Experts Guide

Smersh is director of the advisory board for the Real Estate Society at USF and teaches finance and real estate in the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance. He studies the variation in housing price appreciation due to risk factors such as hurricanes and sinkholes. His paper on pricing residential amenities in the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics in 1998 has been cited more than 800 times.

Lei Wedge is an associate professor in the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance who teaches courses in real estate and finance. Her expertise is in field of real estate and specializes in housing trends in Tampa Bay.

Schmidt is a professor of instruction of finance in the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance in St. Petersburg. A certified tennis pro, she brings that enthusiasm from the courts to the classroom. She has taught at USF since 2000 and is a licensed real estate broker who has published work in peer-reviewed journals, coached men’s and women’s tennis teams and traveled the world.

Anderson is the co-founder and former chairman of the board of a real estate and credit fund management business. He is an expert in commercial and residential real estate trends, housing access and affordability and the overall economy. His current research focuses on topics including opening the door for everyday investors to access commercial real estate, the growth of the private markets more broadly, the state of the housing market and whether housing has become a luxury good.

Rutherford studies corporate and real estate finance, real estate investment and valuation. His research interests include housing markets and foreclosure, leasing, real estate investment trusts and agent productivity.