Online MBA Degree in Real Estate
MBA in Real Estate
The real estate industry has been a fruitful business sector for generations of MBA graduates. Some have become real estate investors, some developers; some have worked as consultants with real property owners who have inherited a portfolio of business properties. With the advent of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) another form of investment was created for people interested in accruing wealth through what was believed to be a conservative investment area. The beating that investors took on poorly collateralized real estate loans in 2008 and 2009 had more to do with lending practices and the resultant bubble in the market than it did with a wholesale collapse of realty values. It's still an excellent career path for MBA graduates, particularly in a rebuilding market.
Marylhurst University offers an accelerated online MBA in Real Estate program that consists of twelve courses, each delivered in a five week module. Students generally take two courses per quarter and complete the program in eighteen months. There are eight core courses, among them Quantitative Analysis, Organizational Behavior, Financial Methods, and Managerial Economics. The four courses devoted to real estate are Analysis of a Real Estate Transaction, Real Estate Investment Analysis, Ethical Leadership in Real Estate, and a capstone course for the degree.
New England College has a Masters in Management online program that offers an area of concentration in Real Estate Management. The degree provides an opportunity for working professionals to develop the credentials and the skills to engage in real estate development, consulting, mortgage brokerage, and property management. Courses on Contract Management, Principles of Finance & Insurance, and Customer Relationship Management provide the specifics for working in the real estate industry.
University of Denver has an online Master of Real Estate and Construction Management for the graduate student who sees a career track in commercial development. There are also opportunities in residential development, but the financial challenges in obtaining working capital are more manageable in the commercial sector. This degree has four core courses: Residential Construction Systems, Commercial Construction Systems, Income Property Finance, and Computer Applications for Real Estate Analysis. There are then 26 credits of electives to select from a long list; among them are classes in Real Estate Capital Markets, Real Estate Securities/Syndications/Entrepreneurship, and Real Estate Taxation.
Florida State University offers an online MBA in Real Estate through its recently established web-based distance education program. The program is designed as most MBA degrees, online and on campus, with four to six specialization courses and a group of mandatory core classes that are the basis of the business administration component. These core offerings include Operations Management, Information & Technology Management, and Economic & Business Conditions Analysis. Courses in the area of concentration include Real Estate Valuation, Topics in Real Estate Finance & Appraisal, and Investment Management & Analysis.
Drexel University has a Master of Science in Property Management degree available through their online university. The degree is designed to "balance the needs of owners, tenants, contractors, and public entities." That is also what commercial property developers engage in, after they have a project financed and built. Property management experts often engage in consulting roles with commercial property firms that need help with regulatory issues, retrofitting requirements, and rent control issues. In many cases a property management consultant is a better lobbyist on these sorts of issues than a politically oriented professional.
