Members of the Citrus Real Estate Club pose for a picture for their end of the semester barbecue in 2025. Photo courtesy of Henoch Perez, Citrus Real Estate Club. 
Members of the Citrus Real Estate congregate for the end of the semester barbecue in 2025. Photo Courtesy of Henoch Perez, Citrus Real Estate Club. 
Two members of the Citrus Real Estate Club compete in a game of chess at the end of the semester barbecue in 2025. Photo courtesy of Henoch Perez, Citrus Real Estate Club.
For students curious about real estate or simply looking to better understand money and careers, the Citrus Real Estate Club provides a space to learn practical skills and build connections that last beyond the classroom.
Knowledge, resume-building and networking form the core of the Real Estate Club, which works to connect students with the skills and relationships to not only break into the industry but also learn practical skills for all future endeavors.
The club aims to bring together students interested in learning the tangible side of real estate while helping them build resumes that stand out and develop connections for future networking opportunities. Meetings are designed around student interests rather than a fixed schedule, creating an environment where the meetings are tailored to what the members want to learn. The club provides students with essential real estate concepts while also introducing the pathways to become an agent or broker.
The club also focuses on what students can do right now to start building a path into real estate, acknowledging that buying a property isn’t always attainable for college-age people.
“You’re talking to mostly 18-to-21 year olds at Citrus and they see investing as something that they’ll do when they’re way older,” club adviser Nick Paulson said. “So we try to talk about what some of the things you can be doing right now are, either to get in the game or to get ready to get in the game.”
For Paulson, making real estate a more familiar and accessible field for students is a central goal. Since arriving at Citrus in 2017 and taking over the club in 2018, he said he has watched it expand, growth he attributes to the strength of its alumni community.
“In 2017, we had two members;we’ve never had less than 15 since then,”Paulson said. “We have been super active.What I am most proud of in the club is the alumni network, because I think it demonstrates that they’re building real relationships here.”
The club’s strong alumni network keeps former members closely tied to current students. Many return to help with events and join meetings, sharing stories from their time in the club and, when applicable, their experiences in the industry. For others, the club was an important part of their college life, even if they never entered the realm of real estate.
“I’ve had star real estate club members who are trucking now, they’re not doing real estate,” Paulson said. “But they still come back to the meetings. That’s really the baseline of what the club is.”
The club organizes three key events each semester: a fun event, a professional event and a charity event. Together, they help members build stronger relationships while exposing them to the real-world standards of the real estate industry.
Vice President Yansi Meza said the event last semester provided members with compelling insight into the realities of being a real estate agent.
“We’d go to open houses to observe the environment of the house, see the value, and just talk about it as a community,” Meza said. “And getting a view of how it feels to be an agent.”
Meza is working toward becoming an agent and discovered the club after researching organizations that filled that interest.
“Ever since I started college, I wanted to do real estate,” Meza said. “ I was looking to see if we had any clubs for real estate, so I found one.”
President Louis Chavez had a different mindset when joining the club.
“I like real estate because of the cash flow and the thought of being financially free,” Chavez said. “I don’t like working for people. I’d rather be my own boss.”
Chavez said that he first learned about the club during the fall semester and officially joined this semester, later being elected club president.
Meetings start with quick introductions and club business before diving into the day’s topic. Paulson, a successful real estate investor and agent, often guides the discussion, though the club sometimes brings in guest speakers to focus on goals members want to explore.
Seeing that many students struggles with financial literacy, he made it a focal point of the lectures he leads for the club.
“Our financial literacy is not where it should be,” Paulson said. “And we can blame everybody for that… but at some point in time, you’re an adult now, it’s your job.”
Paulson said that some meetings diverge from real estate altogether, focusing on broader investment topics.
“Our topics sort of change; most of the time it’s an investing focus; it just sort of depends on what the class wants,” Paulson said. “In fact, last semester, I did a whole meeting on the stock market.”
Paulson emphasized that he wants all his members to feel supported, adding that even those who join casually are welcome, as networking is the club’s main focus.
“We prioritize the networking; we prioritize relationship-building,” Paulson said. “Imagine you leave Citrus and five years later, you still come back to a real estate meeting. … You’re not coming back to learn about real estate, you’re coming back to the people.”
