The Michigan Real Estate Club (MREC) has a rich 30+ year history rooted in innovation and excellence. Since its founding, MREC has worked to empower ambitious students interested in pursuing a career in real estate. Over the years, the Club has strived to facilitate meaningful relationships between student members and alumni and grow every year – in members, alumni network, visibility, and opportunities.
Despite being an official club at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, the Club has and will always be open to all students, both undergraduate and graduate, from all UM schools such as the Taubman School of Architecture & Urban Planning, the Law School, the Ford School of Public Policy, LS&A, and beyond.
The Michigan Ross Real Estate Fund provides graduate and undergraduate students a unique, hands-on opportunity to make direct investments in real estate projects through a student-run venture fund. Participation in the fund offers invaluable real-world experience to accelerate student careers. It exposes students to the complex market of real estate private equity investing and the science and art of making sound and profitable investment decisions. An advisory board of distinguished alumni assist in critiquing investments. Admission is by application.
With a donation from Mark (CEO of Equity Residential REIT/NYSC EQR) and Allison Parrell, Michigan has established one of only a few real estate funds in the country focused on private and public real estate investment trusts. Students will have real life opportunities to invest actual dollars in REITs based on research that they do and ultimately put together investment memorandums that they submit for recommendations on which companies to invest in. Trades will be made with the goal of “besting” various REIT indexes. However, the class is more than just a stock trading class. Industry experts visit with students about careers in the public real estate space and underlying real estate principals will be reviewed. An advisory board comprised of Michigan alumni in both the securities and real estate industries help guide the students in their investment decisions and career exploration in this industry. Admission is by application.
Rho Epsilon Iota Professional Fraternity unites undergraduate and graduate students to promote the professional growth of aspiring real estate professionals. We foster excellence through diverse programs in commercial, residential, industrial, land, and special-use real estate, while upholding the highest standards of honesty, equality, representation, knowledge, and professionalism on college campuses and within the community. Rho Epsilon looks to provide students with a networking group that does not follow some traditional real estate career paths such as private equity or development. Rather, they are looking to foster careers and educational opportunities in real estate brokerage, property management and other areas.
Promotes “creating and sustaining thriving communities.” The organization provides programs, training, and networking for members who come from all real estate development and land use disciplines. The organization has programs for young leaders. The local chapter sponsors numerous events in Southeast Michigan.
Provides graduate and undergraduate students a unique, hands-on opportunity to make direct investments in real estate projects through a student-run venture fund.
Our vision is to build a community that offers educational programming, networking opportunities, and valuable career connections. By embracing the diverse perspectives and experiences of our members, we aspire to create an environment where passionate, intelligent, and empowered women in real estate can thrive. If you share our passion for empowering women in real estate, we invite you to join us! WIRE membership is open to current undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Michigan.
Commercial Real Estate Women Network, or CREW, offers programs and networking opportunities for women interested in commercial real estate. The field still includes few women so the support of colleagues can be helpful in finding career paths. CREW Detroit has monthly programs.
“I am a consultant with a strategic planning and financial management firm in Detroit. We work with non-profits and government entities to develop real estate and economic investment strategies, create and evaluate programs, and provide turn-around solutions for troubled agencies. I provide project management expertise, conduct research, assess and evaluate programs, and create investment strategies and implementation plans.
The Real Estate Development Certificate program provided me with a good foundation in the real estate industry. The program also broadened my understanding of government policy as it relates to land use and planning, and further developed my evaluation skills. The program allowed me to tap into a broad network and has helped me establish some very helpful professional relationships.”
“I am a Manager of Design and Engineering on a growing (4 million square foot) national real estate portfolio.
The program taught me that every aspect of the design and engineering of a project are strongly related to financial analysis and legal requirements. Moreover, the program’s breadth of exposure to law and finance supplemented my core competency of design. As a result, it has given me the platform to practice synthesizing all three techniques in order to create value in unique ways for our investors and end users.”
“I am an Associate Managing Director at Talmer Bank & Trust and am responsible for Community Reinvestment Act and community mortgage lending. I also develop real estate in the city of Detroit and currently have four historical renovations at different stages of development in the city. They are a six-unit historical residential rental, a six unit mixed-use development with three residential and three retail, a twenty unit apartment-to-condo conversion and a historical duplex.
The Real Estate Development Certificate has helped immensely. I received my position at Talmer because of my urban planning and real estate development educational background. The real estate certificate taught me to focus on responsibly developing a community, not just a single building, and that is a message that really resonates with my investors.”
“I work in acquisitions for a multifamily investor and operator on behalf of Taymil Partners in the Boston area.
The certificate gave me exposure to planning and construction as an extension of my MBA. I also met other alumni of the program, which has been good for networking.”
