What does a Commercial Real Estate Analyst do and how to become one?
all i know is they work in Excel and Argus quite a bit. 

do we have any CRE analysts here? if so, what do you do? what is the job like? crazy hours? 
[{"id": "cqau3no", "text": "Check out job descriptions on job boards. It helped me get familiar with who does what in an organization and where they are in the organization. Select leaders seems to be a good one for my area. \n\nhttps://www.selectleaders.com/", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cqauekx", "text": "I'm an analyst for a regional investor/developer/manager.  As I am the only analyst for the company, I do all of the underwriting for leasing, dispositions, acquisitions, refinancing, etc.  This primarily consists of setting up the properties in Argus and exporting the cash flows into excel models where the debt service and equity distributions are layered in.  I present those models to our principals.  Since they like to do sensitivity analyses during our meetings, the models have to be pretty dynamic.  I also put together our investor reports which includes valuing our entire portfolio and reviewing the business plans submitted by the asset managers.  Other responsibilities include assembling offering memorandums and financing requests, due diligence, energy tracking (through EnergyStar), and property tax forms.  \n\nI personally like my job.  My bosses are cool and I get exposure to all sides of the business.  I also have a lot of input on what we buy and how we improve our current portfolio of properties.  My hours aren't crazy.  I work 9:00 to 6:00 most days, but I do have to stay late sometimes.  My work comes in waves.  I will have one week where I work until 8 every night and another week where I leave on time every day.  It really depends on how many projects we are juggling.  \n\nI worked as a CRE appraiser for three years before I started this job.  That job gave me a pretty solid background in valuation.  As an appraiser I worked on all of the major commercial property types (retail, office, multifamily, etc.) as well as a number of special use property types (airplane hangars, cell towers, etc).  This was big selling point when I was interviewing for analyst roles and my current employers told me that it was the main reason they wanted to hire me.  The jobs I interviewed for included large REITs and investment managers as well as some smaller companies.  In the end, I chose to be a big cog in a small wheel and I am very happy with that decision.  ", "replies": [{"id": "cqb02s8", "text": "I am in an analyst role for a brokerage firm, mostly working on investment sales, and second pretty much everything here.  I did come from a different background, as I got my MBA and started working in brokerage right out of college. \n\nI work mostly off commission, so my workflow has major spikes and a few lulls here and there.  But for the most part, I can make my own hours and work from home if I like.  There are times that I'm working until midnight or later, and 6am or earlier, but that's only if we are REALLY crunched, and I do most of this work in my home office.  Typically I'm out of the office by 6pm.    I would say I put in at least 50 hours a week, but it's hard to judge because for me it's one of those jobs where you ALWAYS have to be in contact and connected.  ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "cqby361", "text": "Do you work exclusively in Argus and Excel, or do you use any SQL and web based tools? ", "replies": [{"id": "cqbz9q7", "text": "I don't.  I sometimes use F9 Financial Reporting to pull data from the general ledger, but that shit drives me crazy.  If you are try to do anything while the data is being pulled, it freezes and you have to close excel.  I do everything I can to avoid using that.  Do you use SQL?  ", "replies": [{"id": "cqbzhpl", "text": "I like using SQL, but don't get a chance to at work because of the headaches with getting approval to install it and run a local server...", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "cqrwgec", "text": "Hey! so how different is your job as an analyst for a small regional developer diferrent from a huge REPE firm like Blackstone? For the most part are they the same, like you do valuations, modeling, and see if the investments are worth it? Do Blackstone like firms have their analysts dealing with a bunch of deals at the same time? At a REPE firm, do analysts have a lot of help while you have more responsibility? And, I do not have any CRE finance experience, but would one day love to be an analyst for a development firm/small REIT. Is that a more realisitc ambition as opposed to a large REPE firm like Blackstone because I dont have any direct CRE finance experience? I do plan in the next year or two do my masters in RE and do a concentration in Finance, but also in the meantime, before I start my masters, I would love to read, and work on [real estate financial modeling] (https://www.getrefm.com/), and also checking out Argus. If I do this, do u think after I graduate, I will have a decent shot at an analyst gig at a firm like yours? Really appreciate any help! thanks!", "replies": [{"id": "cqsn7dq", "text": "I honestly don't know what it is like at Blackstone or other large firms.  I would imagine they are pretty similar to my role.  They probably have a lot more standardization and reporting requirements.  I also meet with the principals of my company on a regular basis and discuss the properties with them.  These guys built the company from nothing and have done very well over the years, so it is very interesting to hear what they think about each deal.  I would recommend getting an analyst job before you go back to school.  You don't need a master's degree to be an analyst.  In terms of what is more realistic that really depends on the firm.  I'm sure there are smaller shops that take on entry-level analysts but the larger shops have a lot more training and oversight.  I was expected to hit the ground running in my current position.  There was no hand holding.  On the second day I was modelling redevelopment scenarios for a 200,000 SF+ office campus.  After briefly reviewing the numbers with the partners (for about 20 minutes), the scenarios were sent out to our institutional equity partner who had a team of analysts and industry veterans reviewing them.  It would have been extremely difficult for somebody without prior real estate experience to jump into that.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]