• REFD Newsletter

Students Turn Theory into Practice Through Internship Experiences
Real Estate Finance and Development students applied the knowledge they’ve gained in the classroom by participating in industry internships this summer.  Eight students participated in the internship program this summer.
“During my internship I advanced my professional life through the contacts I made and the professional demeanor I mirrored,” said Nicodemus Abowd, who interned with The Weitzman Group. “All in all I have gained a greater perspective on commercial real estate and what it takes to be successful in this industry.”

Internships are a vital component of the educational process.  They allow students to gain valuable professional development skills and to network with professionals. If you’d like to sponsor an internship for students, please contact Laura Gilliland at (210) 458-7333.

Summer 2011 Internships
Nicodemus Abowd, The Weitzman Group
Ryan Branch, NAI REOC
Bernardo de la Garza, TC Austin Realty Advisors
Nicole Madlinger, Drake Commercial Group
Sergio Negrete, GFR Development
Keith Puzz, Investment Realty Co.
Daniel Rodriguez, Metropolitan Constracting
Nicole Swonson, Transwestern

Real Estate Professionals Share their Insights During Student Roundtable Discussions
Each week the Real Estate Finance and Development program hosts student roundtable discussions with industry professionals.  The weekly meetings, attended by more than 20 students, allow friends of the program to share with students their views on the real estate industry.

Industry participants this fall include:
Sept. 13 Bob Barnes, REATA
Sept. 21 Kirk Oden, Trinity Real Estate
Sept. 27 Gary Joeris, Joeris General Contractors
Oct. 5 Phil Crane, Providence Commercial
Oct. 11 Ed Barron and Brian Barron, Ed Barron Ventures
Oct. 19 David Negrete, Negrete & Kolar Architects
Oct. 26 Barbara Bushnell, Grubb & Ellis
Nov. 1 Pat Duncan, USAA Real Co.
Nov. 8 Jeff Bailey, Bailey Commercial

If you are interested in participating in a real estate roundtable, please contact Laura Gilliland at (210) 458-7333.

REFD Hosts Third Annual Real Estate Expo
March 28, 2011

The Real Estate Finance and Development Program hosted their third annual Real Estate Expo on March 28. Twenty-nine companies participated in the afternoon expo which brought in over 100 students to learn about real estate internship and career opportunities.

Exhibitors included:
Alamo Architects
Build San Antonio Green
Building Owners and Managers Association
Certified Commercial Investment Members
Commercial Real Estate Women
Drewry Martin Architects
Galaxy Builders
Institute of Real Estate Managers
International Council of Shopping Centers
International Facility Management Association
Joeris General Contractors
Koontz McCombs
Magi Real Estate
Metropolitan Contracting
NAI REOC
New Western Acquisitions
Presidio Title
Real Estate Entrepreneurs and Leaders
Remax North
San Antonio Business Journal
Spawglass
Texas Capital Bank
Transwestern
UCR
Urban Land Institute
USAA RealCo.
U.S. Green Building Council
Weitzman Group
Yantis Company

Business Faculty Members Study Zillow Home Estimates
-March 16, 2010

Are estimates of home values at Zillow.com accurate?  A research study conducted by University of Texas at San Antonio business faculty members Daniel Hollas, Ron Rutherford and Tom Thomson has found that Zillow’s market value estimates are not any more reliable than owners’ estimates of value.

Their study, “Zillow’s Estimates of Single-Family Housing Values,” examined how Zillow’s estimates of value, known as Zestimates, compares to actual sales prices. Zillow.com is a Web site that provides estimated market values for houses.  The research was published in The Appraisal Journal’s Winter 2010 issue.

The faculty members looked at 2,045 single-family home sales in Arlington, Texas, which was rated by Zillow as having the most accurate data. The study found that 40 percent of the homes in the sample were overvalued by Zillow by more than 10 percent compared to actual sales prices.

“Given these results, homeowners can make good use of Zillow’s Zestimates, but in most cases Zillow should not be relied on to provide an accurate estimate of value,” said Ron Rutherford, the Elmo J. Burke Jr. Endowed Chair in Building Development. “It appears, based on results from prior research and the current results, that homeowners are able to determine the value of their own homes better than an automated system such as Zillow.”

Real Estate Students Put Development Experience Into Practice

Business students in faculty member Leland Rocchio’s Principles of Real Estate Development Course, not only learned the theory of real estate development, but they put their newfound knowledge into practice by formulating their own real estate development project.

Students were tasked with developing a comprehensive real estate development plan.
They teamed with mentors from the San Antonio South Texas Chapter of Certified Commercial Investment Members (CCIM). Mentors included Ernest Brown, Grubb & Ellis; Trove Gilbert, Koontz McCombs; Steve Monroe, CB Richard Ellis; Maggie Nigro, Grubb & Ellis; Nick Prater, 4M Realty Company; Tom Rohde, Rohde Ottmers Siegel; Jason Schnittger, Stream Realty; and Cynthia Stevens, Koontz McCombs.

Their final assignment consisted of presenting their projects to a panel of real estate leaders and competing for the CCIM/UTSA John Vogel Award Competition. The winning team was Billy Deiri, Nicholas de la Garza, Robert Garza, Eric Neumann, Javier Paredes and Chris Taubert. Their project was a retail center to be developed near Loop 1604 and Reed Road. The total project size was 116,200 square feet with an approximate cost of $14 million.

“We had a dynamic team that worked well together,” said Paredes.  “Without the help of our mentor, Steve Monroe, this wouldn’t have been possible.  We met with him weekly and sought advice from city planners, engineers, architects and developers to come up with our final product.”

Real Estate Community Enriches REFD Program
The local real estate community has continued their support of the college's Real Estate Finance and Development (REFD) program. These efforts have been led by the REFD Founders Council, an advisory board of real estate leaders charged with furthering the support and growth of the REFD program.

In the past year more than 25 executives have shared their insights with real estate students by participating as guest lecturers both in the classroom and through specialized events such as the Supper with Students program which was established by Founders Council Executive Committee Member Norman Dugas.
The dinners were held bi-monthly and featured guest speakers from the San Antonio real estate community. The speakers provided an overview of their industry, their job as well as provided students with suggestions for entering this industry.

Speakers included Bob Buthod, KB Home San Antonio; Oscar Coronodo, ZHI; Cecilia Garcia, City of San Antonio Planning Commission; Larry Heimer, Bury & Partners; Dale Kane, First American Commercial Property Group; Martha Mangum, Real Estate Council of San Antonio; David Nielsen, Transwestern; Andrew Ozuna, '91, Regions Bank; and Tim Swan, Metropolitan Contracting.