Real Estate and the Built Environment Major

Program Director: Maria Day-Marshall, J.D., LL.M

The major in Real Estate and the Built Environment expands the traditional, narrowly focused, business approach to real estate, finance, investment and management, providing students with broad perspectives that come from the multitude of disciplines that make up the modern practice of real estate. From construction methods and materials to politics and public policy, and from urban planning and design, to transportation, to building and landscape architecture, modern real estate development is a multi-disciplinary practice. The major offers a set of required courses to introduce students to the complexity of real estate and the built environment practice, as well electives in the affiliated fields that impact the Built Environment. The focus is on transformational real estate practice, addressing issues posed by individual and collective decisions about the built environment ranging from social and environmental justice, to climate change, to community identity and heritage.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Core Concepts of the Real Estate Development Process: Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the core concepts of the real estate development process including its principles, practice and participants. They will demonstrate their basic knowledge of how developers create value by making tangible improvements to real property.
2. Fundamental Legal and Financial Real Estate Concepts: Students will demonstrate their knowledge of real estate financial concepts necessary to read and employ financial statements, income and revenue reports of properties and portfolios, and the ability to explain and undertake a basic real estate pro forma. Students will also demonstrate their knowledge of real estate legal concepts necessary to read and understand legal documents related to real estate.
3. Affiliated Fields Contributing to or Impacting the Built Environment: Students will demonstrate their knowledge of fundamental concepts and terminology necessary to interact and engage the wide variety of fields and professions necessary for successful real estate development. Those fields include architecture, planning, law, construction, public policy and engagement as well as the issues of environmental impacts and sustainability.
4. Professional Skills: Students will demonstrate professional skills as indicated by an ability to: produce effective visual (typically Power Point) presentations, prepare effective documents in business writing style, and undertake effective oral presentation and persuasive communication.

¹

Credits required depends on whether a student took RDEV270 (3 credits), or BMGT210 (2 credits)

²

Some courses have prerequisites that a REBE student may have met or not; seats in electives are not assured for REBE students.

Click here for roadmaps for four-year plans in the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Additional information on developing a four-year academic plan can be found on the following pages:

• http://4yearplans.umd.edu
• the Student Academic Success-Degree Completion Policy section of this catalog