Hodara Real Estate Group

What it does: Brokers real estate rentals and sales
Founder: Alex Hodara, 23
Website: hodararealestate.com
Based: Boston

When Alex Hodara was a freshman at Boston University four years ago, he took a part-time job at a local agency renting apartments to fellow students. After two years, he had his real estate broker's license. He opened his own rental brokerage in January 2009, with four other students working as agents. Hodara calls his company the first student-run real estate brokerage. The Boston-based company has since expanded into selling properties to buyers looking for income-generating investments; Hodara says he has so far brokered more than $5 million worth of such deals. He also started a separate business managing properties for landlords. While Hodara himself graduated in May, he says he will continue to hire students as rental brokers­—he had nine working over the summer and expects to have a dozen in December, Boston's next busy period for rentals. Most customers are students who welcome working with their peers, rather than professional real estate agents. Hodara says the company had revenue of $175,000 in 2009 and expects $400,000 in 2010. —LH

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