A team of talented and passionate Wisconsin real estate undergraduates joined ten of the world's leading real estate undergraduate programs entered in the third annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition, including teams from Canada, China, and Europe. Each team received the case via e-mail on November 5th and had four days to research the case, prepare their analysis, and craft a presentation.
The case required the teams to conduct a hold/sell analysis to advise a pension fund on whether to keep in its portfolio a property called “Chelsea Plaza” in New York's Meatpacking District. During the four days prior to traveling to New York, the Wisconsin team immersed themselves in the case working into the early morning hours to gather and analyze the market and competitive data, complete a financial analysis, and prepare a PowerPoint presentation to present a panel of judges comprised of high-level real estate industry professionals. “During the week of preparation, it was a challenge to balance other school work with the case. We all found ourselves so consumed by the case--and enjoying it so much--that a full day would pass by very, very quickly, without us even realizing it,” said Jane Van Eerden.
At the competition, each team had 20 minutes to present their analysis followed by 20 minutes for questions from the 15 judges. The teams were judged not only on their investment recommendations, their approach to the problem, and their presentation skills, but also on their ability to answer and respond to direct and probing questions posed by the judges. The Wisconsin team advanced out of the first round to the finals along with Cornell University and Pennsylvania State University, who placed first and third, respectively.
Due to the comprehensive real estate education students receive at Wisconsin, the Wisconsin team was well-prepared to compete. “Many of the skills I learned in my Real Estate Finance and Real Estate Valuation courses were directly relevant. For example, our team used Argus for projections and created a waterfall structure to show how proceeds flow to different tiers of investors,” Jason Udoff said. Van Erdan adds, “We already had a great understanding of real estate fundamentals from our course work; the case challenged us to apply these concepts and dig a level deeper than we typically do in the classroom.”
Not only are case competitions are a great way for our real estate students to integrate the knowledge gained in the classroom and apply it to real world business challenges, they are great for building confidence and resumes. “The Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition was an incredible experience. I learned a great deal about how to analyze real estate properties as well as how to present my opinion in a clear and concise way,” said Udoff. Kate Pan agrees, “The best part of the process was the strong accomplishment we felt at the end of the competition. It's definitely one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in my life.”
This is the first year that Wisconsin has participated in the Cornell case completion. The team consisted of Andrew Berger, Laura Bodine, Kate Pan, Jason Udoff, Jane Van Eerden and Jimi Xie, led by Faculty Advisor Arif Qureshi. The students will split the second-place prize of $4,000.
For more information on the competition, visit
www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/industry/centers/cref/education/competition.