Real estate students from the Naveen Jindal School of Management recently closed a big deal. Six high-achieving students emerged victorious in the Institute of Real Estate Management’s real estate case competition Sept. 29.

Paralleling a competitive real estate market, competition was keen, but the six-member team from The University of Texas at Dallas prevailed over Southern Methodist University and the University of North Texas.

“These are six of our very driven students who are eager to learn and to be successful in the industry,” said Julie Lynch, an associate professor of practice in the Finance and Managerial Economics Area at the Jindal School and director of the Herbert D. Weitzman Institute for Real Estate. “These are some of the most impressive students I’ve ever worked with. They put a lot into it.”

Team members were selected from UTD’s Real Estate Club to compete in the case competition, which began in early September. Each team was tasked with developing a property management plan to maximize the value of Bent Tree Green, an office property in North Dallas. IREM assigned each participating undergraduate team two property management professionals to coach the students, providing guidance and acting as mentors.

The students were given an actual case to develop a management plan for the commercial office building to increase the 72 percent occupancy rate of a property in need of major renovations. The judges said UTD’s team presented a cohesive management plan that connected their research, analysis and ideas to their final recommendations.

Jindal School students can add a real estate concentration to their undergraduate and graduate major to prepare students to enter the commercial and residential real estate industry. The cutting edge curriculum teaches real estate finance fundamentals that can lead to careers as lenders, investment sales, mortgage brokers, leasing agents, appraisers, credit underwriters and more.

Emily Sandoval, a business management senior with a concentration in real estate, chose UTD to study real estate. She said Lynch was an immense help, especially during this competition when the professor worked through real estate software and presentation practices with the group.

“Without her, we wouldn’t have been able to win,” said Sandoval, a UTD real estate club board member. “She really helped us, and I’ve learned a lot from her. She’s really enthusiastic about real estate.”UTD’s chosen participants met as a team, each taking a part of the project. They combined their ideas for the final presentation before a panel of industry judges.

“We found a lot of issues and tried to find as many solutions as we could to make this property financially viable to investors,” said Noah Bowes, a finance senior from Sugarland, Texas. Among other ideas, the team recommended a coffee shop and a lounge that took advantage of the view of a neighboring golf course. “We were able to pinpoint a lot of the maintenance issues and how to bring in extra revenue for the property.”

These are six of our very driven students who are eager to learn and to be successful in the industry . . . These are some of the most impressive students I’ve ever worked with. They put a lot into it.
– Julie Lynch

Manuel Del Castillo, a finance senior from The Woodlands, Texas, who serves on the board of the real estate club, worked on financial analysis, calculating the building’s value and the return on renovation costs. ARGUS software, one of the platforms on which UTD students are trained, helped in his calculations.

“I found the financial analysis very interesting because I had to play with the market assumptions,” he said. In the process, he learned something important about himself and commercial real estate. “I think this is the right career path for me. I really enjoyed the finance side of real estate and coming up with the real estate evaluation of an asset.”

The winners walked away with $5,000, which was great, Lynch said. But it was the real-world experience that thrilled the hard-working team.

“They were very excited that they learned so much,” said Lynch, who is a licensed broker in the state of Texas. “As employment becomes tighter, these skills are what turn job candidates into new hires.”