S&P Case-Shiller Conference Call Replay

S&P released the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices updates this morning and held a teleconference to explain the updates and the review the general state of the U.S. housing market. You will hear about this index in the news but you might also want to hear directly from the source. You are invited to listen to the recorded teleconference.

Replays: Recorded replays of the call are available until Tuesday, March 3, 2009.

Replay numbers: 1-283-368-1822US/Canada: 1-866-501-0097
All Others: 1-203-369-1822

Streaming Audio: The call will also be available live in “listen-only” mode at www.mymeetings.com Under Participant, select join an event Conference ID#: 5354186 and Passcode: SANDP. The Streaming Audio playback is available at www.mymeetings.com/nc/join Conference ID#: PG5354186 and Passcode: SANDP until Tuesday, March 17, 2009. These features require listeners to have the Real Player™ software, sound card, and speakers.

If you have any questions about the conference call, please e-mail: eventsmarketing@standardandpoors.com.

Week 6 (February 23, 2009):

*Read Chapter 3 view video/audio clips, do practice problems etc. (the usual routine for each chapter).
*Make sure you have the Exam 2 date on your calendar.

TVM Tutorial Completions Updated on WebCT

I just posted the most recent set of TVM Tutorial completions to WebCT.

House of Cards Special on CNBC

CNBC has an excellent special called "House of Cards" which take you through the sub-prime mortgage crisis, housing bubble, and the Global economic crisis. Any real estate student or business major or consumer should see it.

You can check out the special at the following website:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/28892719/

Upcoming show times include
Sunday, March 1st 11 PM
Sunday, March 15th 8 PM

Exam 1 Review Posted

The exam 1 review link has been posted to our course homepage (http://www.uta.edu/faculty/hansz/3325/online/main_spring.htm). Just scroll down to this week's assignments and you will see the link. The exam review is approximately 30 minutes. I will keep the exam review up for the entire semester. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Exam 1 Scores Posted on WebCT

Exam 1 scores have been posted to WebCT. The exam review will be uploaded Monday.

Exam 1 went well (exam statistics are on WebCT). Thanks to everyone for showing up on-time and prepared.

Week 5 (February 16, 2009):

*Read Chapters 2 and 3 (lots of material in these chapters), view video/audio clips, do practice problems etc. (the usual routine for each chapter).
*Review Exam 1. (A link to an exam review will be posted on the course homepage under "Week 5.")
*Individual exam scores will be posted on WebCT.

Exam Scores on WebCT

ATTENTION!: If you go to WebCT (www.uta.edu/webct) and log-in with your UTA user name and ID, you should find our class and your Exam 1 score (as a %) posted a couple days after the exam.

Annoucements

*Exam 1 in less than 24-hours. See you Saturday, 10 AM in room 147.

*I have updated WebCT with TVM Tutorial completions.

Student Question: Begin Mode

QUESTION:
Hi, my question is if this asked for the pmts at the end of the the year would you ADD N+1 TO GET THE ANSWER?

7. JLP Enterprises, Inc. owns a small shopping center and it has just signed a fiver-year, triple-net lease for an out parcel with an auto parts retailer that requires annual rent payments of $12,500 at the beginning of each year. If the landlord’s discount rate on this lease is 9 percent per year, what is the present value of the lease?

ANSWER:
Remember, you can always draw a time-line to help you visualize what is going on.

If the cash flows start at the beginning of the compounding period then you have two choices: 1) set you calculator to BEGIN or BEG mode (but remember to set it back to END mode because for most problems, the cash flows occur at the end of the period), or 2) calculate the answer in normal END mode and multiple your answer by 1 plus the interest rate per period (1 + i) (this will effectively start the compounding immediately). Your choice in approaches (but do NOT do both!).

Student Question (TVM)

QUESTION:

for the excerise on pg 326 of the book. Finding AO60 = 94,379.29

ok first I do, f fin to clear it out

then 7.25 g I to put in monthly interest

300 n for the periodic payment schedule

681.19 PMT

then I hit PV

and get $94,242.3258


ANSWER:

James,

The difference is caused by the round of the PMT. The actual payment is 682.1763. With 300 payments, the rounding can make a significant difference. jah

Week 4 (February 9, 2009): Exam 1 Week

*Read Chapter 15. Make sure you understand mortgage payments, mortgage balances, and loan amortization.
*Make sure you have the exam 1 date (see below), time, and location in your schedule.
*Exam 1 on Saturday, February 14th at 10 AM in room 147 Business Building.
*The exam will cover chapters 1, 13, 14, and 15. Also, this exam will have emphasis on TVM. Exam 1 will be 50 or fewer multiple choice style questions.
*Please bring your UTA photo ID, a Scan-tran answer sheet (as specified in the syllabus), pencils, and your calculator (see additional exam instructions below).

General Exam Instructions:

Please answer the following questions by selecting the best answer on your Scan-tron answer sheet. Be very careful of erasure marks. Your mark on the Scan-tron answer sheet is your final answer. I suggest circling all answers in your test booklet and filling in the answer sheet at the end. For the True/False questions, ‘A’ equals ‘True’ and ‘B’ equals ‘False.’ Please note: 
Keep your quiz booklet closed until the quiz is officially started.
You will need a basic calculator (no manuals), pencils, and a Scan-tron answer sheet. Place your photo ID on the desk, photo-side up. Put all other materials away.
Do not share calculators during the exam.
Remove baseball caps.
Turn-off/put away all pagers/cell phones and other communication devices.
Write your name and ‘REAE 3325 Exam’ on the Scan-tron answer sheet.
You may mark (write-on) the exam booklets.
Do not look around the room or make any noise. If you have a question, raise your hand and I will come to you.
Keep your Scan-tron answer sheet and test booklet in front of you. (Don't let the person behind you look off your papers.)
Answer the questions that you know and return to the question you don’t know toward the end. Do not spend too much time on any one question.
Please watch your time as we must finish on-time.
Do not remove test booklets from classroom.
Concentrate and do your best. Good luck!

Economic and Housing Video

50 minute video on the National and Texas economies and housing markets. This is not required for the exams, but I encourage you to watch. This is very good information you should understand.

http://recenter.tamu.edu/video/videoPlayer.asp?vid=60

TVM Completions Updated on WebCT

I had 7 TVM completion forms and I updated WebCT. I normally do not update WebCT with TVM completions until after each exam. You can check your grades and TVM status on WebCT anytime.

Census Date

February 4th Census Date

Week 3 (February 2, 2009): TVM Boot Camp

*Visit class blog.
*Record the four exam dates with the exam location in your calendar.
*Turn-in TVM prior completion form or complete the TVM Tutorial (the sooner the better!).
*Read "Review Materials for Real Estate" pdf packet and try problem sets 1, 2, and 3. This is found near the Ch 14 materials.
*View the Video/Audio Clips for "Review Materials for Real Estate" and check answers to problem sets 1, 2, and 3.
*Read chapter 15.
*Send two pictures to reae3325online@gmail.com if you like (not required). Include a picture of yourself and a picture that is important or of interest to you.  
I will include these photos is the slide-show above. It is nice to get to know some faces, even thought this is an on-line class.