Property online short courses

Academics in the Department of Property offer online short courses featuring lectures from accredited undergraduate and postgraduate papers. These courses are suited to industry professionals looking to fill knowledge gaps or refresh their knowledge in certain areas of the property industry. The courses also provide the general public with core property knowledge.

Online short courses will benefit:

• Real estate professionals with formal property qualifications who want to refresh their knowledge or take courses that were unavailable when they were students
• Industry practitioners who do not hold a Bachelor of Property or similar, to learn or sharpen fundamentals that they may have not acquired
• Professionals in associated industries such as architecture, planning, construction, engineering, law, accounting and finance, to gain a deeper understanding of the property discipline
• The general public - for example, our Residential Construction course may be of interest to someone planning to design and construct a new home, and the Residential Finance and Residential Property Management courses may give residential property investors insight into analysing investment opportunities and successfully managing rental property

With the exception of some courses with New Zealand-specific content, all short courses are designed with an international audience in mind, and provide property fundamentals applicable to mature property markets.

The short courses are designed in concise blocks to correspond with the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) obligations imposed on members of professional bodies such as the Real Estate Agents Authority (REAA), Property Institute of New Zealand (PINZ) and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Certificates are awarded to participants after fulfilling the course requirements.

Short courses are designed for independent study, with online lectures featuring interactive quizzes and links to complementary web material, such as videos, reports and relevant websites.

The current property online short courses are organised into three suites: Building Construction, Property Finance and Investment and Property Management. Further short courses are being developed on financial modelling, development feasibility and geographic information systems (GIS). The following information outlines each course title, duration and content.

Building Construction

• Residential Construction | Foundation systems, light wood framing, masonry, exterior finishes, building services, architectural styles (six hours)
• History of NZ Residential Architecture | Victorian cottages and villas, bungalows, English cottages, art deco/modern, Mediterranean style, state houses (one hour)
• NZ Building Act and Code | Building Act, performance-based building code, building consents, Licensed Building Practitioner scheme, DIY Owner-builder exemption (one hour)
• Construction Project Management | Project delivery methods and construction project management techniques (two hours)
• High-rise Construction | High-rise foundations, building joints, steel frame systems, concrete framing and building envelope (six hours)
• Commercial Building Services | Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and elevator systems (two hours)
• Commercial Interiors | Selection criteria of interior finishes, acoustics, interior walls and partitions, commercial ceilings, floorings and lighting (two hours)
• Green Buildings | Sustainability and property, commercial green building, daylighting, ecological homes, sustainable urban development (five hours)
• Leaky Buildings | Origins of leaky building syndrome, scope of the problem (extent, economic impact, health, stigma), policy responses from industry and government (one hour)

Property Finance and Investment

• Residential Finance | Mortgage loan structuring, loan pricing, specialty loans, residential financial analysis, buying a house (eight hours)
• Commercial Property Investment | Investment analysis of income-producing assets, financial leverage and financing alternatives, risk analysis, property development financing (eight hours)

Property Management

• Residential Property Management | Roles of a property manager, the Residential Tenancies Act, residential letting practice, risk management, inspections, unit titles, financial management and practice management (three hours)
• Commercial Property Management | Commercial leases (ADLS, rent reviews, etc), financial concepts, risk management, property insurance and compliance (three hours)

Property Valuation

• Residential Valuation | Valuation fundamentals including value theory and the factors of value, valuation assignment types, determinants of value, the three approaches to estimating market value (cost, sales comparison and income capitalisation) and special topics on mass valuation and residual land value (eight hours)

To book an online short course or find out more about them, visit the Think Sharp website.