Mastering Real Estate Investing - Academic Edition
A Comprehensive, University-Level Course in Real Estate Investing and Finance
Developed and taught by Frank Gallinelli, who spent more than a decade teaching real estate investment analysis and finance in Columbia University’s MSRED program, this self-paced video course brings college-level instruction to students at a price comparable to a high-quality textbook.
Instructors at several universities already recommend or assign this course, giving their students a rigorous yet accessible foundation in investment analysis.
Special academic pricing is available.
Professors / Instructors: To discuss making this available at a special discount to your students or company interns, contact us at [email protected].
Students: If your instructor gave you a special link or discount code, use that to enroll at the student price.
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Why Professors Recommend This Course
“Frank’s course is a great resource, and provides a solid foundation for students to feel confident and prepared the day the program starts… The course is thoughtfully structured in many smaller manageable units, so you can click into it even when you have eight minutes between meetings.”
— Jessica Stockton King, Senior Associate Director, Academic Affairs, Columbia University, MSRED Program
Professors have found that the course complements their own instruction by:
• Giving students exposure to industry-standard practices and metrics.
• Reinforcing classroom lectures with practical, case-based examples.
• Providing a flexible, modular format that students can review anytime, anywhere.
• Offering a certificate of completion that students can share on LinkedIn in support of their career path.
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What Students Will Learn
Students gain fluency in the techniques, metrics, and language of real estate investing and finance, preparing them for internships, entry-level roles, and entrepreneurial ventures.
Key topics include:
• The Four Basic Returns
• Real Estate Pro Formas & Discounted Cash Flow Analysis
• Valuation, Financing, and Underwriting
• Time Value of Money
• Case Studies: Apartment, Mixed-Use, Triple-Net, Retail, Single Family, Self-Storage, and more
• Partnerships, Development, and Value-Add Investments
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Course Components
• 68 video lessons (including eight case studies)
• 14 quizzes to self-check understanding
• 28 practice problem sets with answer keys
• 7 Excel worksheets for hands-on analysis
• 4 supplemental articles
• Certificate of completion for students’ professional profiles
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Student Outcomes
By completing this course, students will be able to:
• Estimate current market value and interpret return metrics.
• Evaluate whether a property meets long-term investment goals.
• Understand how lenders think — and what they require.
• Recognize the risks in marginal deals.
• Structure partnerships and development projects with confidence.
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Who Benefits Most
• Undergraduate and graduate students in real estate, finance, or business.
• Interns and early-career professionals seeking a stronger analytical foundation.
• Entrepreneurial students preparing to launch investment ventures.
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What Industry Professionals Say
“…an outstanding course for all real estate professionals! The course is thorough, clear, concise, and professionally delivered. The case studies are particularly valuable as Frank Gallinelli walks you through the thought process of an investor making high-level decisions.”
— Brad Trauth, Investor/Developer, Trauth Property Group
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A Turnkey Resource for Instructors
Adopting Mastering Real Estate Investing allows you to:
• Supplement your syllabus with a structured, field-tested resource.
• Give students ongoing access beyond the semester.
• Confidently offer high-quality content without additional cost to your institution.
Students purchase at an academic discount, with no cost to the university.
👉 To explore adoption for your program, email [email protected].
Scroll below to the course curriculum to preview several of the lessons.
Course Curriculum
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StartAcknowledgements
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StartAbout the Syllabus (5:02)
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StartAbout the Captions and Subtitles
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StartWhat is an Investment and Who is an Investor? (12:46)
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StartWhat Do Income-Property Investors Really Buy? (12:00)
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StartThe Four Basic Returns of the Income-Stream (10:46)
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StartQuiz Lessons 1 to 3
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PreviewProperty Analysis (11:50)
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PreviewFinancial Terminology (9:58)
Your Instructor
Frank Gallinelli, author of the best-selling guide, What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow..., combines over 40 years of real estate expertise with an enduring commitment to educating aspiring investors. A Yale University alumnus with a further degree in education, Gallinelli not only understands the nuances of real estate investing but also possesses the gift to distill complex concepts into actionable insights, fostering student success in the world of real estate. Through his experience as Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia's prestigious Master of Science in Real Estate Development program and as the founder of RealData Software, Gallinelli has honed his ability to convey real-world knowledge and sophisticated investment strategies. His innovative software, such as the acclaimed Real Estate Investment Analysis (REIA), and engaging video courses, are a testament to his passion for sharing his knowledge. Students in his courses will benefit significantly from Gallinelli's unique fusion of practical experience, natural teaching talent, and genuine enthusiasm for empowering students to realize their full potential.
What are our students saying about this course?
"Frank's course is a great resource, and provides a solid foundation for students to feel confident and prepared the day the program starts. I've even had graduate students decide to purchase it closer to the end of their studies, so they can use it as an occasional refresher, especially if they decide to go down a more entrepreneurial path. Frank is so organized and adept at explaining things, and the course is thoughtfully structured in many smaller manageable units, so you can click into it even when you have eight minutes between meetings."
Jessica Stockton King, Senior Associate Director, Academic Affairs
Columbia University, Master of Science in Real Estate Development (MSRED) Program
"Thank you, Frank, for developing such a concise, comprehensive, and practical real estate investment course!... You have really helped me learn the language of real estate investment, how to thoughtfully analyze a project and ultimately how to realize value!"
— Michael Cates 3/24/2023
“The course taught the most important concepts that I need to know in my early stage of learning real estate finance. The instructor has a keen talent for explaining the initially mind-boggling concepts in a painless way through easy-to-understand language and examples. I recommend this course to anyone who has any interest in the real estate field."
— Erica Lee
"The Real Data Intro to Real Estate Investment Analysis is an outstanding course for all real estate professionals! The course is thorough, clear, concise, and professionally delivered. The content is very relevant to actual real life real estate investing. The case studies are particularly valuable as Frank Gallinelli walks you through the thought process of an investor when making high level decisions. I highly recommend this course to anyone working in fields related to real estate and especially for those looking to invest themselves."
Brad Trauth
Owner/Investor/Developer/REALTOR
Trauth Property Group
“Thanks. These are the best courses ever!” Ken Vance
Great course - especially for a beginner commercial investor like me.
Frequently Asked Questions
We make no assumptions about your prior background or experience. The course will start with the basics, and from there it will move gradually into topics of greater depth.
Not at all. You'll find the math to be surprisingly simple, and I take special care to explain it clearly, with plenty of examples. Real estate investing is all about the numbers, and success comes to those who understand how the numbers work and what they mean.
The course includes more than 60 videos -- and growing. Don't worry about falling asleep, because each video is about 7 to 18 minutes long. You can watch each lesson as many times as you like to master its content. You will be able to access additional video lessons as they are added.
No. For lessons that focus on metrics or calculations, we provide a good number of practice problems and answers. We also include several spreadsheet templates that you can use to make many of the calculations and perform some of the analyses discussed in the course. We also provide quizzes so you can test your understanding of the material you've studied.
You don't need any outside software to take the course, although we do recommend you have Excel or a similar spreadsheet so that you can take advantage of the templates we provide. When you begin working on real deals of your own, we hope you'll take advantage of the powerful and sophisticated tools offered at realdata.com
"The course taught the most important concepts that I need to know in my early stage of learning real estate finance. The instructor has a keen talent for explaining the initially mind-boggling concepts in a painless way through easy-to-understand language and examples. I recommend this course to anyone who has any interest in the real estate field."
—Erica Lee
Professor Gallinelli has the magic to make complicated concepts easy to understand. ... I feel much more confident to analyze a property based on all the available information and to make informed decisions with limited information.
—Christina Chao
I found the course to be the perfect complement to your book. I appreciated the fact that each video is short which allows the user to digest the material in a simple fashion. I also like the fact that you incorporated a quiz to test my knowledge of each concept. All in all it was really what I was hoping for and I have way more confidence today when analyzing income properties than I did before the course.
—John Cameli