Career in Sales vs. Appraisal
I will soon be graduating with a business degree in real estate and am looking to start a career in CRE. The two areas I am interested in getting into are appraisal and sales. I know about both careers generally but am looking for information on the day to day job, salary, hours, future opportunities, etc. Any information is appreciated!
[{"id": "dd2ocli", "text": "I'm in investment sales. My day consists of a lot of databasing, calling, meetings and proposals. That's probably 95% of what my day looks like. Mostly the first two however. Hours are completely flexible as long as you are generating business. Most agents in the office are working 8-5 roughly. If you are self-motivated it can be an excellent career. There are 15 or so agents in the office and there are a handful of guys who pull in 7 figures. It's all commission based so don't expect anything close to that until you develop your relations and brokerage skills pretty significantly. I'd recommend getting a senior mentor and trying to learn as much as you can about the business. ", "replies": [{"id": "dd2wff6", "text": "What company?", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "dd3758a", "text": "&gt; I'm in investment sales. \n\ndo you work for one of the big shops like jll,cbre, cw,hff etc? What is the salary range for an entry level investment sales analyst? 50-55k?", "replies": [{"id": "dd37pbi", "text": "I'm at Marcus &amp; Millichap. I'm not certain what the entry level analyst would make. That seems a little high for entry but I'm in the Midwest. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "dd3rzkm", "text": "You'll be lucky to make a sale year 1.  Year 2, 50-100k, hopefully 100k+ moving forward.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dd2ys5s", "text": "Appraiser here. Pay doesn't start off that great, when I started it was $30k a year, but within a few years once you are certified you can make around $100k or more. There are some guys with my firm that have been around for a long time, have a team working under them and probably make $250k+, but they have a lot of their own clients. Day to day you are mainly sitting at the computer grinding out reports, which will include calling brokers for comps and stuff like that. I work from home which is great, and my hours are whatever I want them to be, just as long as I get my shit done. Sales probably has a higher ceiling but appraisal probably has a higher floor and is pretty stable. What may be very tough is finding a supervisory appraiser to work under, because if you don't have that you can't really get into the business. I completely lucked out on mine so I wish I had some advice for you on finding one of it does become difficult. ", "replies": [{"id": "dd30aiu", "text": "From your experience do most companies allow you to work from home or is that unique to your company?", "replies": [{"id": "dd331jh", "text": "I think it's becoming a new trend, but can't speak for other companies. When i first started, my supervisor worked exclusively from home before it became popular. I was in the office everyday but sometimes I would go months without seeing him so we would communicate by phone and email on a daily basis. Several people in my office work from home and don't even live in the same area that our office is in. Hell, I don't even even live in the same market that most of my assignments are for, but I know that market so I didn't want to transfer to another office or anything like that. \n\nMy office moved to a setup like this 2 or 3 years ago where we all got laptops so we could work remotely/from home, at the same time allowing us to sit wherever we wanted if we were in the office (no more assigned cubicles). One of our brokers actually lived in the Bahamas on a house boat for like 9 months or something like that just working remotely, and still made a killing. I have to live somewhat close to do my inspections, but my boss (who reviews all our reports, assigns new jobs, etc) could technically live on the other side of the country since he doesn't have to inspect. Out of 12 or so appraisers that are based in my office, only maybe 3 consistently come into the office on a daily basis. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "dd3otq1", "text": "Ditto to these comments (appraiser here).  New salaries are up to i think 45-50 for entry level because of the new minimum wage laws.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dd3s9f3", "text": "Appraiser here, what part of the CRE do you actually like, being an appraiser is mostly boiler plate programs that you fill out, basically no human contact so I can stay focused. More appraisals done, more money coming in etc.. I suggest you valuate what part of the industry you can best use your skills. \nbottom line, if you like writing books appraisal is for you!", "replies": [{"id": "dd56587", "text": "Is the no human contact a personal choice or does it come along with the job? ", "replies": [{"id": "dd5yyu3", "text": "it comes with the job, you only interact with people when your actually at the site of the appraisal or the few times your on the phone getting comp info. sometimes I can get into a comp building so then I can talk with those people. far and large I spend most times on my computer.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]