Real Responsibility for the Real Estate Society

While Millennials learned to respond to the afflictions and struggles throughout the 1970s and 80s, Generation Y (born in the1980-90s) find themselves entangled in national crises and economic hardships––all while engaging in international human rights movements and global initiatives. The internet provides an immediate conversational platform for new generations to propose remedies and resolution to issues of individual, or mass, relevance.

If you have followed my articles, you should notice by now that I am an advocate for small-business development and entrepreneurship. Similarly, local and federal agencies are attempting to cheer economic growth and encourage Generation Y to build upon the successes (and failures) of their elders by developing new companies, organizations and innovative technologies.

Enter the Real Estate Society (RES)––a non-profit organization aiming to strengthen an aspiring generation of real estate professionals through development and expansion of undergraduate real estate education. Still not convinced of the need for a more skilled and educated group of individuals? In 2008, home sales dropped 32.6 percent in 2008 and are expected to drop 30 percent this year.

The RES is not just another student group to add onto an undergraduate resume. The organization is designed to be a “tool of connectivity” -- giving its members the resources necessary to foster success in their future real estate endeavors and in turn promoting integrity, transparency and honesty within the industry. Additionally, the organization will assist students in finding jobs and internships through its developing corporate relations.

Although the organization is only about a year old, 32 schools are members of the RES, including Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, UCLA and Duke.

“We want to combine the brightest young minds in the industry with the top real estate veterans to come up with solutions,” said Joseph Tan, college student and Founder of RES. “We hope that with the emergence of a new economic plan, real estate will bounce back and the RES will be a contributing factor by fusing the gap between established professionals and the future bright minds of the real estate industry.”

According to the Washington Post, Social Entrepreneurship––the movement in which people launch nonprofit or business ventures to address systemic problems––is growing in appeal among young adults who want to help vulnerable people.

The RES will host its first annual summit in New York City on March 26-27, 2010. More than 500 students and 200 real estate professionals will attend a two day event to discuss future responsibilities and priorities to protect America’s real estate market.