and will demonstrate how capital markets and investor interest are turning to foreign emerging markets.

Course Content

The course consists of 15 sessions. The sessions will revolve around cases from a diverse variety of perspectives and environments. Over two-thirds of the cases will be drawn from international experiences. Supplementary materials will be distributed for further background on individual cases. Grades will be based on class participation (50%) and an exam or paper (50%).