The pedagogy and practice of real estate management in Nigeria : Entrepreneurial perspectives.

In recent years, entrepreneurship education has become a prominent issue in the Nigerian education system. The learning and teaching of entrepreneurship in the country takes a top-down approach in which basic business start-up skills are taught to all students in a generic course irrespective of their specific disciplines. At the moment no consideration has been given to embedding entrepreneurial skills within the specific disciplines. This approach does not develop the learners' ability to become entrepreneurial in the context of the knowledge gained in the disciplines. The question of interest in this research therefore is: how should the teaching and learning of entrepreneurship improve the quality of graduates and ultimately enable them to become entrepreneurial in the practice of Real Estate Management (REM)?The research particularly examined the gaps in the learning, teaching, and assessment (LTA) of REM in six Nigerian universities, how the gaps in learning relate to gaps in practice, and the nature of curriculum innovations which will help to close the gaps. Consequently, the research uses a case study of a core REM course, Property Valuation, to demonstrate the curriculum innovations. The research adopts a mixed methodology to explore the associated research questions and objectives as follows: critical review of the literature to explore entrepreneurial ideas and some issues in entrepreneurship and learning-related concepts; critical analysis of documents on national and university curricula for REM education and professional standards; questionnaire survey of current LTA experiences and practices of REM academics, students and the opinions of REM practitioners about gaps in practice revealed by young REM graduates; focus group debate on the links among entrepreneurship, REM education and practice; and a case study to demonstrate the LTA innovations in a core REM course (Property Valuation).The data analysis procedures consist of frequency distributions of the observed responses to close-ended questionnaire items, descriptive statistics and hypotheses tests of the opinion scores related to the items, and qualitative discussion of the open-ended questionnaire items and transcript of the focus group debate. The research findings reveal the existence of key learning gaps in REM education, especially entrepreneurial learning gap associated with the ability to use disciplinary knowledge in problem solving in the society. Young graduates manifest these learning gaps in REM education in their employers' organizations. Insights from the gaps in the learning and practice of REM were used to develop a new curriculum that will help to close the gaps, and the curriculum innovations were demonstrated in a case study of a core REM course (Property Valuation) across all levels of the REM curriculum. The thesis makes a major contribution to higher education research, pedagogy and practice in the sense that it is the first study that looks at embedding the learning of entrepreneurial skills into the REM curricula, across all levels of learning a core REM course. The entrepreneurial curriculum discussed in the case study can be adapted to other REM courses, different university courses in Nigeria and similar developing countries

The Application of Real Estate as Loan Collateral in Nigeria’s Banking Sector

The recent reforms in Nigeria’s banking sector have underscored the need for due diligence in lending. The study investigates the application of real estate as loan security to establish the extent and process of its use by commercial banks in Nigeria. Questionnaire survey was used to elicit response from a sample of commercial banks selected randomly. The findings demonstrate that real estate is the most widely used collateral instrument and banks follow due process in its application as collateral. However, the use is hindered by documentation and foreclosure problems. The findings are consistent with literature that real estate plays a significant role in secured lending, especially in developing countries. Overall, the borrower’s title to the collateral, the nature and quality of the title as well as the value of the real estate are important considerations when banks apply real estate as loan collateral. Thus, real estate, and especially property values, land titles and records are significant factors in contemporary Nigeria’s bank lending and with the greater emphasis on the security of credit, real estate is likely to assume even more vital role. Key words: Bank lending, Banking sector, Collateral, Real estate, Secured credit transaction

Credit Risk Mitigation with Real Estate Collaterals in Nigeria’s Commercial Banks

The practice of posting collaterals to mitigate credit risk is commonplace in bank lending. Real estate is an important collateral instrument especially in developing countries. This study investigated credit risk mitigation with real estate collaterals by commercial banks in Nigeria to establish if real estate is a reliable collateral instrument, the role of real estate valuation and the key issues the banks consider in the process. Response was elicited from a sample of commercial banks in a cross-sectional survey with a structured questionnaire. Data analysis employed descriptive statistics. Findings indicate that real estate is a very reliable collateral instrument and that its valuation is a significant aspect of the risk mitigation process. The reliability of valuation opinion is the most important expectation of the banks from the valuers and the banks are satisfied with valuation advice provided by valuation firms. The banks consider the reputation of the borrower the most important factor to mitigate credit risk with real estate collateral and the quality of borrower’s title to the real estate the most important aspect of the collateral instrument for risk mitigation. Overall, the findings suggest negligence and inadequate due diligence on the part of the banks in the process of credit risk mitigation with real estate collaterals. There is need for adequate documentation of real estate titles and transactions for more efficient risk mitigation practice. Key words: Bank lending, Credit risk mitigation, Collateral, Nigeria; Real estate, Secured lendin