Students and industry professionals came together on Thursday 4 April to discuss the issues of feasibility accuracy in Dubai's real estate market. The session was designed to address the emergence of more sophisticated and standardised approaches to property feasibility and development site valuations across the emirate, specifically the use of leading development feasibility and valuation software €˜Estate Master'. Estate Master is a good example of a professionally written and tested software suite for development feasibility, budget management and valuation. All its inputs and preferences are documented and its cash flow outputs show a high-level of detail for both validation and auditing.
New software products are critical for property professionals
Michael Waters, Head lecturer for the University's postgraduate real estate programmes, said: "Sessions like these are critical if we are going to see greater professionalism and transparency in our local real estate markets. Development Appraisal and Valuation accuracy has always been at the forefront of global property investment and the adaptation of international best practices will undoubtedly bring foreign direct investment in the UAE, especially the more lucrative and stable forms from institutional investors."
He went onto explain that at the core of any property development and investment is a risk management strategy. Many investors use property development appraisal and valuation software to create an accurate and up to date feasibility before they make a decision about purchasing the development.
"We find that although a conventional spreadsheet, like Excel, can be run to mimic the property development process, often they become a redundant or erroneous application on multiple project scenarios. Using software products, such as Estate Master brings a standardised development appraisal and valuation platform that can be adopted by a wide range of property professionals, from banks, financiers, developers and government authorities. Students undertaking our MSc Real Estate programmes are continually pushed to apply the theories of international development appraisal and valuation standards - they represent the future of our local real estate markets and play a significant role in advocating best practice to both national and international clients."
Sharing best practices in development and land value calculations
Martin Hill, CEO of Estate Master, who led the session said: "Estate Master is excited to continue its long standing relationship with Heriot-Watt University. As a member of our University Partnership Program, they play a key role not only in enhancing academic standards in the property industry, but in technically enabling the market from an early career stage. This event brings together students and seasoned professionals alike in a one-of-a-kind forum for knowledge transfer around best practices in development feasibilities and land value calculations. After six years with a direct presence in Dubai, serving the wider region, we look forward to decades more."
For more information about Heriot-Watt University's MSc in Real Estate programmes please contact Michael Waters on +971(0)44358773 or email to m.j.waters@hw.ac.uk