About CRE.school
Empowering business leaders to make confident, profitable commercial real estate decisions
Master Your Moves With CRE School
Ready to transform your business and skyrocket your success? CRE School equips driven entrepreneurs, business owners, and decision-makers with elite commercial real estate expertise to dominate leasing, buying, and investing. Our immersive courses and tight-knit community of ambitious professionals empower you to make game-changing decisions with unshakable confidence. Don’t just play the game—own it. Enroll now and unlock the tools to build wealth and seize opportunities in commercial real estate!
Our Story
CRE.school was founded after our team noticed a troubling pattern: successful business leaders who excelled in their industries were consistently at a disadvantage when making critical commercial real estate decisions.
Despite being sharp negotiators and strategic thinkers, these executives found themselves outmaneuvered when dealing with landlords, brokers, and property sellers who lived and breathed real estate daily. The information asymmetry was leading to suboptimal deals and missed opportunities.
We set out to level the playing field by creating educational programs that distill decades of commercial real estate experience into focused, practical courses that busy executives can immediately apply to their real estate decisions.
Our vision is to help hundreds of business leaders secure better leases, make smarter property investments, and implement location strategies that drive business growth. We're committed to empowering business decision-makers with the real estate knowledge they need to succeed.
Our Founder
David N. Haug
CRE School Founder
Lighthouse Commercial Real Estate
President and Managing Broker
David is an over 18 year Commercial Real Estate veteran. He started his career with NAI MLG Commercial, an NAI Global Affiliate in 2006. In 2010, David founded Lighthouse Commercial Real Estate to take care of the Madison and Dane County areas of Wisconsin.
David started his career as a Retail specialist at NAI and quickly learned the ropes of nearly all specialty areas of CRE. David has successfully closed or analyzed deals of all shapes and sizes in retail, restaurants, bars, hospitality, office, medical office, municipal, industrial, warehouse/distribution, vacant land, development, multifamily, investment, churches, and "odd duck" real estate.
David's first "big" deal was a 296,000 SF single tenant industrial manufacturing and distribution property in Cuyahoga Heights, OH. This was a single tenant NNN deal that a local Madison, WI investor purchased.
David has never looked back and has enjoyed all areas of commercial real estate for nearly two decades. As a volunteer leadership facilitator and mentor for his college Fraternity members, David loves teaching and solving difficult challenges.
"Every single commercial real estate deal is its own unique puzzle. I love gathering all of the pieces and putting together the masterpiece the project is meant to be." ~ David Haug
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Look for updates, resources, and testimonials there.
LinkedIn Testimonials
"David is a positive force in commercial real estate. He is very knowledgable, works extremely hard and best of all, is an honest person."
Barry Richter, President, Hausmann Group
"As business professionals, we have to be careful about who we recommend, and David is someone I recommend without hesitation. In an extremely competitive market, he works tirelessely to help his clients get the best value possible. He's knowledgeable, hardworking and has impeccable integrity. If you're looking for a broker who truly has your best interests at heart, I encourage you to call Dave."
Beth Prochaska, Chairman, Potter Lawson
"High integrity, passion, and out of the box creativity are the attributes that David Haug brings to the real estate table. When confronting the rigors of commercial real estate transactions, you want someone on your side of the transaction that is zealously committed to your needs. Success can be readily observed with David, because he is still standing in a market that many others are struggling in. Not only is he still standing, he is on the upward ladder."
Lance Ratze, Lead Pastor at The Well Church
"David has always impressed me with his tenacity, sincerity, and hard work. He has the ability to see the big picture while making sure to take care of the details necessary to bring a deal to fruition. You can be confident when working with David that he will go the distance."
Carole Schaeffer, Municipal Entitlement Consultant
Why Choose CRE School?
We're different from traditional real estate education programs in several key ways.
Ready to Transform Your Commercial Real Estate Decisions?
Take an existing course or join our exclusive waitlist to be the first to know when new courses open for enrollment.
Ready to transform your business and skyrocket your success? CRE School equips driven entrepreneurs, business owners, and decision-makers with elite commercial real estate expertise to dominate leasing, buying, and investing. Our immersive courses and tight-knit community of ambitious professionals empower you to make game-changing decisions with unshakable confidence. Don’t just play the game—own it. Enroll now and unlock the tools to build wealth and seize opportunities in commercial real estate!
Enroll Today!
All courses include FREE resources, access to special content, email updates, a free trial access to our CRE School Community and so much more.
Enroll in a CRE School Course Today!
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CRE School services are provided by Lighthouse Commercial Real Estate LLC