UH System Board of Regents Chairman and Welcome Wilson Sr. was the Bauer MBA Real Estate Club speaker at the group’s first meeting Wednesday, and he discussed the future of real estate, his story as a UH student and the importance of highly trained real estate professionals.
Wilson received a bachelor of business administration degree from UH in 1949. Along with his BBA, he earned the UH Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1970 and the C.T. Bauer College of Business Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1996.
He has served as Chairman of the Board of Regents since 2007, and was recently re-elected to serve until August 2010.
Wilson said that when he first came to UH, there were about 3,500 students. Wilson worked at The Daily Cougar during his time as a student.
‘I was the business manager at the Cougar. It was fabulous. I sold advertising, and I was the highest paid student on the campus – a dollar an hour. In addition to that, I sold automobiles on the side,’ Wilson said. ‘It was an incredible business experience for an 18-year-old junior from Brownsville Junior College.’
But despite the experience, Wilson said he was not completely prepared for the real estate world.
‘I quit the government and went to work in real estate development. I had a problem, seeing how I didn’t know anything about it,’ Wilson said. ‘I’ll never forget when someone wanted me to sign a deed of trust. I didn’t know what a deed of trust was, but I signed it because I didn’t want to embarrass myself.
‘When I started building Jamaica Beach, I should’ve built 50 lots and then expanded when I sold more. I built 250. It was years before I sold all those lots.’
Wilson offered advice for current real estate development students.
‘You have to know construction, engineering and most important of all, financing,’ Wilson said. ‘You’ve heard of the phrase, ‘Location, location, location.’ It’s really ‘The economy, the economy, the economy.’ Don’t get the feeling that you’re a big shot just because you’ve had some success, because ’round the corner there’s another (person) falling on (their) face.’
Wilson also offered advice for all UH students.
‘You always learn from your mistakes,’ Wilson said. ‘Success doesn’t teach much; mistakes teach you a lot.’
