LAWS 8900 Real Estate Transactions, Development and Finance
The course, clinical and practical, explores a lawyer's role and responsibilities, and the myriad of transactional documents and agreements, in residential and commercial real estate transactions from offers through acquisition and loan closing. The course examines, dissects, and teaches how to represent buyers, sellers, and lenders during the due diligence, development and permitting, and the financing phases of a real estate transaction. The course teaches practical lawyering skills such as drafting, negotiation, and problem solving. A variety of ethical issues are reviewed. Commercial leasing transactions, zoning, environmental and due authorization opinion letters, and zoning and environmental law and considerations in sale, lease, and finance transactions are taught. Case studies are presented and negotiation exercises conducted to summarize the areas of real estate law studied and to explain how the legal principles, cases, and issues work in real-life situations.
Course overview
- Department
- Law
- School
- LAW
- Credits
- 3
- Level
- Graduate
- Offered
- Every Fall
Course evaluations
- Course rating
- 3.77 / 5 · Very Good
- Instructor rating
- 4.09 / 5 · Very Good
- Terms evaluated
- 5
| Term | Instructor | Course overall | Instructor overall | Well organized | Clear learning objectives | Intellectually challenging | Helpful assignments | Applicable beyond course | Attendance necessary | Weekly effort | Responses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2025 | Howard Levine | 3.6 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 1–3 hrs/week | 17 of 19 |
| Fall 2024 | Howard Levine | 5.0 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 7–9 hrs/week | 6 of 8 |
| Fall 2023 | Howard Levine | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 of 22 |
| Fall 2022 | Howard Levine | 3.7 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 1–3 hrs/week | 25 of 29 |
| Fall 2021 | Howard Levine | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4–6 hrs/week | 30 of 46 |