Executive Casework, Inc. is a custom commercial mill working company based in San Jose, CA. Although the company originally only focused on cabinets, it has expanded to include custom reception desks and solid surface countertops to meet demand. The company founded by David and Mark Brown has humble beginnings, originally located in Mark’s garage. Over the last two decades, the company has seen astronomical growth buoyed up by the fast increase in commercial real estate in Silicon Valley. <br/>However, the company is currently facing considerable uncertainty like many others in the industry. These resulting overhead costs, when paired with future uncertainty of demand created by geopolitical trends, work from home, and Covid-19, create a notable problem for Executive Casework, Inc. As such, this thesis will focus on strategic steps Executive Casework, Inc. can make to capitalize on current macrocosmic trends, as well as trends within their own industry. More specifically, it will be a strategic analysis identifying the key external forces driving the fluctuating revenues in the commercial custom mill working industry, followed by an analysis of these external forces (magnitude and longevity). We will end with a framework for capitalizing on these trends by organizationally and physically placing a company like our exemplar company, Executive Casework, in the best position to realize maximum profitability.

This paper takes a critical look at single-family real estate investment trusts’ generative returns since the 2008 Housing Crisis. The research paper presents an overview of REITs legal qualifications, the 2008 Housing Crisis and how the crisis led to the advent of the single-family home REIT industry, a case study on a single-family home REIT, the current market sentiment, trends that are impacting the performance of publicly traded single-family home REITs, and future opportunity for maximizing returns in the sector. Home pricing discrepancies will arise from the lack of housing starts and increased demand for available homes, leading to diminished returns with pure acquisition strategies. After detailing accessible empirical data on the American single-family home industry, we seek to find alternatives for single-family home REITs to continue to post their prior yield to investors after the 2008 Housing Crisis. Strategies such as development and expansion into rural markets will be examined as potential growth opportunities for single-family REITs.

This paper will examine the statistical significance of IRR dispersions caused by adjustments to property conditions. Many different economic metrics affect the returns and performance of real estate assets. During the underwriting process, many of these factors are considered and analyzed to find the true value of the asset given a set of market conditions. Because of the dynamic nature of the market, these factors fluctuate and therefore affect asset returns. Using Argus software, real estate managers can identify these variables and see how their adjustments affect asset returns in real-time. The beginning of this paper will start with an outline of the properties being analyzed, and well as financial information and market assumptions. For the statistical analysis, the Argus inputs that will be analyzed are:
1. Rental Revenue
2. Occupancy Rate
3. Tenant Improvements
4. Leasing Commissions
5. Operating Expenses
6. Capital Expenditures
7. Purchase Price
8. LTV
9. Debt Service Payment
10. Exit Sales Price
For the analysis, each variable will be individually adjusted without any changes to the other variables to ensure that changes in IRR are solely a result of the variable being adjusted. After the sensitivity analysis, each variable will be examined further the showcase differences in disparities and provide managerial insight. Finally, the findings will be applied to a modern-day scenario for additional insight on the practice use of the data. The importance of this data is that once analyzed, it can help real estate managers understand the main determinants of value in commercial real estate investments.

My Honors Thesis is about answering a central question regarding the business of real estate: "What is the return on investment of obtaining a real estate license?" I focused my research on the monetary, time, and other value factors that affect the initial cost of securing a real estate salesperson license in the State of Arizona (costs) and the amount of money a licensed salesperson makes as a result of having a salesperson license (income). Licensees make this trade-off: the cost in terms of real dollars to obtain a license, as well as the opportunity costs associated with the time to secure, start using, and begin to earn money by way of a salesperson license. To answer the central question I conducted a survey of active licensees in order to determine the value ascribed to holding a real estate salesperson license. Through my research, I concluded that there is not a single number that can be assigned to a real estate license that indicates its value, but the data collected reveals that the return on investment has the potential to be great. Upfront costs and fees necessary to obtain a license are insignificant when the commission a licensee can then make from a single transaction is enough to cover those expenses. Therefore, based on the survey results and research into the initial costs associated with obtaining a real estate license, there appears to be sufficient data to support a positive return on investment and warrant obtaining a real estate license.