International Real Estate Strategies and Deal Negotiation

Explore the real estate cycle in-depth in this hands-on program. Learn to develop robust investment strategies grounded in locally relevant factors.

Curious about what to expect when coming to campus? Please visit our Campus Learning page.

We live in a world of unprecedented uncertainty. So, as real estate practitioners, having a “crystal ball” to anticipate the future is crucial to success. To mitigate risks, we need to develop robust investment strategies that are grounded in locally distinct factors. In this program, we will explore the real estate cycle in-depth, examining its drivers, the distinctions between physical, psychological, and financial cycles, and the factors that influence other investors’ decisions to enter or exit a particular market.

This program features hands-on group exercises, negotiations, and role-plays to reinforce key concepts. Each year includes an updated section on the risks that developers face and are likely to face, given global political and economic shifts. Recent years have addressed inflation, supply chain disruptions, and immigration policy.

What to Expect

We will explore how to predict and capitalize on both expansions and recessions, how to prepare our projects for the next cycle, and how to anticipate and outmaneuver our competitors. We will also learn how to assess, measure, and mitigate risks when entering a new market, whether in our own country or abroad.

We will discuss externalities – factors unrelated to real estate that could affect our projects either positively or negatively, including market transparency and corruption, governmental intervention, inflation, currency exchange risks, political and economic risks, interest rate fluctuations, and demographic changes. As real estate practitioners, we need to understand this entire picture to design and implement the right project for a particular market.

In the second part of the program, we will address best practices for negotiating international deals, including various negotiation tactics and strategies, common mistakes, understanding your counterparty’s position, and the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA), as well as the unique challenges that cross-border negotiations present. We will learn about the three layers of negotiation: rational, emotional, and identity. The participants will engage in several interactive negotiation exercises, where they will practice newly learned negotiation tools.

  • Participants will learn how to protect investments – their own and those of their clients – from risks while discussing currency and inflation hedging, leverage, cross-border portfolios, and the most efficient investment structures.
  • Understand how to create and contribute to a successful real estate investment strategic plan in local as well as international markets.
  • Learn the theory behind the real estate cycle to anticipate its behavior and make rational investment and design decisions.
  • Understand the various external factors that can impact real estate investments globally.
  • Understand negotiation dynamics to prepare yourself, your organization, or on behalf of your client to understand parties’ respective interests, claim and create value, and resolve differences to close a deal.
  • Create your own strategic plan to be ready when you are sitting down at the negotiation table.
  • Understand how different cultural environments can shape the design and development process of our projects.

Developers, architects, investors, lenders, and all stakeholders in large-scale real estate projects who seek to understand real estate strategy better.

In an advanced international real estate program, you can expect to learn alongside and connect with a diverse group of global real estate professionals. Solve your most significant challenges together with a network of developers and real estate practitioners from all over the world.

Instructors*


Fernando Levy Hara

Principal and Co-founder, Unico Developers; Principal and CEO, Moon Key Realty, LLC.


Headshot of Tobias Just

Tobias Just

Professor of Real Estate, University of Regensburg

*We reserve the right to change the instructors if needed, including at short notice.


Participant Stories

Jay Anderson

Property Strategist

Headshot of Patricia Carneiro

Patricia Carneiro

Principal Associate

Headshot of Brandi Henderson

Brandi Henderson

Supervisory Client Solutions Manager

2025 Session Participant Feedback

A great refresh in negotiating skills! Many new tactics to consider. A must-do class. 

An extremely insightful and informative course that has expanded my knowledge and skillset in an extremely useful way. Everything we learnt will have an impact on my day-to-day role. Fernando & Tobias are great professors – they made learning very fun and accessible for all. I couldn’t recommend this course more highly.

The International Real Estate Strategies & Deal Negotiation program at Harvard was an outstanding experience. The case studies, role plays, and frameworks provided a practical way to test strategies in real-world scenarios while gaining new perspectives from a truly global classroom.

– 2025 participants in the program

International Real Estate Strategies and Deal Negotiation

September 29 – October 2, 2026 | 9:00am – 5:00pm Eastern

On Campus 
Tuition: $4,050 (until July 31), $4,500
CEUs: Pending
AMDP Elective Units: 4

Program size is limited and early registration is recommended.

Discounts & Deadlines

Please email us at [email protected] with any questions and to ask about group signup.

Registration Deadline: Due to limited classroom space, we expect to close registration for this program one week before it begins.

Full Discount and Cancellation Policies