Distressed Real Estate Investing

B8332 Real Estate Transactions is recommended. The goal of this course is to make you knowledgeable and conversant about the principles of real estate investing as applied to purchasing distressed assets. The Covid crisis is only the most recent example of how changes in the economy or capital markets can have a profound impact on real estate investors. During the Great Recession and the US Savings and Loan crisis before that, real estate assets suffered appreciable losses, and thus also provided an opportunity for investors to find new opportunities to recapitalize and reposition troubled properties and companies. As both a physical asset and an investment asset with a defined location in space, real estate is strikingly different from other asset classes. It is a long-lived asset that depends on attractive financing, rental increases, and long-term appreciation to maintain its value. Real estate forms part of the alternative investment asset class and institutional investors target a substantial part of their alternatives portfolio in real estate. The class will cover both US and international distressed investments and across traditional and niche sectors. The goal is to provide students with the tools to identify and purchase distressed real estate assets globally and to target superior risk-adjusted rates of return.