So I am an engineering major taking this for the tech breadth requirement. I didn't know anything about real estate or used excel spreadsheets before. There is no homework in the class and no discussions, but he does have clicker questions for participation. All you have to do for this class is pay attention to lecture. Although that sounds easy, sometimes, especially when he's just going through definitions and talking about rules or taxes, it's really boring. However he also talks about his own experiences/old stories which I thought were super interesting and fun to listen to. The midterm and final can be stressful because I wasn't sure what to expect, but he releases practice midterms and finals which are extremely helpful to understand what the questions will be like and what to prepare for. But really, all you have to do is pay attention to lecture, take really good notes, and follow along when he's going through his excel spreadsheets because you will need to know what numbers to plug in and which formulas to use to solve some problems in the exams. It's necessary to study even though they are open notes exams because they are such a time crunch, especially the midterm. Also, do not waste your time doing the recommended problems from the book. They are nothing like the exam questions. I would take this class again, and pay better attention to his lectures because I ended up having to rewatch a lot of the parts I zoned out on when cramming for exams.

prof. karlan is a real estate professional and it shows. he has a lot of industry experience and i enjoyed hearing his stories, deals he'd made, and take on current market trends. the topics in this class are very applicable for people that want to go into the industry (and honestly just pretty interesting in general in my opinion). i liked the structure of lectures, which often went discussion of key terms/topics --> news article or personal experience he had with said topic --> clicker/participation question. that being said, even though i got an A in the class, i disliked how heavy an emphasis he put on learning the financial calculations and real estate computations. if you memorize how to use the 4 excel spreadsheets he gives you, you know how to do half of the problems of his tests already without using your brain.

Let me begin by saying that everyone recommends this class but I feel like nobody adequately explains that you will not be taught at all about 1/3 of the midterm and final. These are calculations that you are expected to know how to do on excel. Karlan does say in the first two weeks that if you're not good in finance, don't take this class, because he does not want to teach anyone how to do the calculations because that's not what this class is about. I think this is unfair because most students in the class are taking it as an econ elective or just want to learn about real estate and have never taken finance before. But, if you have a really good Excel spreadsheet that knows how to calculate mortgage payments, balances, incremental cost of borrowing, effect annual rate, APR, things like that, you will do really well. Because other than those calculations, his exams are straight forward. He spent literally no joke 2 minutes on the 2 chapters that teach all the math concepts which was messed up. Overall, he is a really cool guy, super successful in real estate, but puts a lot of information on his exams that he does not at all go over in class even for one hour which in my opinion is wrong. Anyway, I have a really good spreadsheet, studied the key concepts he posts on ccle, and I ended up with an A in the class. TIP: don't do the textbook homework problems (they're optional but recommended but they are so tedious and not at all necessary for the exam), instead, go over the chapter based on what he has in his key concepts that he posts ccle and read the textbook for more detail on those specific concepts.

This was a pretty informative class. Besides the class having a generous grading curve, the professor is super knowledgeable about real estate and tells us personal tips for us to use in the future. By far the most valuable class that I have taken at UCLA thus far.

Some do complain that Karlan emphasizes that you drop the course if you don't know how to do certain calculations on the spreadsheet. Even though he says this, don't drop the course. I managed to get through most of the financial calculations with the Excel spreadsheets that Karlan and the TA provided. In hindsight, I am glad that I didn't drop the class.

Could I have gotten the A? Probably. But I was feeling pretty lazy this spring quarter and didn't have the effort in me to go for that extra mile. An A- is very doable; the difference between the A- and A is understanding every single detail that Karlan provides during his lectures (not just written notes, but verbal notes as well). Most of the problems involving financial calculations on the exams need to be fully understood for you to even have a chance at an A.

Your grade is based on 99% exams and 1% participation. I received an 86% on a raw scale, which translated to an A- in the class. Lectures are also bruincasted, so I never went to class. This was my first time podcasting every single lecture, but I think it turned out alright.

I think this is one of the few econ electives at UCLA where you learn something useful that you can use in the real world. With that being said, it is A TON of material. The professor speaks very quickly and the lectures are bruincasted, so I never went to class and instead watched the lectures and took notes on my own time. Do not leave all the lectures until the day or two before the midterm or final or you will definitely be hurting. It is important that you watch them and take good notes because the majority of the questions on his exams are conceptual and based on small anecdotes or details he provides during lecture. About 25% of the material on his exams are calculations that you need to do in Excel, so try to get access to the spreadsheet with all the formulas that circles around every quarter. I had a good spreadsheet and watched all the lectures and ended up with an A.

My favorite class in the Econ department. Only econ class I've taken with real life applications and not just theories. You learn a tremendous amount about real estate. The textbook isn't necessary, youre only tested on what's gone over in class. Karlan is a commercial real estate legend and an engaging lecturer. He tries to get half the class in the A-,A,A+ range with the curve. It is a generous curve especially on the lower end. To get an A you have to understand small details and make sure you know how to complete all the excel problems. The TAs are very helpful in that regard and Karlan himself shows you how to do many problems during the lecture so you should pay attention to that. You do have to show up, it's a clicker class. Overall wonderful class.

Do not go into the exam with a Mac, unless you can use mental math to calculate the principal portion of the monthly payment in the first year of an adjusted rate loan.

took this class with Karlan the last time he taught it.. its no longer enjoyable and easy. He's changed his grading scheme so that class was much harder for us. The above grade distribution is over a year old.. so don't be fooled. Definitely wouldn't recommend this class, you'll have to work your a** off for a B

Karlan is the BEST professor I have ever had at UCLA. I have never been in a class where the professor cares so deeply about his students or puts so much effort into a class. He has custom made resources for each class (imagine how much time that would have taken). His lectures are engaging, he is a genuinely nice person and has a huge wealth of experience. He is a highly successful real estate investor himself with an incredibly impressive resume and weaves real world examples from his career into his lectures.
His lectures themselves are better than anything on Netflix. They’re clear, practical and are something to look forward to. There aren’t any assignments in this class, only a midterm and exam which are both fair and don’t contain anything that wasn’t covered during class. They’re open book and mostly excel based. The textbook isn’t required to do well in this class.
Karlan says that you need experience with Excel and a good foundation of finance to succeed in this class. I don’t think you need any background in Excel at all because he creates all the spreadsheets you’ll need. All you need in terms of finance is a conceptual understanding of discounting and annuities and very very basic interest theory (ie compounding).
The one criticism I have is that he sometimes speaks very fast (he speeds up as the class went on) and it would be nice if he slowed down a bit.
This is a GREAT CLASS!

Overall this class was informative and good but a bit boring. Professor Karlan and the 2 TA's are very helpful. He has a lot of experience in the real estate world so he will often talk about the previous work he has done. The class is structured with him discussing real-world issues pertaining to the lecture and then reading off of a summary of the chapter. He really wants all of his students to succeed which is great. I imagine in person the class would be a bit more entertaining, but in an online interface, it can be a bit boring.