UW Real Estate Club Celebrates with New Home Owners, UW Chapter of Habitat for Humanity of Dane County

On the afternoon of May 4, Real Estate Club members came full circle on a volunteer project when they attended a house blessing ceremony for a local Madison family.  During the academic year, the UW Real Estate Club volunteered for two half-day build events for the UW-Madison Chapter of Habitat for Humanity of Dane County.  The ceremony was to congratulate the Vang-Cheng Family on their new home (to be completely finished in June 2012).

Volunteering for the Habitat for Humanity organization is a good match for the interests and passions of real estate club members. The club members who worked on the Habitat house really valued the opportunity to support a local family, and to work side-by-side at the construction site with them on their new home. As noted by the Habitat organizers, the Vang-Cheng Family has been one of the hardest working families the UW chapter has seen in recent years. They dedicated 100+ volunteer building hours over the necessary volunteer requirement for Habitat families. Their dream for a spacious home where they can raise their 5 children has come true, and they expressed their sincere gratitude during the ceremony.

The UW Habitat chapter has received a national award from Habitat International for its innovative programs. To learn more about the UW-Madison Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter, visit their website. From the UW Real Estate Club, we want to wish the Vang-Cheng family a very happy homecoming!

Mustache Season Has Ended

Seen an unusually low number of mustaches recently? That’s because Movember is over. If your memory needs to be jogged, then see Andrew Toby’s blog post from November.

A group of 20+ MBAs were able to collectively raise $2,590 to aid in the research for men’s health issues like prostate cancer. The Wisconsin MBA group competed in a group of 17 business schools from across the world to see who could raise the most money. Wisconsin ended up finishing in the middle of the pack at number nine in the earnings rankings. The London Business School dominated the competition by raising $32,574 (we here at Wisconsin like to think that some of those gains were resultant from a favorable exchange rate). Overall, teams raised a total of $119,176!

Generous donations were made from faculty, classmates, family, friends back home and even a few anonymous donors. The lady that cuts my hair even said she was going to donate, but she failed to come through. I finished with a paltry $30, but I know that every little bit helps, so I can’t let myself be too discouraged for my miserly family and friends back in Texas. The top fundraiser was from our Brand Management center and his contributions grew to $420 (which is more than can be said for how well his mustache grew). For worthy reasons such as interviews, and more ignoble reasons such as personal vanity, some MBAs were not able to stay the course for the full 30 days. The real estate guys started with six mustaches, but sadly ended with only four. Proudly I can say that my fellow-blogger Andrew Toby and I stayed the course.

I proudly wore my mustache back to Texas over the Thanksgiving break. Many laughed in my face, at my face. I thought it appropriate to wax my mustache, à la Rollie Fingers, per it reaching an envious length. However, on the flight back to Texas, I ended up explaining that this was not normally the way I looked to the couple on the plane next to me. I decided that I couldn’t handle the mustache was through the holidays, so I trimmed it down to the standard Tom Selleck-esque. In response to this new look, the TSA officer at the airport on the way back to Madison said, “Tom Selleck mustache…aviator sunglasses…that is not a safe look.” Despite that comment, he let me on the plane. Believe it or not, I’m looking forward to November next year. I think the real estate guys might have to be in charge of the campaign in 2012…that is so long as the Fed can give us a good exchange rate to work with, so that we can beat those guys at London Business School.

Jordan Denzer comes to Madison from Dallas, TX (it is often joked that he is one of the international students). Previously, Jordan managed corporate flexible spending accounts, but decided that he wanted to get into real estate development, which initiated the move to Madison. Currently, Jordan is interested in getting into historic redevelopment and/or mixed-use development projects.

Real Estate Students Embrace "Movember"

Seen an unusually high number of mustaches recently? If you’re near the Wisconsin School of Business, chances are the answer to that question is a definite “yes.” That’s because a team of over 20 MBAs, including six Real Estate students, have chosen to partake in the “Movember” movement that is sweeping the globe.

Pictured (from left): Andrew, Rob, Jordan, Jay, Jeff, and Andrew.

These students (myself included) have dedicated their facial "real estate" for the month of November to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. During our endeavor to master the art of fine mustachery, we effectively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November. Through our actions and words, we raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health.

The team has already raised over $1,000, and there's plenty of time left in the month to keep the effort going! The movement has been a great way to connect with classmates and support a very worthwhile cause. Team captain Topher Stephenson has done a great job recruiting team members, and the Graduate Business Association has assisted in promoting the cause in the Grainger Squire. We are in an "MBA Challenge" network, in which we compete against other MBA programs across the globe for the most donations received. We are currently in 8th place, and hoping to continue the strong presence!

Interested in joining the team or making a donation? Visit team Mustache MBA homepage for details!

Andrew Toby is a first-year MBA student in the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate. A CPA from California, Andrew hopes to utilize both his accounting background and the knowledge gained in the MBA program to pursue a career in private equity investments in real estate.