Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Fall 2016
Section Meetings:
TBA
Class Format:
Course Website:
https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/18287
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Grading
There are no problem sets in this course. Instead, you will be graded on your posts to online discussion boards
and your participation in the live case study discussions. Attendance is not required, but active participation is.
By design, your scores are awarded in small increments throughout the term to capture your overall contribution and
to allow you to adjust the level of your participation along the way if needed.
Youll also see that, by design, the number of available participation points far exceed the points required to
receive an A in the class. This means you have significant flexibility in fulfilling the participation requirements.
Your total semester points will be based on the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Individual Participation:
Team Participation:
Midterm Exam:
Final Exam:
30%
30%
20%
20%
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Grading (Continued)
1. Individual Participation (30%)
Sharing your individual ideas and opinions are an essential part of the course. Formulating and expressing
your thinking help you work through the material and, by sharing your unique background and perspective, provide a
richer experience for your peers.
You can contribute to the case sessions (starting with Session #2) in any of the following three ways:
On-Camera Participation
Discussing the case live with audio and video via your webcam.
Each session is worth up to 10 points and we drop your lowest two session scores when calculating your
semester grade. Participation points are determined by the teaching staff after each session.
Since On-Camera Participation provides by far the greatest contribution to the discussion, those who participate are
eligible to receive up to a 50% bonus per session up to a total of 120 out of 100 possible points for the Individual
Participation Score.
2. Team Participation Score (30%)
At the beginning of the semester, you will be randomly assigned into a Consulting Team. Each week a different
member of your team will be responsible for presenting a portion of the case to the class as an Expert Consultant.
Expert Consultants are required to be on camera during the case discussion and be available to provide
insights and perspectives on behalf of their team.
***Each team member must be an Expert Consultant for two of the class sessions.***
Teams will be required to submit a schedule during the second week of class listing which team members will be
presenting during which lecture.
Preparing your Expert Consultant is a team effort. The Expert Consultant will draw on the thoughts and ideas of
all members of their team who will be posting to the teams private online discussion board in advance of that weeks
lecture.
The Team Participation component of your grade will be determined as follows:
Weekly Private Team Discussion Board Posts
Peer Evaluation for Team Contribution:
Expert Consultant Appearances:
70 points (max)
10 points (at end of semester)
20 points total
We drop your three lowest weekly group discussion posts when calculating your semester score.
Revised August 22, 2016
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Grading (Continued)
You are expected to actively and positively contribute to the group effort. In cases where Peer Evaluations report
non-contribution or actions which are otherwise detrimental to the group, a larger deduction may be made. These
cases are extremely rare but have occurred.
***Bonus***
At the end of each of the twelve case study sessions, the class will (anonymously) vote on the Top Expert
Consultants. All members of the top teams will receive a bonus on their Team Participation Score (up to a
total of 20 additional points on top of each members total Team Participation Score).
3. Exams
The Midterm and Final Exams will be based on the material and discussions from lectures. Questions will be similar
in content and format to the Weekly Group Discussion prompts and may include analysis of a short case.
The purpose of the exams is for you to demonstrate your knowledge of the framework of analysis we learned, the
major themes of cases we cover, and significant points made during the live class discussions.
Letter Grades
Letter grades are assigned according to the following fixed scale:
Letter Grade
A
AB+
B
B-
Percentage of
Semester
Points
93%
90%
87%
83%
80%
Letter Grade
C+
C
CD
E/F
Percentage of
Semester
Points
77%
73%
70%
65%
0%
The percentages above represent the lower bound of the letter grade range. For example, a student who earned an
86.9% would receive a B for the course. A student receiving exactly 87% of semester points would receive a B+ for
the course.
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Online Exams
There will be two exams. The first exam will cover the Sessions #1 - #8. The second exam will cover Sessions #9
#13 sessions. Both exams will be two hours in duration, carry equal weight, and will be administered online.
Important: You will have a 24-hour window during which you can take your exam. The examination window starts
at 7:40pm US Eastern on the exam date and ends the following day at 7:40pm. You can take your exam at any point
during that examination window.
All exams are closed book (no notes or study aides of any kind) and are administered via Proctorio, an easy-to-use
online proctoring, which is just like having an in-person proctor, only it is done via the internet.
This easy to use service ensures the integrity of your exam while saving you the expense and inconvenience of using
an in-person proctoring facility. With Proctorio, you can take your Exams online anywhere and anytime during
the examination window.
Technology Check-ins
Every student required to schedule and attend a brief Technology Check-in which will be scheduled early in the
semester. The check-in will take approximately ten minutes during which you will get experience turning on your
web cam, using your microphone, and operating the online presentation client.
A sign-up sheet will be created on the course website.
Other Logistics
Prerequisites:
High school algebra. No prior real estate or finance background is required for this course.
Technology:
Your live participation is an important part of this class. A computer equipped with a
microphone, webcam, and a high-speed internet connection are required.
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Readings
All of the case studies referenced in this syllabus will be made available in downloadable Coursepack from Harvard
Business Publishing at a cost of approximately $75.00.
In addition, we strongly recommend the purchase of the following book:
Poorvu, Willliam J. Creating and Growing Real Estate Wealth: The 4 Stages of a Lifetime of Success,
(FT Press, 2008).
ISBN-13: 978-0132434539
(Retail Price: Approximately $26.00)
While no readings are assigned for Poorvus book, it is an excellent resource for those interested in starting a real
estate business and some of the lecture discussions are grounded in material covered in depth by Poovu.
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Course Schedule
Module 1: The Why? and How? of Real Estate
Thu, Sep. 1, 2016 Session #1: Running a Real Estate Enterprise: Its Not a Job, Its an Adventure
Lecture: Why pursue Real Estate as a career?
o Four Stages of a Real Estate Career
o Strategies for long-term success
o Course Logistics
Thu, Sep. 8, 2016 Session #2: How Real Estate Investments are Analyzed?
Lecture: Entrepreneurship as a Way of Life
Case Study: Note on Real Estate Investments
o Case Summary: This note covers the basics of real estate from a portfolio manager's perspective. It
examines how money is made in real estate, how real estate is valued, the differences among various
types of real estate, and how to do basic financial modelling such as net present value (NPV) and
internal rate of return (IRR).
Case Study: Financial Analysis of Real Property Investments
o Case Summary: Develops a conceptual framework for financial analysis of real estate investments,
taking into consideration the necessity for baseline data, project trends, and forecast discontinuities.
Module 2: Getting Started in Real Estate
Thu, Sep. 15, 2016 Session #3: Your First Project
Lecture: What Kind of Investor Are You?
o Identifying and playing to your strengths
Case Study: Lance Johnstone: Developing 3000 North Broad
o Case Summary: The case focuses on Lance Johnstone, a former NFL player, who has dabbled in real
estate development during his playing career, and now, as a retired player, is trying to pursue the
development of a 10-unit rental apartment building in a depressed area of Philadelphia, his
hometown. The case presents the process Johnstone and his partner went through to purchase the
vacant land, develop a construction budget and financing plan, and asks students to evaluate the
prospective financials for this development and assess the viability of the development plan and its
prospective returns.
Thu, Sep. 22, 2016 Session #4: Renovation as an Alternative to Development
Case Study: Steel Street
o Case Summary:
The case involves repositioning an old 6-story warehouse in Pittsburgh and many of the issues of
rehabilitation and selecting and managing the development team especially in a world of capital
market uncertainty. The case also demonstrates the alignment of interests of the players, the
construction process and the various methods available to contract with the general contractor
including lump sum, cost-plus and guaranteed maximum price.
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Academic Integrity
You are responsible for understanding Harvard Extension School policies on academic integrity
(www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/student-conduct/academic-integrity) and how to use sources
responsibly.
Not knowing the rules, misunderstanding the rules, running out of time, submitting the wrong draft, or being
overwhelmed with multiple demands are not acceptable excuses. There are no excuses for failure to uphold academic
integrity.
To support your learning about academic citation rules, please visit the Harvard Extension School Tips to Avoid
Plagiarism (www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/tips-avoid-plagiarism), where you'll find links to
the Harvard Guide to Using Sources and two free online 15-minute tutorials to test your knowledge of academic
citation policy. The tutorials are anonymous open-learning tools.
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Accessibility
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The Extension School is committed to providing an accessible academic community. The Accessibility Office offers a
variety of accommodations and services to students with documented disabilities. Please visit
www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/disability-services-accessibility for more information.
Professional Conduct
Professional behavior is expected throughout the class. This means respectful communication. During discussions,
negotiations, and debriefs, civil discourse should be maintained at all times and comments should be aimed at moving
the discussion forward. This does not mean that students must always agree with others since reasoned, respectful
dissention may be part of the discovery process and lead to previously unconsidered options. Opportunities to
provide feedback to classmates will be provided in class in our debriefing sessions.
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