Fresh Meat for the Grinder - advice on focus?
I will be starting at a large commercial firm in Central Texas at the beginning of the new year. I am ecstatic at the opportunity but due to my inexperience with the commercial world am a bit nervous.

The firm will put me on a team starting out while I learn the ropes. My questions comes down to this; which area of commercial do you see as being the most profitable over the next three years? Each team is categorized by area of practice, followed by geography. I know that multi family is red hot right now but have no idea if that will hold the course. So, if you were just starting out, where would you specialize?
[{"id": "cmwxnx3", "text": "Pull up PwC's 2015 outlook on real estate paper. Get yourself familiar with the different outlooks on specialties and look for your market- pretty sure the big Texas cities made the top 25 lists. You will get a quick overview of what's hot and what will be hot in each of the 25 cities. Make your decision then. Additionally, call your head of research at the firm... Act like you actually care what they think and get their opinion. They're often undervalued as they are usually told how to write their outlooks ( to make RE look good) but if they have been there a little while they should have a deep understanding of market intricacies.\n\n\nSource: previous head of research for international CRE firm. :) good luck.", "replies": [{"id": "cmxosqh", "text": "Do this. They know more about the market because everyone goes to them. Besides PwC check out Costar's quarterly report for your area. Will give you some flavor as to what is going on in your area. Source current young buck. ", "replies": [{"id": "cmxwybu", "text": "Awesome, definitely going to be following this advice!", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cmxca0c", "text": "See what one is a fit for you. They are all profitable. Are you on a circut program? ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cmy0adt", "text": "If you are young you should worry less about this and more about what interests you.  Multifamily is hot now, but it will surely fade down.  I'd think about developing a core specialty you can use over decades.  Sometimes will be good, some not so good.  \n\nThat said I can't but help notice all the hotels getting built right now, at least locally.  I'm trying to learn everything I can about that and make contacts so when all those loans get ballooned out and/or the developers want to dump them I can get in on that action.", "replies": [{"id": "cn5pa6n", "text": "Multifamily has been around a long time and the players tend to stay the same people.  This is amazing for a broker.  Retail real estate for example, you are always chasing who the new person is.  I've been in multifamily for a long time and while it is cyclical, is is always good.  Stores close, industrial goes by the wayside, but people always need a place to live.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnfny97", "text": "1) do some research on your market and determine which property types you see being profitable within the next decade or so. What is growing in my market could be struggling in your market. Keep special attention to retail, we've seen it dip especially for big box retailers, but i suspect its going to come back in a big way.\n2) Many might disagree with this statement - but I've noticed that each speciality requires a certain type of personality. This is a business of people and relationships, if you don't \"fit in\", you might have trouble. For example - I have noticed that successful office brokers tend to be very sophisticated, but I can't see them doing well in industrial properties. Just something to keep in mind.\n", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]