Who did you meet with today? 

Today, my fellow interns and I got the opportunity to speak with Eric Sussman, a Pacific Charter School Development (PCSD) Board Member and UCLA Professor. Later that same day, we got the chance to speak to three employees of City National Bank (CNB), one of the many banks that lend money for PCSD.

Where do they work? What does the company do? 

Both Eric and City National Bank (CNB) work with Pacific Charter School Development (PCSD), a non-profit focused on real estate. Eric Sussman is a board member of PCSD and is a professor at UCLA for Real Estate and Accounting along with being a business owner. City National Bank is one of the main lenders of money for commercial acquisition and construction projects. With the investment, PCSD is able to fund projects that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. 

What did you learn today? What were some highlights? 

Today, I learned about how real estate properties differ in price depending on their surroundings and conditions that make them less likely to have demand. From both of our conversations, the topic of Covid-19 was common, as both speakers expressed their challenges and changes caused by the pandemic. From office buildings becoming vacant to industrial properties becoming more expensive and in demand. Some highlights from today were hearing about Eric’s journey to becoming a professor, from finding out his boss was committing fraud to losing his job and using his connections and talent for teaching to work at UCLA. Another highlight from today was getting to decide on which properties we would invest in, as in the City National Bank presentation we were presented multiple properties with many different positives and negatives.

What insights did you gain into the field of real estate development?  

One of the many insights I gained into the field of real estate development was how the price and evaluation of a property changes as a result of the land or the surroundings changing for the better or worse. As an area becomes less populated and business starts moving out the surrounding properties and business decreases and slows down. I also got some great advice about purchasing homes and the difference between single family, duplex, and fourplex. Like not buying a house near a big street with a street light because of the traffic to search for a place in a safe area with little or no crime.

Did you become more interested in the field after today? 

After today, I have become more interested in real estate, specifically in the many different conditions that make the properties themselves increase or decrease in value and the things lenders look for in order to decide to lend to someone or not. I didn’t know about how important it is to know that nearby properties affect other properties and their value reflects on how popular an area is or is in demand. I feel like I have discovered an interest for finding out all the details about a property and its land as it is very cool how it changes and that it is visible if you look into it.

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