Real Estate Finance

"Real Estate Finance provides the fuel that keeps the industry running…"

The real estate finance business field is extremely diverse and complex. Employers range from pension funds, insurance companies, and private-equity firms, to commercial banks, private banks, and credit unions. Job titles range from investment banker, to mortgage bankers and brokers, and underwriters. Real estate financing is not just for home loans and home equity lines of credit. Major commercial loan business is done with refinancing old loans, new construction loans, permanent financing on leased projects, mezzanine debt, and acquisition loans. Typical job functions in the field involve consulting potential borrowers and originating loans, servicing existing loans by making sure payments are being made and taxes and insurance are paid, securitizing pools of loans to be sold in the secondary MBS and CMBS markets, and much more. Loan underwriters evaluate deals to determine loan amounts, creditworthiness of borrowers, and income potential of projects. Lenders usually specialize by product type including single family residential, multi-family, retail, office, industrial, and more. Lenders may also specialize by loan amount.

Information on this page provided courtesy of Cornell University Program in Real Estate
Information Provided by Cornell University

Real Estate Finance Professional Reading and Resources

  • "Affordable Housing Finance"
  • "Apartment Finance Today"
  • "JOURNAL OF PROPERTY INVESTMENT AND FINANCE"
  • "JOURNAL OF PROPERTY INVESTMENT AND FINANCE"by Brueggeman and Fisher
  • "JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE FINANCE AND ECONOMICS"
  • "REAL ESTATE ECONOMICS"
  • "The Wall Street Journal"

Industry Segments

  • Bachelor’s Degree with concentration in finance, business, real estate (Minimum)
  • Masters Degree in Finance or MBA preferred
  • CCIM: Certified Commercial Investment Member
  • CLO – Certified Loan Officer designated by MBAA
  • CMCP – Certified Mortgage Compliance Professional designated by MBAA
  • CMS - Certified Mortgage Servicer designated by MBAA
  • CMT – Certified Mortgage Technologist designated by MBAA
  • CQAP – Certified Quality Assurance Professional designated by MBAA
  • CLBB – Certified Lender Business Banker designated by ABA

Looking to the Future

The future of the real estate finance industry is hard to determine. The financial crisis of late 2008 has brought new levels of scrutiny to the industry and increased the underwriting standards for most lenders. Moving forward, solid underwriting will be of top priority in that lax underwriting is seen as a cause for the high amount of loans defaulting. Several lending tools such as commercial mortgage back securities and collateralized debt obligations that were so prevalent may not find their way back into the market due to the problems involved with lenders writing bad loans, collecting fees, and moving the loans off their books by selling them into the secondary mortgage markets. Until credit comes back, and transactions start to occur once again, most of the finance industry will be in a standstill. Yet those looking to enter the industry should remain hopeful in that the real estate industry is cyclical and eventually credit will come back, deals will start to happen and lenders will once again find business.

Top Real Estate Finance Companies

  • Prudential Real Estate Investors
  • USAA Real Estate Company
  • Goldman Sachs
  • Bank of America
  • Blackstone
  • Pension Funds (CALPERS)


Job Title / Description     Hide Description Company Location Posted
Senior Real Estate Analyst/Underwriter
Real estate investment banking firm headquartered in NYC is seeking experienced real estate analysts and underwriters to work on a consulting basis in both our principal and advisory transactons group.  Candidates working in our loan sale advisory group or principal acqui...


Confidential NY 11/5/09
Land Broker Specialist
Investment banking firm headquartered in NYC is seeking a seasoned real estate executive who has substantial experience marketing and selling land assets.  The preferred candidate will have expertise in valuation, marketing and the ability to access and negotiate with a national network...


Confidential NY 11/5/09
Real Estate Portfolio Analyst
Real Estate Portfolio AnalystWCV Commercial Properties Inc.Location: Walnut Creek, CA Company Description: WCV Commercial Properties Inc. is a West Coast based Asset Management Company. WCV currently oversees a 24 million square foot commercial real estate portfolio with assets in California, Was...


WCV Commercial Properties CA-Walnut Creek 10/30/09
Vice President - Finance
The Vice President of Finance will provide financial leadership to Phillips Edison & Company (PECO) in the best interests of its stakeholders. Responsibilities will include:With the CFO, ensure the development and implementation  of a strategic plan for PECO to maximize shareho...


Phillips Edison & Company OH-Cincinnati 10/29/09
Analyst/Associate
Position Summary Gulf Related seeks to hire a Development Analyst/Associate to focus on all aspects of real estate acquisitions and development including financial analysis and modeling, site acquisition and due diligence, zoning, legal, budgeting, construction and design. This role will ult...


The Related Companies Abu Dhabi
(United Arab Emirates)
10/28/09
Financial Analyst
Real estate investment company focused on Healthcare sector with over $1B portfolio is looking for a financial analyst to join our management team in Scottsdale, AZ.  Candidate must have experience in developing and analyzing existing investment models with the ability to create new models.&...


Healthcare Trust of America AZ-Scottsdale 10/28/09
Director of Treasury
Real Estate Investment Company focused on Healthcare sector with over $1 Billion portfolio is looking for director of treasury to join our team in Scottsdale. Duties and Responsibilities: Manages and produces the company-wide short term cash forecastManages the short-term investment portfolio and...


Healthcare Trust of America AZ-Scottsdale 10/28/09
FHA / HUD Analyst
Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC provides debt and equity financing for multifamily, seniors / healthcare and commercial real estate. A national lender, Arbor is headquartered on Long Island in Uniondale, New York, and has additional offices throughout the United States. Arbor has built a repu...


Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC MA-Boston 10/26/09
Investment Analyst
SUMMARY:  The Townsend Group is the largest institutional real estate consultant in the United States, with a client base that spans nearly a dozen countries.  Last year, its clients collectively committed approximately $10 billion to private real estate funds and other similar vehicles...


The Townsend Group OH-Cleveland 10/21/09
Underwriting Analyst
As a growing privately held owner/operator of multifamily assets nationwide, we’re seeking to add an Underwriting Analyst to our team.    Candidates should have a minimum of 1 year of commercial real estate acquisitions/asset management/financing (e.g. debt/equity origination, un...


Confidential NY 10/19/09

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