Bucks Member Starts Real Estate Course in Local High School

Introducing young students to real estate is a mission for a Bucks County Association member.

John Iannarelli, treasurer of BCAR, started an early morning program at his alma mater, Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster, last year.

“The high school invited alumni to come back and tour the school,” he said. “I hadn’t been back in 30 years and as they were asking for alumni to make contributions, I started thinking about other ways I could help as well.”

Iannarelli, who worked in the energy industry for 25 years before becoming a real estate professional, said he wished he had learned more about real estate opportunities at a younger age. Which led him to approach the school about starting a “Before the Bell” program for students to attend early in the morning before school starts. The topics range from how to buy a house by the time you’re 21 to becoming a real estate investor to what it’s like to be a Realtor®. Other area professionals are guest speakers for the program.

There’s been a strong interest in the program, which regularly had 25-30 students attending. “These kids are coming in at 7:30 a.m. once a month to learn about real estate and related industries and they’re really excited about it,” Iannarelli said.

The school took note of the students’ interest in the topic and decided to offer an elective course for seniors that provides a more extensive look at real estate career opportunities. The course, approved by the Catholic Archdiocese, will be offered in the fall semester with 30 seniors enrolled.

Students will be divided into teams, depending on their interest level. They’ll learn about the different career paths in real estate – real estate agents, mortgage lenders, home inspectors, investors –  and they’ll learn more about what they need to do to pursue those careers. They’ll have the opportunity to work on real life projects and present them at the end of the year.

“The kids are very excited about the new elective and I’m getting calls from parents who want more information as well,” Iannarelli said. “And my Keller Williams office is very supportive too, in fact, we’ve had one of the students as an intern this summer.”

Gary Zimmaro, president of Archbishop Wood High School, said “Archbishop Wood is grateful to alumni like John for his dedication and understanding of Archbishop Wood’s tradition of excellence for the leaders of tomorrow. Career discernment at Archbishop Wood High School is hyper focused on equipping students with the tools and resources necessary to discover their passions and callings. We only have four short years to serve our students and the addition of the Fundamentals of Real Estate course is yet another example of how we are able to make that possible.”

The school will be offering a separate, pre-licensure course after school in February so students who are interested can pay to take this course to start the process of becoming a license agent and when they graduate, they’ll be ready to enter the real estate industry. Several students have already expressed an interest in being part of that course.

“Not every student wants to go onto college,” he said. “By showing them other careers, they begin to see other options.”