Professor Terry Fields Holds First REM+I Workshop
Professor Terry Fields held the first REM+I (Real Estate Management and Investment) Workshop this past July in the Weidner Center for Real Estate Management in UAA’s College of Business and Public Policy, and the inaugural program was a clear success!
15 high school and Middle College students participated in the 3-day course, representing Mat-Su Career Tech, Dimond High School, King Tech, FOCUS Home School, Service High School, and the UAA Middle College. The first two days of this exploratory workshop were spent in the Weidner Center learning about income-producing real estate - apartments, office buildings, retail malls, and warehouses - and how to prepare a cash flow pro forma, analyzing the investment potential of a real estate asset. Students learned how to create an amortization schedule for a real estate loan, calculate effective gross income, predict operating expenses, and identify a property's cash flow potential. Students also learned how to calculate return on investment metrics and some operating benchmarks. After being introduced to these topics, students worked in teams to identify a property currently listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), research and prepare a pro forma statement, and present their findings to the group. On the third day, students toured around Anchorage visiting properties owned and managed by Weidner Property Management and Real Estate (WPMRE) Advisory Board companies:
- Park Plaza II - Weidner Apartment Homes
- New Construction 4-plex - Cook Inlet Housing Authority
- JL Tower - JL Properties
- 5th Ave Mall - Simon Property Group
During the tours, students were able to interact with Advisory Board members, as well as Megan Barrett, a WPMRE student currently participating in an internship with JL Properties, and a WPMRE Alum, Robert Erickson, who presently works for Weidner Apartment Homes. Throughout these exchanges, students learned more about careers in real estate management and the different pathways they could possibly take.
The entire workshop was generously funded by a gift from Weidner Apartment Homes ($7,500) which covered one credit of tuition and fees, lunches, t-shirts, transportation, and faculty instruction.
This incredible introduction to the industry, as well as local properties and professionals succeeded in inspiring the group of attending students. A follow-up survey was conducted and the workshop garnered a 100% Net Promoter Score with 15 out of 15 students saying they were highly likely to recommend the workshop to a peer. Two of the students stated that they would be in the WPMRE program this fall and another six indicated that they are highly considering majoring in this field in the future.
For more information on the program, please contact Terry Fields at tjfields@alaska.edu.