Real estate power couple

How Michael Peerson (BSBA ’06, MSF ’07) and Sarah Peerson (MSF ’07) leveraged their University of Florida finance education to thrive in real estate.

Since childhood, mathematics has been a strength for Sarah Peerson (MSF ‘07). Her penchant for math coupled with her father’s advice to graduate with a skill that employers were seeking like finance, economics and accounting all seemed like natural choices when she was selecting a college major. She ended up choosing finance as a freshman at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Michael Peerson (BSBA ’06, MSF ’07) also considered himself someone who gravitated toward math-focused subjects. His selection process as a freshman at the University of Florida was a little different than his future wife’s, though.

“I hadn’t received much guidance with respect to college majors so I went to the registrar’s office and asked them which degrees were considered the most challenging in the business college,” he said. “At the time, they said that was either finance or DIS [decision information sciences]. I decided on finance because it seemed like a subject that could have many applications.”

Equations to opportunities

With finance degrees from USF and UF in hand, respectively, Sarah and Michael began taking steps in their early careers. Sarah joined Morgan Stanley’s wealth management team in Tampa, while Michael interviewed for positions with recruiters from various finance companies.

During that time, Sarah and Michael discovered the University of Florida’s Master of Science in Finance (MSF) program and realized that pursuing an additional degree would help them accomplish their individual goals. For Sarah, the MSF program would allow her to gain finance knowledge that she could apply to the real estate industry. For Michael, the MSF degree would give him access to higher quality full-time job opportunities, instead of the internship positions he realized he was being considered for due to graduating in just three years from UF.

“The MSF program was incredibly helpful,” Michael reflected. “The program differentiates itself by providing real world experience, as well as guidance on opportunities from people like Kelly Herring and Dr. Dave Brown. Anyone who has taken Dr. Brown’s classes knows that you need to be creative and apply multiple concepts at once.

“You’re learning concepts that are more career oriented than theoretical.”

Sarah noted that the small program at UF also enabled networking opportunities that were tailored to her specific interests.

“The MSF program has great matchmaking capabilities,” she said. “Over time, [Dr. Brown and Herring] saw my interests and abilities and helped guide me to jobs in real estate. One key contact they introduced to me to was [alumnus] Steve DeRose (BA ’03, BSBA ’03, MSF ’04), who was working in Wachovia’s real estate capital markets platform at the time and was a helpful advocate allowing me secure a role in Wachovia’s real estate capital markets analyst training program.”

Building more than buildings

Despite being close friends in the MSF program, Sarah and Michael’s relationship didn’t start until after they had graduated and were both working for Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) in Charlotte, where they still live today.

“Sarah and I remained friends in the early years of living in Charlotte,” Michael recalled. “One weekend in 2011 I asked her if she wanted to watch the Vanderbilt football game together, and the rest is history.”

They were married three years later, and since have a family that includes two boys.

Just as their family has grown, so have their careers. Years of experience focusing on real estate led Sarah to her current role as Managing Director in Wells Fargo’s CRE Specialty Real Estate Finance platform focusing on financing healthcare real estate assets, and Michael to President of CoreVest, a business purpose lender specializing in residential properties.

For Sarah and Michael, real estate offers them the ability to work with tangible assets, something that many finance professionals don’t experience in their work.

“The geography, demographics, property condition and scope are vital to the success of real estate projects,” Michael explained.

Sarah added, “It’s the touch, the feel, the ability to see what you’ve worked on that’s neat about working in real estate. I finance commercial real estate projects all over the nation, but a few of them have been in Charlotte. It’s rewarding to drive by projects and know that I played a role in making them happen.

“We’ve even taken our boys and driven by to show them!”

A partnership beyond business

Over the course of their relationship, the Peersons have relied on each other for personal and professional success. Their career experiences across a variety of roles and projects have set a foundation of expertise that they have both tapped into.

“Michael and I have ‘grown up together’ professionally living through so many of the same situations and experiences,” Sarah said. “Because of that, he is a great resource for me helping me to navigate career hurdles and objectives. And on the other hand, his background in real estate was focused more on the residential side, so as he’s broadened his experience on the commercial side, he’s turned to me for questions or advice.”

The Peersons extend that reliance on each other as they manage their family, from busy travel schedules; their sons’ involvement in sports throughout the year; and to Sarah’s volunteer work as a deacon in their church.

“Sarah is a successful mother and professional,” Michael said. “Our synergies allow us to manage our household as well as help each other navigate work and personal life balance.  Because we’ve lived similar career experiences, we can relate when work schedules are busy and help assist with responsibilities in other areas.”

Returning the investment

Even with busy lives, Sarah and Michael still have made a point to give back to their alma mater. They have both returned to campus to speak to students in the MSF program as well as served as significant recruiters of UF students for their companies.

“Success in any organization can be defined by your ability to convince someone to pull you up,” Michael said. “UF pulled us up.”