Prerequisites

Prior to enrolling in the Master of Real Estate Development program, students are expected to have satisfied various prerequisites. Applicants are expected to address their preparation in these areas in the personal statement of their admission application.

Academic Prerequisites
Professional Experience
Business Function Calculator
Excel Spreadsheet Software
Notebook Computer
Recommended Readings

Academic Prerequisites
MRED applicants are expected to have preparatory coursework and/or training in general business finance prior to enrollment at USC. Some applicants have already completed such classes as part of a bachelors or masters degree program. Applicants in need of this training should consider university extension programs, community colleges, or specialized training centers as possible sources for this instruction. Applicants are expected to address their preparation in the areas listed below in the written statement with the application for admission. Applicants must demonstrate competency in:

• General business finance (including the use of a financial calculator and Microsoft Excel)
• Accounting
• Economics

In addition, a course on real estate principles may be helpful.

Professional Experience
MRED applicants are required to have a minimum of two years full-time work experience following the completion of the bachelors degree. Experience must be in real estate or closely related field such as architecture, banking, brokerage, city planning, construction, engineering, finance, or law.

Business Function Calculator
Students are expected to own and be familiar with the use of a business function calculator, the HP 17BII+ or comparable model. Students must know how to calculate:

• Future values
• Present values
• Loan calculations
• Internal rates of return

Excel Spreadsheet Software
Students are expected to be able to work comfortably with Excel, knowing how to:

• Create new workbooks
• Format rows, columns, and numbers
• Manipulate data
• Create and use formulas
• Create conditional formulas using "if" statements
• Perform operations on ranges
• Use functions
• Sort data
• Create a basic cash flow statement
• Create, format, and modify charts
• Graphics

Notebook Computer
Students are required to have and know how to comfortably use a laptop computer. The standard platform used in the MRED program is the PC. Minimum recommended configurations for laptop computer systems are:

• Intel microprocessor (minimum clock speed of 1.0Ghz)
• 1.0 GB RAM
• 60GB hard drive
• CDRW drive
• Built-in wireless capability
• Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2
• Microsoft Office 2003
• Your computer should come with Internet Explorer already installed. You may wish to have a second Internet browser as well as a back up.

Students should also purchase the following:

• USB flash drive
• Laser pointer (for class presentations)

Recommended Readings
As students prepare for enrollment in the MRED, the faculty has suggested a short list of readings. Students are encouraged to read as many of these materials as possible. The Bodie and Merton book, Finance, will be the required text for RED 541, Finance Fundamentals for Real Estate Development, the first class taken in the Summer semester.

• Bodie, Zvi and Robert C. Merton (2000) Finance. Prentice Hall.
• Fischel, William A. (1985) The Economics of Zoning Laws: A Property Rights Approach to American Land Use Controls. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Frantz, Douglas and Catherine Collins (2000) Celebration, U.S.A.: Living in Disney's Brave New Town. New York: Henry Holt and Co.
• Gans, Herbert J. (1967) The Levittowners: Ways of Life and Politics in a New Suburban Community. New York: Pantheon Books.
• Garreau, Joel (1991) Edge City: Life on the New Frontier. New York: Doubleday.
• Holcombe, Randall G. and Samuel R. Staley (2001) Smarter Growth: Market-Based Strategies for Lane-Use Planning in the 21st Century. Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
• Jacobs, Jane (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House.
• Peiser, Richard B with Anne Frej (2003) Professional Real Estate Development, Second Edition. Washington, DC: Dearborn Financial Publishing and The Urban Land Institute.
• Ross, Stan with James Carberry (2006) The Inside Track to Careers in Real Estate. Washington, CD: The Urban Land Institute.
• Webster, Chris and Lawrence Wai-Chunghai (2003) Property Rights, Planning and Markets. Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.