Customer Reviews

Real Estate Perspectives: An Introduction to Real Estate

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2 star:		(1)
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I took Jack Corgel's course in the Hotel School at Cornell. We used the third edition of this text, and it covered the spectrum of concepts for a basic introduction to real estate investment. Even though the course focused on commercial real estate, I found the concepts have helped me determine whether I have made good choices in residential real estate, as well. The best aspect of the book (and the course) was applying a discounted cash flow analysis to particular properties. As a method to assess the financial viability of a property by analyzing the rent, tax, depreciation and other effects, the discounted cash flow analysis helped me feel much more confident in my real estate investments.

The book covers four basic areas: investment principles like net present value, real estate markets, mortgage financing, and legal aspects of real estate. Although not flashy with lots of pictures, the essential concepts and methods are thoughtfully explained and applied. I highly recommend this book as a reference to keep on your shelf to refer to periodically if engaged in the acquisition of real estate.

I took prof corgel's class in the hotel school at cornell and used his book both for his class and the upper level real estate finance class ha 420. in both classes i earned very high marks. jack corgel, while extremely knowledgeable, is an under-achieving professor. this is widely agreed upon in the cornell community and most students make tremendous efforts to enroll in the required course during the spring when it is taught by a different professor. he has great difficulty conveying information in an understandable, overlapping, interconnected manner. he would do well to show us the completed puzzle first and then explain how and why all the pieces go where they go. his book demonstrates his deficiency in this area. the text is pact full of information. It is poorly organized and extremely difficult to follow. his text attempts to use 1 example and continue to reference it throughout the chapters. this method has failed corgel considerably. as a result, it is difficult to make use of his example when reading the book out of chronological order and much early chapter referencing is needed to remind the student of the example's background information. he would have done well to introduce a new venture at the beginning of each chapter in the context of the material being examined in the subsequent sections. Not only would this have provided students with a catered scenario for maximum comprehension of material, but it would have allowed for general absorption of practical real world applications. Lastly, the text is a miserably boring read lacking any and all forms of personality or interesting commentary. It is as boring as it is complicated.