Finals weren’t the only test on John Kuelbs’ mind last semester. The junior business finance major was also studying for the test to earn his real estate license.

Kuelbs and his friend David Hawa, a real estate finance graduate of SMU, now run a business called Mustang Housing, an apartment locating company targeting students on campus and anyone else in the D/FW area looking to find an apartment.

The idea came to the pair about two years ago, but the business was not launched until the end of last semester.

“Last semester we did a postcard advertisement. We stuffed nearly every mailbox on campus with a postcard informing people of our service,” Kuelbs said.

The advertisement got them off to a good start by bringing in phone calls and e-mails from students looking for a new place to live.

The service is free. Although most people think there must be a catch with such an offer, Kuelbs is proud about the fact this is not the case with his company.

“The service is absolutely free,” Kuelbs said. “We even give them a $50 gift certificate to Northpark mall when they sign a lease.”

For most students, a semester filled with 12 to 18 hours of classes is enough to frazzle the nerves. Unlike his partner, Kuelbs still juggles a full load of classes despite his work.

“School is my number one priority. The business comes next, with my spare time,” Kuelbs said. “After school, I can focus more on it. As much as I put into it, I get out of it.”

The division between work and school is not as clear as it might sound. Last year, Kuelbs found himself studying for more than just his finals. In order to work for an apartment locating business, he had to earn a real estate license. This involved taking the state real estate test, four real estate classes and finding a broker. In his spare time, Kuelbs satisfied all of these requirements.

“At the end of this semester, we’re probably going to be doing another post-card advertisement in the mailboxes and maybe an ad in the paper too.” Kuelbs said.