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
Real Estate Financial Controller
 Real Estate Financial ControllerCup is a premier investment management company with a diverse national real estate Consolidated Investment Group is seeking a proven manager who will be strategic, progressive, energetic, and accountable, a confident leader, and a hands-on team player, who th...


Consolidated Investment Group CO-Englewood 11/18/09
Associate
  OVERVIEW:Our client, Eastdil Secured, a Wells Fargo subsidiary, is a real estate investment banking firm that provides real estate clients with transactional services focusing on raising public or private debt or equity.  Eastdil Secured designs capital market strategies and structure...


SelectLeaders DC-Washington 11/18/09
Real Estate Financial Analyst/FT/Northern, VA Area
Founded in 1892 and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Strayer University’s mission is to make high quality post-secondary education achievable for motivated working adults. Strayer has become one of the most respected adult-focused universities in America and a...


Strayer University VA-Northern 11/13/09
Lease Administrator FT/Strayer University/Springfield/Lorton, VA Area
Founded in 1892 and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Strayer University’s mission is to make high quality post-secondary education achievable for motivated working adults. Strayer has become one of the most respected adult-focused universities in America and a...


Strayer University VA-Springfield/Lorton 11/13/09
Senior Asset Manager
  Firm and Position American Realty Advisors, a Los Angeles area based SEC registered commercial real estate investment manager with $3.7 billion in assets under management, is seeking a Senior Asset Manager to join its real estate professional team in our Chicago, Illinois office. ...


American Realty Advisors IL-Chicago 11/10/09
Senior Asset Manager
 Firm and Position American Realty Advisors, a Los Angeles area based SEC registered commercial real estate investment manager with $3.7 billion in assets under management, is seeking a Senior Asset Manager to join its real estate professional team in our Glendale, California office.&nb...


American Realty Advisors CA-Los Angeles 11/10/09
Multi-Family/Student Housing Real Estate Acquisitions Analyst/Associate
Multi-Family/Student Housing Real Estate Acquisitions Analyst/AssociateThe employer is a Real Estate investment company that acquires, manages, repositions and develops multi-family/student housing assets throughout the U.S. The Acquisitions Analyst will work in our mid-town Manhattan o...


Confidential NY 11/9/09
Project Manager
Civic Builders, a nonprofit real estate developer of charter schools in New York City, seeks an experienced, entrepreneurial Project Manager to help build its growing portfolio.  Through innovative public-private partnerships as well as private development models,  Civic Builders has to...


Civic Builders NY-New York 11/9/09
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

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