Rebuilding a City
Naturally, Matthew Barker got his real estate license at 18. Why not, when his family was in the business? By the time he graduated from Michigan State University, Barker was seeing signs of economic rebound in hard-hit Detroit. People who had left the state to find jobs were coming back, and renters were becoming owners again. Barker, now 24, is part of the city’s renaissance through his involvement in NEXTGen Detroit. Selling homes, he says, is a key part of rebuilding the city. “Each transaction brings great excitement,” he says. Barker recently became the youngest licensed broker in his company. He has no plans to open his own brokerage but says the advanced education he received covering business regulations and procedures has helped him better serve his clients.