EMS 3651 Real Estate Accountancy

EMS 3651 Real Estate Accountancy

Course code: 
EMS 3651
Department: 
Law and Governance
Credits: 
7.5
Course coordinator: 
Paul Henning Fjeldheim
Course name in Norwegian: 
Oppgjør av eiendomshandler
Product category: 
Bachelor
Portfolio: 
Bachelor of Real Estate, Law and Business - Programme Courses
Semester: 
2020 Autumn
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Bachelor
Teaching language: 
Norwegian
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

In their capacity as a neutral intermediary, all real estate enterprises are responsible for handling the economic settlement between buyer and seller in a safe and orderly fashion, in accordance with the applicable regulations.
The legislation concerning the settlement process is extensive and regulates the value chain: registration of received client funds, booking of transactions, requirements concerning journaling and presentation of the annual accounts, taking into account the prevailing requirements for public information.
Nevertheless, the legal provisions do not regulate the actual settlement in detail. The real estate agent must ensure that the settlement is made in accordance with the contracts that the parties have signed, in accordance with generally accepted estate agent principles and his/her duty of care for both parties.

The settlement between the parties is the final part of the conclusion of a property deal. The settlement sums up the economic agreements that have been concluded during the transaction, in addition to the charges and fees that have accrued for each party.
The type of ownership and conveyance that is applicable will also determine how a correct settlement shall be carried out. The real estate agent is required to make sure that the transfer of the purchase sum from buyer to seller takes place without risks for any of the parties.

Students are expected to have acquired the necessary knowledge in their first and second year of the programme to understand the conditions on which such settlements are based.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

After having completed the course, the students shall have precise knowledge about, and understand the applicable framework for carrying out a correct settlement, including the rules for dealing with and booking entrusted funds (client funds). They shall also have gained knowledge of the requirements for generally accepted estate agent principles and for the estate agent’s duty of care for both parties based on the economic settlement.

Learning outcomes - Skills

After having completed the course, the students shall be able to perform a correct settlement for typical property deals that are carried out by estate agents. They shall be able to register common transactions that occur in connection with various types of settlements and shall have an understanding of how to handle and book entrusted funds (client funds) and the settlement and sale of real estate.
The student shall be able to consider aspects of the property deal that may affect the settlement, for instance agreements between the parties, circumstances on the seller’s or buyer’s side, required documentation for the property deal and what this entails in terms of preparing a reliable settlement.

General Competence

After having completed the course, the student shall not only have a technical insight into how a property settlement is carried out, but shall also understand that the requirements for generally accepted estate agent principles and the estate agent’s duty of care for both parties are important factors for carrying out the economic settlement. The students shall also show that they have increased their ethical awareness and reflection concerning the economic settlement.

Course content
  1. Legislation and regulations related to carrying out typical property deals, including the rules concerning handling of entrusted funds.
  2. Accounting and reporting rules, including requirements for balancing the client accounts.
  3. The client accounts and the connection to the annual accounts.
  4. Organizing the settlement service in the real estate enterprise.
  5. Quantification, documentation and registration of transactions.
  6. Actions related to completion of the financial settlement between the parties, including settling of accounts, statement of accounts, redemption of loan and transfer of right of ownership to new owner.
  7. Ability to identify the main risk phases in a property settlement.
Teaching and learning activities

The course consists of 40 course hours. These are distributed on lectures and exercises review. Exercises are important to acquire the discipline, and task review is integrated with the lectures. 

At the beginning of the course students will be given a detailed work plan throughout the semester. The lectures are conducted under the assumption that the work plan is followed. To be sure that their own progress is in accordance with the learning goals identified, it is important that students complete the activities identified. 

Approx. one month before the examination a case is given. The case shall be resolved individually by each student. Each student's case solution shall not be submitted for censorship, but brought as a support material for the exam. The course concludes with a five-hour individual written examination. 

The learning process requires that students take responsibility for their own learning. The table below, which shows students' time spent in the course, reflect this. 

No particular computer-based tools are used in this course, but students are expected to have access to the Internet. The rules regulating real estate accountancy are modified continuously and students are expected to use existing information on the Internet and elsewhere to supplement the course syllabus. Students must become acquainted with and use the websites that are relevant to the course, as a minimum become familiar with the following websites: Rettsdata.no, Finanstilsynet.no, lovdata.no, nef.no, eiendomsmeglingsnemnda.no. It is also useful for the students to become acquainted with EmProf or a similar program.

Software tools
Software defined under the section "Teaching and learning activities".
Additional information

This course meets the eligibility requirements for assistants to the responsible broker ref. Law on real estate § 4.4 Assistants to responsible broker, section 2 of the Regulations on Real Estate § 04.09 An assistant exam, section 1, § 6-1(4)

Qualifications

Higher Education Entrance Qualification

Covid-19

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.

Required prerequisite knowledge

This course is given in the third year of the bachelor programme in real estate studies and is based on the courses given in the first and second year of the programme. Students are expected to have an in-depth knowledge of the legislation and other external parameters that have an impact on how the settlement is to be carried out.

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Invigilation
Weight: 
100
Grouping: 
Individual
Support materials: 
  • All printed and handwritten support materials
  • BI-approved exam calculator
  • Simple calculator
Duration: 
5 Hour(s)
Comment: 
About a month before the exam a case will be distributed that covers the knowledge acquired in the course. The case is to be solved individually and computer-based tools are useful. The case is not to be submitted for grading but the students shall bring their case solution to the exam along with the case assignment.
Students that have not passed their written exam or who wish to improve their grades can sit for a re-sit exam. The case used in the regular course might also be used for the next re-sit exam.
Exam code: 
EMS36511
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Resit: 
Examination every semester
Type of Assessment: 
Ordinary examination
Total weight: 
100
Student workload
ActivityDurationComment
Teaching
35 Hour(s)
Feedback activities and counselling
5 Hour(s)
Review of assignments in plenary
Student's own work with learning resources
103 Hour(s)
Examination
57 Hour(s)
Sum workload: 
200

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 7,5 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 200 hours.