Stuck in a Research Analyst position for a multifamily market study firm [CAREER ADVICE]
I have been at my current position for nearly 3.5 years. Its somewhat of an entry-level position (titled Real Estate Analyst) at a small consulting firm that produces rental market studies for primarily LIHTC (low-income) housing properties. I'm vastly underpaid for the amount of work I do and we are on the demanding deadline type workflow every 4-5 days. Its also a niche position in that in doesn't offer really any marketable technical skills (i.e. Agrus/Yardi/real estate finance).

Excel expertise would be the only really technical marketable skill. I won't get in to detail on what the market study entails, but there are very few areas of extensive technical expertise. Of course project management, organizational and analytical are listed in my resume/cover letter but employers in R.E. seem to want technical skills and experience more closely attached to the open position. My current position has little to no upward mobility due to the firm size.

I would like to be on the asset management, private equity side of multifamily/commercial investment. I have a Master's in Urban Planning and Bachelor's in Business Administration with a minor in Urban Studies. I had an unofficial focus in real estate finance in graduate school. I built upon this focus by being the lead on the development team of a capstone group project and also was the finance person in the Urban Land Institute Hines Design Competition. All of this of course doesn't do much for employers who want actual employment experience in real estate finance or asset mgmt.

I sense that I'm heading towards a dead end if I continue at this firm and in this field of R.E. I haven't had any sort of response from dozens and dozens of applications over the past year. There is ample opportunities even with the weakness in the market but I feel like I'm not qualified for most to if not all positions.

I'm trying to figure how to be more marketable for potential employers. I've considered getting an online associates degree in R.E. finance, or, obtaining some sort of licensure in mortgage underwriting. I'm not sure that these would be worth the time or money to obtain one of these. I would appreciate any advice in how to move out of this research analyst field. I know this type of post is not supposed to be posted here but people in other career advice subs don't seem like they'd have the experience to answer such career questions.

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[{"id": "gdau3hz", "text": "I\u2019d put together a list of all the owners of section 42/section 8 properties in your target market and call or email every single one of them.  You have a very niche but desirable skill set for the right employer.  Affordable housing has a great deal of red tape, regulation, and bureaucracy, and if you understand it well, you automatically have a big value proposition for said firms.", "replies": [{"id": "gdbtqit", "text": "This is a very good idea. Start with a list of your clients. Then look at for profit and non profit. A lot of regions have housing orgs/databases of community developers.\n\nYou can make decent money even at a non profit and they're usually pretty desparate for talented people. At a small company you will get your hands dirty with every aspect of development. I just left a project manager position at a non profit to go work for a for profit. You should make close to or above 6 figures at a for profit place depending on region.\n\nAs the above comment mentions, you will understand the economics of affordable deals, some of the bureaucracy, and some of the finance. Most shops will want a new hire to have experience in one or more of these categories: construction, finance, asset management. You've got the finance and urban planning background. It also helps to have some kind of story as to why your passionate about affordable housing.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gdaxu9z", "text": "With your background you'd be far better off targeting development positions. A lot of firms prefer people with urban planning and research backgrounds as that skillset is typically harder to teach than the finance side of things.\n\nMany development roles are all encompassing and will utilize your current skill set as well as teaching you financial modeling.\n\nThis would be a much easier move in my mind that jumping to a more pure finance role like AM or acquisitions", "replies": [{"id": "gdb23p1", "text": "That make sense to me. Typically they have similar roles in terms of research. The problem I've been finding with those is that they typically look for asset management or commercial experience. I will try to hone on those development opportunities more, thanks", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "gdb6aw2", "text": "Agreed to look at developers but they may be hard hit in the coming years. You should also explore banks and lenders who do development financing. Those underwriters also need development cash flow analysis to see if the developers are on track in time and expenses. May be some good opportunities ahead to get into a workout group if the market goes south. Will be lots of credit calls and refinances coming if things go badly.", "replies": [{"id": "gdcr7cg", "text": "Would that require getting mortgage underwriting license? I've applied to those positions but they specifically want underwriting experience", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "gdf0znj", "text": "\u201c... developers ... may be hard hit in the coming years.\u201d\n\nWhat factors and trends would cause that?", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gdb3l6a", "text": "NMLS, real estate broker license", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gdbbim2", "text": "LIHTC multifamily developer here... Happy to answer questions. You have the right education and experience to get into a development role most likely as a project manager. You could also definitely jump into asset management. \n\nI just recently made a career switch/went back to school to get into the field.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gdbshxr", "text": "Are you a Novie?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gdbsm69", "text": "Well.... If it wasn't COVID, if say you need to start the networking circuit and see what's out there.  However, yay COVID. New plan.  You're an analyst, so I suspect you know who is active in the sector you want to be in.  I would suggest you start making cold calls and make some friends.  Use your role as a foot in. Fortune favors the bold, and being able to cold call is necessary skill in the industry! Good luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gdc33ci", "text": "Are you saying that after 3.5 years you don't have a really good handle on sourcing and documenting market rents for multifamily properties? :-) How advanced are your excel skills (VBA, XLOOKUP, INDEX, etc ?) and **FAR** more important what can you do with Excel? In other words can you create a sample rent roll, operating statement, and 5-10 year cashflow? Proficiency with single property type like multifamily is fine, and if you know the concepts of expense recoveries for commercial even better. I bet you are drastically underselling your professional value.  Don't take my word for it, confirm this with a few introductory calls with portfolio or asset managers, solely for the purpose of identifying your best fit. Start by searching for funds (ideal would be private with direct investment but public may be good) with a solid percentage allocated to multifamily, ideally with a stabilized or LI component.  You aren't asking for a job you are seeking guidance, and if you stick to this you'll find a receptive audience.", "replies": [{"id": "gdcs5h7", "text": "We don't do that much sourcing for market rate rents. We do the standard qualitative and adjustment industry-standard approach. \n\nI don't have the VBA, XLookup etc skills let alone any cash flow modeling. I know of some of that from grad school but we don't deal with creating those types of docs. We only copy over and briefly analyze an property specific proformas, mainly unit mix and a rent roll for achievable rent purposes \n\nWe're a well known company in the area since we handle many of the market studies for local deals. Would calling all of our clients be a breach of ethics?", "replies": [{"id": "gdd4q1x", "text": "I don't see anything wrong whatsoever in reaching out to existing clients, especially those that you have a relationship with.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]