Top 10 Executive Courses in Real Estate

The Wharton School runs an online program in a synchronous format called Assessing Commercial Real Estate Investments and Markets in the Era of COVID-19. It’s for investment professionals who want to better understand the forces at play in the pandemic world, and learn how to analyze the investment risks and opportunities that are emerging in marketplaces that are in flux. The executives graduate with clarity and confidence to evaluate potential real estate investment opportunities. 

Saïd Business School at the UK’s University of Oxford puts on the Oxford Real Estate Program, which teaches executives how to apply strategic thinking to real estate investments and businesses. On the short program, run over five days on campus in Oxford, participants come from across the real estate and investment industries. They learn about the latest developments, opportunities and risks in real estate investments and learn to analyze a wide range of trends to design a business case for a real estate investment and present it to potential investors. 

Columbia Business School in New York City runs the Real Estate Investing program, taught online but live on six consecutive Fridays. In this program, executives learn about the principles of real estate investing from a global perspective. They are taught by Columbia’s leading faculty from the school’s Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate, and learn how to mitigate risk in real estate investing, and how to strengthen their strategic decision-making capabilities. The modules cover residential housing but the program primarily focuses on the acquisition and management of commercial properties. 

ESCP with campuses across Europe runs the Certificate in Real Estate Finance and Investments, an executive education program that is delivered entirely online over 30 hours. It aims to support executives who wish to pursue a career in commercial lending and real estate finance, a highly specialized market. Participants learn tools for valuing a revenue generating property and calculate mortgage debt. They also learn how to refinance debt and calculate cash flow from real estate assets with varying capital structures. 

Rice Business provides an introduction to the real estate market with a short online course that teaches executives — real estate developers and entrepreneurs — how to assess the commercial viability of real estate investments and developments. Over eight weeks, the participants learn concepts and techniques needed to perform valuations, and the instruments commonly used to finance real estate assets. 

Executives enhance their ability to analyze financial risks and opportunities in the real estate marketplace on Advanced Real Estate Finance program at MIT. Over two days, the participants will master cutting-edge quantitative tools for managing portfolio risk. They also learn about real estate market dynamics and trends, including developments in securitization and derivatives, as well as transactions and capital sources. In sum, participants understand the financial and economic concepts and tools required for real estate investment. 

France’s ESSEC runs an advanced certificate program in International Real Estate, jointly with Spain’s IE Business School and the IREBS Real Estate Academy in Germany. The program, taught in Paris, provides executives with the knowledge and mathematical models to develop effective and innovation business strategies in the European property market. The program is run in cooperation with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and attracts senior leaders in the real estate and investment industries. 

The school of management at Ryerson University runs the Real Property Investment Certificate Program in partnership with REALPAC, a training provider. The certificate program is multidisciplinary and offers a unique perspective into all areas of the commercial real estate industry. Taught online by senior industry leaders in small class sizes, the program draws on best practice that can be applied to the workplace immediately. The courses cover valuation, investment, law, development, lending and leasing. 

FIU Business offers the Real Estate Investment Executive Certificate Program, on which executives learn about real estate portfolio development, hospitality investments, estate tax, asset succession and much more besides. It’s a four-day, conference-style program taught on campus in Florida. It’s also multidisciplinary, featuring world-renowned speakers from the university’s Hollo School of Real Estate, as well as its law school. 

This leading Italian management schools runs several different short executive programs in real estate, each one specializing in a certain area of the industry, such as real estate finance, asset management, valuation and marketing. All are delivered exclusively online and provide participants with the analysis techniques and tools needed to evaluate, market or manage real estate investments.