Being an analyst for a team or being a research analyst for the office?
I've worked as an analyst at a big brokerage (CBRE) for the last six months. I recently got an offer to join a team - they're the second top-producing team in the office. I've been working as a research analyst for the whole office until then. The broker pitched that he wanted me to work on building out his database since I'm really good at that and he offered to give me a portion of commissions once I get my license.

The issue is currently I work 9-5 and I really value having defined work hours and being able to leave work at work. I often see this team operating at late hours (I've received emails from them at 10pm) and I imagine they expect others in their team to be available. So I worry moving to join the team will be a huge blow to my work-life balance.

On the other hand, analyst seems like a dead-end job. I don't see career progression or salary increases since I don't know if I really make the company any money. I have no intention of becoming a broker (sales isn't my strong suit since I'm quite reserved) - so joining the broker team doesn't necessarily mean I'll have career progression. But I might have higher pay due to some part of the commission trickling down to me.

So I was wondering if anyone else knows whether working as an analyst for a team is better compensated than working as an analyst for the entire office - has anyone been in both roles before? Better enough that irregular work hours might be worth it?

Also am I correct in thinking if I don't want to become a broker then there's really no place for me to grow and make much money in CRE? Most people on this subreddit are much more knowledgeable about working in this industry than I was when I joined it - CRE was never what I planned on doing with my life but it was the first place I got into after uni. So I've got plenty of time to pivot but I don't want my experience to be for nothing, so would be good to hear what options there are in CRE for someone like me.
[{"id": "iz7ixi4", "text": "Analyst on the team if you get to learn financial modeling will increase your options down the line. You might have some longer days, but you don't need to respond to emails at 10 pm. Or you respond, I'll look into it in the morning.", "replies": [{"id": "iz7jk06", "text": "For some context, I have a Masters in Economics prior to beginning work here. Is financial modeling something I can't learn outside the role? - and if not, is it a transferable skill that would help in other places (i.e. not just strictly in CRE?). I am assuming that is what you meant by increasing my options.\n\nIf you meant increasing my options in CRE - would you be able to share what kinds of roles would open up through that?", "replies": [{"id": "iz7k3t8", "text": "Anything can be learned outside of a role but it looks different to prospective employers. I mostly will increase options within CRE but there is some carry over to cre investment underwriting and equity/business underwriting.", "replies": [{"id": "iz7lk25", "text": "Thank you - I will keep this in mind. I'll be looking into financial modeling and where I can learn this on the job (I'm not sure this broker wants me to do that work) and/or outside work. It seems to involve concepts I'm familiar with already.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "iz7lfyj", "text": "Working for one high performing team is better than doing jack off busy work for the entire office. I am also in research and there is a negative correlation between people who make money and people who actually ask for stuff. \n\nAnd ok, how long was the guy doing spreadsheets there before you at his job? Where did he end up? Look around, who is the longest serving researcher at cbre in your network? \n\nYou are already in a dead end position and getting a slice of the pie is better than nothing. \n\nThe next three years are going to totally suck btw so welcome to the club. Get gud at excel. \n\nSource: Econ masters research guy who entered the industry in 2005.", "replies": [{"id": "iz7uo6j", "text": "Thank you - you're exactly who I want to talk to. Why did you not consider leaving the industry?\n\nTo answer your questions more directly -  the longest-serving researcher has been here for a while, nearly 6 years. He's been promoted a lot but I don't know his salary so don't know if it's just title inflation.\n\nThere was no one else in my role before I came, it was created since the office was growing. The other researcher is a relatively new hire as well. Researchers often get picked up by teams so I'm not sure what that means for the argument.\n\nThe problem is, given the broker wanted me to expand his database (i.e. finding the contacts of business owners / property owners) it truly is just more busy work. The work I do is mindless, but at least not tiring. Also given deals volume will likely decrease I don't know what a slice of the commissions is in real terms. So I'm hesitant to commit myself to tiring busy work with uneven hours for a slight pay bump.\n\nThis is why I was asking if there were places in CRE I could develop into that are better paid (not sales) or should I just leave for another industry altogether. Hence my first question - why didn't you?", "replies": [{"id": "iz7ziye", "text": "Got it, you would be a nexis monkey looking up phone numbers and title reports. Ok, this is nnn sales shit, I thought it was like pro calc finance shit. \n\nResearch is the mailroom at cbre, where all the nephews go until they can be picked up onto a team. \n\nOther places the research department has some lifers like me, it is an easy job once you learn costar and rca and some gov websites. I would advise reaching out to other researchers when you get a chance. \n\nBut mostly I would learn excel and power bi, since that can take you most anywhere. \n\nAnd why did I stay in the business? Because the world was collapsing during the great financial crisis and my friends got laid off and I was just lucky to have a job. And commercial real estate is the last to be hit and the last to get out, and it\u2019s easy work and just inertia. An object at rest so I tended to stay at rest. It is super easy to get lazy in this business. so by the time 2015 rolled around I was already 10 years into my career and  I figured I would just ride it out. \n\nIn terms of what I wish I had done? I wish I learned actual database stuff earlier, star schema and sql ect, then I would have automated things earlier. I wish I was nicer to people because this is a small industry and having a bad attitude is an easy way to be overlooked, I wish I focused more on the money or development side of the business, because why work for a broker when you can be the ones the brokers work for, I wish my school had used r instead of stata then I would have learned a program people actually use, \n\nOther than that I would not change too much. I am pretty lucky to be working with some great people, not being micro managed and in a great market. \n\nI job hopped a bit at the start of Covid and got some bumps, I wish I did that sooner actually. now is probs a bad time but a lot of people have left the industry and those that are left, well, we are worth paying for. \n\nNot sure if this answers your question or not, but  if it is nnn retail sales I would pass. If it is 20 acre land sites for a development team and they were going to bring you in on the desk I would take it.", "replies": [{"id": "iz81irn", "text": "I just want to say - I really really appreciate you taking the time to type this out. Given the smaller market I'm in I just don't have people to talk to about this.\n\nI completely understand the cushy-ness of the job, I am really worried that is the direction I will go as well if I don't force myself to consider these things. My initial reaction to the job offer was \"I'm good at my job, I make modest living, the work is extremely easy - what exactly am I looking for with you?\" I'm forcing myself to reconsider that and making this post has been great.\n\nI appreciate the things you wish you had done - I really want to automate more but not sure if that's possible at this point without creating a bot that does my job for me (and then get fired and replaced by the bot). \n\nYou mention focusing on the money - where is that? From a non-managerial and non-sales side since those aren't things I wish to get into. Is this working as an analyst for a developer instead of a brokerage? Would love it if you could expand on this - as I mentioned elsewhere nearly everyone else at my office used the analyst position as a launching pad to become a broker, and so I'm lacking a wider perspective on CRE.\n\nRegarding R and Stata - I wish I remembered how to do either haha. Excel has consumed me. I am very open to job hopping a bit, but if I job hop I will be hopping out of CRE.\n\nAnd I think I've decided I will pass on this job as well. I don't think it'll give me the exposure I want (though I'm still not sure where I will get exposure to deals-making from the role I'm in now / if that is even necessary if that's not where the money is).", "replies": [{"id": "iz84ghr", "text": "Commercial real estate is super dependent on area, so if you are in a minor metro, you are kinda fucked and would need to move someplace else, and then have to learn the market ect. \n\nThe job hoping I did was from one cre firm to another, it is musical chairs as the pool of senior researchers is quite small. \n\nYou have an Econ masters which is going to be useful the next few years. I have been writhing tons of pieces on housing, tech layoffs, inflation, duration and convection risk of bond like instruments, foreign exchange rates, there is just so much going on it\u2019s great. I mean it\u2019s terrible in that yield curve inversions suggest a horrible recession but interesting in that rates are not zero anymore. \n\nWhen the shit hits the fan people want to know how fast it is spinning, so the research department gets super slammed in slow markets as people start to care why stuff isn\u2019t selling or leasing. \n\nSo yeah if you aren\u2019t into real estate or urban planning type stuff, I would see about another industry. Life is too short and money isn\u2019t everything,", "replies": [{"id": "iz85xsb", "text": "I've been reached out to by a competing major brokerage already so I can see how jumping from CRE firm to CRE firm can become the norm. I'm in Canada and but not in a major city so it is minor, but also everything points to it growing so it's \u00af\\\\\\_(\u30c4)\\_/\u00af\n\nI'll have to have a deep think on where I can go in CRE that will give me fulfilling work and good money - but not in sales or management. Quite the conundrum. It was good talking to you.", "replies": [], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}, {"id": "iz91tlw", "text": "Loved this entire conversation between you two.\n\nAs far as places you can go that aren't sales or management but that will give you fulfilling work and make you good money... I can't think of anything except moving to the principal side. As the other poster said, why work for a broker when you can be the one they work for? The ownership side of CRE (private equity/REIT's) is much more intellectually stimulating and fulfilling because your analysis has meaning and value in and of itself. I.e. You're running numbers to justify a decision, not to justify your recommendation for someone else's decision. You're also closer to the money - people (investors) are literally paying you (management fees) to use their money (which is often used to make yourself even more money via \"promotes\"/bonuses).\n\nI'm also quite reserved and could never see myself as a broker. I started as an entry-level researcher at a major brokerage and tried to make that a career for a brief while. But I quickly realized the ceiling there. If you care about a high-power/high-earning potential career enough to make a change, then once you understand the food chain in this industry, you'll know which direction you have to go in. Researchers (and other \"cost centers\" like marketing, admin, IT) work for brokers, brokers work for owners/principals/fund managers, and owners work for investors. The higher up the food chain you go, the closer you get to both the money and the work that moves markets.\n\nYou need a lot of money to be an investor, but you only need a handful of attributes to be/work for an owner. And working for ownership doesn't require skill in sales or management (though the latter will be important for your career progression at the executive level, but also not in the stereotypical \"machismo\" way).\n\nYou seem pretty green to CRE so I would explore it a bit more before deciding to get out - you might end up liking it, or, since you have some experience in the industry, at least finding work in it that can help you get to the industry you really want to be in. Best of luck to ya.", "replies": [{"id": "iz9rj65", "text": "Thank you - I am indeed really new to CRE. Last night I thought about it and am leaning towards trying to reposition myself in the company to move to financial modeling for investment sales or something of that nature. Something like the National Investment Team in Toronto would be a big goal. Anything that gives me experience that I can then use to pitch myself to the principal side.\n\nI've read elsewhere that people working at high-performing teams can get exposed to many different principals and might get job offers from them as well if they do good work with BOVs - but what I've seen in my limited experience is BOVs are quite barebones with historical data and comps. However, since I don't work on a team this is probably not the full picture (I hope).\n\nI'll try and discuss this with my manager during my year-end reviews and see if they can pay for courses/certification - but I don't want to get my hopes up. Since our office is smaller there is only one team that works on Multifamily and Investment so I don't know if there is really room to move into that role without moving to a major metro.\n\nAs others have said CRE is about location and I have some other reasons why I don't want to leave my current city at least in the medium term. That is partly what motivates me to leave the industry altogether but that's not a decision I need to take immediately.\n\nWould you recommend trying to pivot to the principal side immediately (cold calling/emailing developers and REITs working in my city) or is there value in staying in brokerage for an eventual pivot?", "replies": [{"id": "izm9q14", "text": "Greetings, fellow researchers.  How do you do?\n\nI read through a lot of this thread - let's say 75% - and I didn't see any mention of non-brokerage research positions. I speak with no firsthand experience here, but my understanding is that researchers at brokerages are pretty far down the CRE hierarchy. Most of the research is reactive and in support of some broker's offering.\n\nThere are other opportunities in research, at specialized research firms, and especially at investment shops. Think of your major owners in your area; you mentioned you're in Canada, so let's say Ivanhoe. Those types of companies have research teams of varying sizes, but the heads of those teams can be very well compensated, and very respected.  Yes, they do deal support, but they publish papers, contribute thought leadership, and help shape their firm's outlook. Looking at the list of speakers at the most recent ULI conference, you will find heads of research for a number of those types of firms.\n\nIt's a bit of a slog, and of course I'm making the assumption you like this work. \n\nNow, to address you're concern around work-life balance; I have found it possible to maintain a better balance in research than I think some of my contacts on the deal side have. I don't have my work email on my phone, but when I sign on in the morning I'll occasionally see emails that came in at 10 pm, 12 am, 2 am, and seriously 4 am from time to time.  I will cop to the fact that I'll work an hour or two at 10 pm here and there, but I'm confident I'm not being worked to death the way some of those associates are. Some of that is about setting boundaries, but in my experience less pressure is placed on researchers.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "iz7twdl", "text": "Join the high producing team to give yourself options. If you don\u2019t want to become a broker, then a few years from now you can try to make the switch to the principal side which is less sales oriented assuming you\u2019re getting underwriting experience. Switching to an acquisitions/asset management role will be a very challenging uphill climb from a research role. As you probably know, it\u2019s primarily busy work\u2026", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "iz7wb1n", "text": "You are framing the question a bit weirdly. What is the title of the brokerage position - is it investment sales analyst or brokerage support? What were the responsibilities the broker told you?", "replies": [{"id": "iz7ynq2", "text": "Just Research Analyst - the work is essentially running searches, maintaining databases, and writing reports. Mindless stuff in general. So brokerage support.  \n\n\nThe main responsibility the broker told me was expanding his 'database/book' - which from my experience I just interpreted as busywork. He didn't mention financial modeling or anything of the like.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "iz7yy71", "text": "Missing a lot of important details like what asset class does the team focus on and what geographic market are you based out of. \n\nYou will receive a lot of direction to take the brokerage team analyst role to build deal experience and have a pivot opportunity into principal side work. My hot take is that your personality (in the limited capacity I can abstract that from a Reddit post) is not super inclined to production roles (specifically prospecting production vs structured research production). Brokerage is a challenging position and being an analyst on an investment sales team (another assumption) will result in you being exposed to the potential grind in hours but also the emotional baggage that comes with it. \n\nYes, you can make more money with the right team but in my experience that is not everything. The market is uncertain right now and if the broker is looking to add an analyst to build out a database it sounds like this is more of a prospecting role Vs an established book of business. Would not recommend unless you are ready to commit 100%.\n\n\nSpeaking as an investment sales broker, commercial appraiser and developer. You live your life, I don\u2019t, so take it all with a grain of salt.", "replies": [{"id": "iz80rw2", "text": "They focus on the industrial asset class and in an emerging market (close to a major market that is spilling over). Industrial seems to be strong everywhere here though.\n\nAnd you are correct - this does seem to be prospecting as you call it and creating new books of business. I have found the work enjoyable before (finding creative ways to get contact information) but I worry that is all this role will be - trading in one form of busy work for another. Everyone around me seems to have used being an analyst as a launching platform to become a broker, so I don't have perspective on what else there is in CRE tbh\n\nSome above had mentioned taking the job if I learned financial modeling but I don't know if that's really part of the job (he essentially offered me the job when I refused to do it in my official role since it takes up too much time).\n\nEven then - I'm not sure where financial modeling will help me go in terms of the money. I know there is money in development - is that the direction other commentators were indicating (e.g. underwriting etc)?", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]