UC Merced Magazine | Volume XIX, Issue V

Agent Anoop Nagra in Mokha Real Estate's office in Merced.

By Jody Murray

Were you to bottle the youthful energy crackling from Mokha Real Estate, it could likely light every residence in Merced. For a week. e brokerage rightly describes itself as a one-stop stop. ey list and sell houses, of course, but also handle home loans, manage property and sell commercial real estate. Everyone who operates out of the sleek, open- oor-plan o ce is in their 20s. Oh, and seven of the eight-member Mokha team are current UC Merced students or graduates. Gurleen Khella, a 2022 graduate of the university’s Gallo Master of Management program, is the agency’s business manager and handler of details big and small. She also is a real estate agent. “I believe the opportunities given to me at UC Merced made me who I am today,” said Khella, who hails from Turlock. “It opened doors for me that I never thought were possible.”

e team operates out of an airy o ce in a small business park along G Street in central Merced. Neighbors include an oral surgeon, a dentist and a vascular specialist — understandable because Mercy Medical Center is just ve minutes up the road. Mokha Real Estate’s main space has tables and chairs instead of desks, clean sight lines instead of cubicles — all to foster collaboration in what is traditionally an industry of individuals. ere’s not a printer in sight; all business is conducted on a laptop or phone. It’s not so much an o ce as it is a home base. “You come in, you work, you get your stu done,” Khella said. “If you need help on a deal, we communicate. We brainstorm, we overcome hurdles, and we come to solutions as a team.” She wants clients to sense that can-do spirit. “We create a culture that we’re going to be the best, so when someone walks in, they can feel the positivity.”

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