Jan. 2, 2024

This week’s Up-and-Comer is Albert Huizing V, CEO of Move To Sioux Falls and co-founder of SoDak Stays. 

Name: Albert Huizing V

Age: 29

Hometown: Hamburg, New Jersey

What brought you to Sioux Falls?

Love! But in all seriousness, my wife, Kayla, lived in Inwood Iowa, which borders the Iowa/South Dakota border next to Canton, and always wanted to live in a bigger city but not too big. I told her Sioux Falls sounds perfect. Also, I had just done a semester in Chicago, and it was way too big. It takes 20 minutes to go a couple blocks by car. You can get around all of Sioux Falls in that time frame.

What keeps you in Sioux Falls?

Affordability, restaurants per capita, amazing hospitals, forward-thinking leaders and rapid growth that the city has. All these things together makes life exciting, knowing we are shaping the community of Sioux Falls for when the population becomes 1 million-plus people!

What’s your favorite thing about your job? 

When I worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., I never got to leave my office very often. Now that I am out of that world, my job presents itself with all the various people I get to meet, which is amazing. I get to go out for coffees, show homes, fix homes if our managed properties are in need of a freshen up. Most people don’t understand that moving takes a lot of work. From what paperwork to fill out, to moving boxes, to even knowing what school district you are in. I am here to help you with all of it. A great resource is movetosiouxfallssd.com. It’s a site that tells you not only home searching but blogs about life in Sioux Falls, real estate, and it even has links to local businesses, other helpful moving links.

All that being said, the best part about being an entrepreneur and owning these businesses is that my wife and I get to work together and raise our kids the way we would like them to be raised. 

How did you get connected to your industry?

COVID-19 got me into my real estate gigs. My wife and I were working from home, and we decided that we were going to rent our basement out that had a living room, bathroom and bedroom.

At first, I said “No way, stranger danger!” However, after we tried it once, we booked a person right away and were hooked. We were able to pay off our student loans and after that our first kid. That led us into starting to manage a few properties. We had to shut ours down — nobody would have liked to hear our screaming infant while in our basement.

Following that, I got my real estate license because my wife and I were on a walk and I said ‘Wouldn’t it be great to help our clients out by helping purchase or sell their investments.’ Well, my wife said yes, and that’s how Move To Sioux Falls was created.

Describe your workplace in three words.

Flexible, rewarding, fun.

What is something someone might be surprised to learn about you?

I lived at seven different addresses in one year. So I know a thing or two about moving. 😉

What’s your favorite way to give back to your community?

Mentorship. Signing up for Sioux 52 and helping SCORE out has been the most rewarding, challenging thing yet. I help other entrepreneurs get their start or ask me questions about what to do in certain business situations.

What’s one business you’d like to see in Sioux Falls that isn’t here now?

Salad & Go!

If you had $1 million to start a business, what kind of business would it be?

A boutique motel!