When asked what real estate is, most people will say the topic has to deal with something about the home-buying process. But BYU Marriott School of Business finance senior Dallin Curriden challenges that simple explanation. “Real estate is not just the home you live in but also the community in which you live and work,” he says.
Curriden credits his love and interest for real estate in part to his service as a missionary in Johannesburg, South Africa, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was in Johannesburg that Curriden had the responsibility to manage the housing process of where missionaries lived as part of his day-to-day duties. “I was tasked with finding better, more suitable living situations for missionaries,” says Curriden. “After taking a strategic look at the location, quality, and safety of our mission apartments, I helped find twenty-five new living quarters that were better suited for the work missionaries were doing. That experience was a part of what sparked my initial interest in real estate.”
With his attention focused on serving people and his fellow missionaries while in South Africa, Curriden explains that it wasn’t until after his mission that he realized how relevant real estate is to everyday lives. “Everyone interacts with real estate every day,” he says. “Real estate is where you live, work, attend school, visit the doctor, or interact with people in your everyday life. The more I learned about real estate, the more I realized real estate is an opportunity to help better the community around you, help businesses grow, and help people have a comfortable place to live in.”
Curriden believes that BYU Marriott’s finance major and real estate have a lot in common. Curriden says his experience in the finance program has made him more marketable, not just for finance jobs but also in the real estate industry. “BYU Marriott offers a number of classes that teach finance principles that are a great foundation for anyone going into real estate,” says Curriden. “Classes that teach topics such as investments in equities and the stock market, how to project cash flows and calculate returns, and even how to become an expert in Microsoft Excel and crunch financial data.”
When Curriden was first admitted to BYU Marriott, he wanted to maximize his learning experience and began looking at clubs to join. Because of his experiences on his mission, Curriden was drawn to the BYU Real Estate Association. Now, two years after returning home from South Africa, Curriden serves as the co-president of the BYU Real Estate Association.
“BYU has one of the top real estate clubs in the country and is an untapped resource that a lot of undergrads at BYU could benefit from,” Curriden says. “The club has an open-door policy where anybody can come in and feel welcome, like I felt when I joined.” Curriden’s current responsibilities include helping current undergrad students and alumni find internships and full-time jobs, organizing networking trips, and preparing weekly technical trainings for the association meetings.
Curriden also hopes to influence the BYU Real Estate Association post-graduation. His plan is to help other undergraduates wanting to pursue a career in real estate by working with future club leadership, assisting students with finding internships, and mentoring students as they pursue their own path to real estate.
This last summer, Curriden completed an online internship with Greystar, a globally recognized real estate firm located in South Carolina. After a successful internship, Curriden accepted a full-time offer with the company and is excited to move to South Carolina after he graduates in April 2020 and begin the next stage of his career.
For Curriden, his time at BYU Marriott has been one of growth and has helped him prepare to live out his dream career. “I am thankful for the amazing experiences I have had while attending BYU and I can’t wait to get to work full-time at Greystar,” says Curriden. “I’ve been preparing for this moment for years, and I know that I’ve been set up to succeed.”
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Writer: Madi Wickham
