Location, Location… Research
I have thoroughly enjoyed my first couple of weeks in the MAcc program thus far. It has been extremely challenging with trying to do so much at once, but very rewarding at the same time. One of my favorite parts of the program is the ability to take classes that interest you. Outside of the required accounting class, I am currently taking a managerial negotiations class because negotiations interest me; a financial management class that I really enjoy; and finally, an interesting real estate class that focuses on the core principles of real estate.
In my past class on Thursday night (the class is held from 6-10), Professor Hudson challenged the common saying that real estate is all about location, location, location. Instead, he said that it is now about location, location, and research. While real estate research is very costly, it is also very, very useful considering that a good real estate decision can last a long time and the owner can reap the rewards of a wise decision for many years. On the other hand, an unwise decision can be costly and hurt the owner for many years.
In making a decision, it is important to know the land cost, where the customers are, the access that a location has to roads/ interstates, growth potential, and competition in the area. Our class is split up into groups (similar to all 4 of my classes) , and we are each given the opportunity to develop a very specific real estate project and present it to a jury of real estate professionals at the end of the class.
The opportunity to take such a wide variety of classes that interest me has been one of the many things that I have enjoyed up to this point.