Leaving CRE—Does anyone have any advice on what to do next?
Any advice for industries for someone leaving CRE? I’ve just gotten burned out on it and have completely lost my passion for investing in CRE. Worked in a few roles over my 10 year career. I’m highly personable with great excel skills but I just don’t wanna work 90+ hour anymore. What jobs should I look for?

Edit: Would love suggestions that aren’t real estate related.
[{"id": "is3xngf", "text": "You need to be more specific about your skills and what you want to do. If you\u2019re looking to transition, are you comfortable with taking a pay cut?", "replies": [{"id": "is3y14u", "text": "Pay cut, depends on how much.\n\nHard skills: IB level excel skills, understanding of capital structures, and biz plans, and execution. \n\nSoft: I\u2019ve got a silver tongue.\n\nBut honestly, I just want to do something constructive. To help build something (not RE Dev) rather than just buy something and raise the rents and fuck ppl over.", "replies": [{"id": "is5v2hk", "text": "I work in affordable housing development - I know you just said you wouldn\u2019t want to do RE dev but I would advise you to at least look into the LIHTC industry, as your skills will translate to most roles here. It\u2019s more mission-based than traditional RE, as the goal isn\u2019t to \u2018raise rents and fuck people over\u2019, as you say. The companies are generally nicer and more caring, too.", "replies": [{"id": "is743jj", "text": "Nothing against LIHTC guys, but you blow so much OPM/government money and make out like bandits at times. Don\u2019t tell me market rate Multifamily developers are the bad guys and that you\u2019re on some moral high ground over there.", "replies": [{"id": "is7hwst", "text": "It all depends on the firm - yes, there are some slumlords (mostly in the PBV business) that cut far too many costs on the properties themselves to save money elsewhere. But it\u2019s actually impossible for LIHTC developers to \u2018make out like bandits\u2019 because of caps to developer fees. No offense, but you don\u2019t seem too well-informed on the matter, unless you are specifically talking about PBV\u2019s, which is completely different than the LIHTC process despite both being under the \u2018affordable housing\u2019 umbrella.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}, {"id": "is80zdw", "text": "Definitely don't go into escrow or property manager.  You'll be pulling your hair out", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is3yk5b", "text": "Go take a job in asset management on core assets with a family office or life co and chill out. Find things outside of work that make you happy. No need to spend your entire life in acquisitions or cap markets if you\u2019re not happy", "replies": [{"id": "is42fmn", "text": "Pretty good advice here.", "replies": [{"id": "is4bg2q", "text": "Want to leave CRE entirely. But it\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever known.", "replies": [{"id": "is5iija", "text": "Onlyfans?", "replies": [{"id": "is629u1", "text": "this is the way", "replies": [], "depth": 5}, {"id": "is8a99p", "text": "\u201cLook it\u2019s not cheating, I\u2019m making content\u201d", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}, {"id": "is5p5bv", "text": "If money isn\u2019t an issue, my uncle left a stressful job in finance to go be an elementary school teacher and he\u2019s the happiest he\u2019s ever been.\n\nIf you\u2019re looking to use your skills, I\u2019ve heard cre can transfer over to renewable energy and infrastructure finance/development.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "is6v1rc", "text": "As you have licensed commercial real estate sales and marketing agent experience, maybe you want to transition to a certified general commercial and industrial property appraiser?   Valuation and appraisal consulting.", "replies": [{"id": "is7gzz6", "text": "Would rather shoot myself", "replies": [{"id": "is7iez6", "text": "Someone else posted about asset management.  That is a tough commercial real estate career.  Market updates and presentations to investors, analysis, research crunching excel spreadsheets for portfolios of properties.", "replies": [{"id": "is7mexs", "text": "Yes, I\u2019m in acquisitions. But want to leave CRE entirely.", "replies": [{"id": "is7p2cr", "text": "Commercial property acquisitions is having a very difficult time now finding deals that make cap rate investment sense.  If you want to be out completely try another industry such as finance.", "replies": [{"id": "is809en", "text": "&gt;asset management.  That is a tough commercial real estate career.  Market updates and presentations to investors, analysis, research crunching excel spreadsheets for portfolios of properties.\n\nFor clock in clock out salary job work for a bank.", "replies": [], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}, {"id": "is7wkdj", "text": "so good. i get that", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "is80kyk", "text": "Asset management.  A tough commercial real estate career.    \nWeekly market updates and presentations to investors.  Analysis, research   \ncrunching excel spreadsheets for portfolios of properties.\n\nEverything has been commercial real estate for me.  Real estate finance business major.  Licensed California certified general commercial and industrial real estate appraiser.  Currently a Los Angeles commercial property sales and marketing broker for owner user buildings and development land.", "replies": [{"id": "isdt44g", "text": "I\u2019m not sure why I\u2019ve heard people say that asset management is less intense than other CRE roles. The AMs I know work hard just like acquisitions for ex and are constantly having to produce reports for large portfolios, update models, act as intermediary between lenders, prop managers, investors etc. I suppose it\u2019s less \u201ceat what you kill\u201d than investment/development/brokerage but it\u2019s not an easy path either", "replies": [{"id": "ise855b", "text": "Exactly what I said", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is3yn6j", "text": "Teach or coach others people make a great living at it.. just a thought \ud83d\udcad", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is3yo4n", "text": "Look into becoming an investment advisor with an RIA fee-only firm. You\u2019ll use your analysis and communication skills and actually help people who are too busy to do their own financial planning and investing.", "replies": [{"id": "is80ssl", "text": "Good call.  Look into trust and estate investment planning.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is4054e", "text": "Have you considered brokerage/advisory?  Guys on top teams in any established market are netting several mill a year working less than half those hours.", "replies": [{"id": "is6tomd", "text": "Can you point me in the right direction on this? I tried to Google this, but it was too vague to find anything relevant", "replies": [{"id": "is6v650", "text": "Point you toward what?\n\nSome of the top national firms are CBRE, JLL, Eastdil, Cushman, Berkadia, etc\n\nWithin those firms there are handfuls of different business lines:  multifamily sales, retail sales/leasing, industrial sales/leasing, capital markets, office leasing, etc\u2026", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is431gz", "text": "Leverage your knowledge on the principle side.", "replies": [{"id": "is4421d", "text": "I was on the principle side. It\u2019s not all it\u2019s cracked out to be.", "replies": [{"id": "is4a6cy", "text": "What are the disappointments you faced to make you arrive at that conclusion?", "replies": [{"id": "is4arcx", "text": "Ultra high level, the big pay day doesn\u2019t come for nearly a decade.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is48hrh", "text": "Look at proptech companies that are new or hiring. Ten-X or CoStar for example.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is4ersa", "text": "Venture capital, sustainable investments (solar, wind farms etc), agriculture investments, leveraged buyout private equity (although hours won't be better). Take a look at different investment roles and see if that gets you excited, or if not maybe just leave the investment space.", "replies": [{"id": "is64me0", "text": "This is great advice. Renewables are so fun to develop and work with. Like getting in early on the gold rush", "replies": [{"id": "is65e94", "text": "Also could be fun to work for a family office or some pe firm that invests in everything. Would be great exposure and would never get stale.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is4unf6", "text": "Go back to school and get a Masters/PhD. Then be a professor. You can probably do this in general finance or economics and not focus on real estate", "replies": [{"id": "is6gdxk", "text": "Generally academia is a terrible idea, but a PhD in a business field is pretty solid.\n\nThis is one of the few ways to have a solid career in academia, lots of biz related PhDs find a much easier road to tenure.\n\nExcellent advice.", "replies": [{"id": "is6iiti", "text": "For the right person and at the right university, I think academia is a great field to be in, so long as your goals are clearly defined.\n\nWhen I retire, I loosely plan on getting my PhD and becoming a professor. But I love teaching and being in an academic environment, so that\u2019s just me.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is5aphp", "text": "Go sell cars.", "replies": [{"id": "is7bcik", "text": "Lol", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is5k59w", "text": "Executive talent recruiter, I\u2019d you\u2019re personable and have connections. You wouldn\u2019t be in CRE, but could leverage the relationships you\u2019ve made and the knowledge you have of a very niche industry. Some are salaried + commission, which is what I\u2019d recommend for someone starting out.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is5w9pa", "text": "Check out oil and gas upstream and midstream. I transitioned into the industry after a tenor in real estate development- the skillset is very similar. The land positions in oil and gas have a heavy relation to real estate. They essentially compile mineral interests in large tracts to potentially develop assets or subsequently re-lease to other developers. \n\nA few things I enjoy about oil and gas- very complex markets, lots of ways to split a deal up (some partners don't pay for capex, some are just royalty owners, some only pay for opex, etc...), the industry is heavily related to global markets/geopolitics, and the money is pretty damn good.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is64eoq", "text": "CRE introduced me to programming with SQL and Python, which I\u2019ve found I enjoy a lot more than being a financial analyst. If you enjoy the more technical aspects of the job per your excel skills, doing big data is just a step beyond that. Plus, once the skills get that technical it\u2019s not like anyone can pick it up and do it adequately like with excel, so projects are largely self-paced since people don\u2019t understand the nature of the work. Just spitballing but this is probably what I\u2019ll look into when I leave CRE.", "replies": [{"id": "is6w3mm", "text": "The last part of that is incredibly appealing, thank you.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is6hbt6", "text": "I would go to the American College of Building Arts ([https://acba.edu/](https://acba.edu/))\n\nThere, I would do the architectural carpentry program. \n\nAfter I became an amazing artisan, I would work restoring medieval structures in Italy, or Pueblo style structures in the SW USA. \n\nTrue this is still working with \"real estate\" but not in that \"real-estatey\" kind of way that I think I hear you talking about.\n\nPay cut? Probably.\n\nBadass and fulfilling? Definitely.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "is73fp8", "text": "Do you need the money or are you just looking for a change of pace in life? Maybe volunteer in your community or take a job that hardly pays but is rewarding (coaching, teaching, etc.).\n\nTo all the younger guys reading this, if you put in a 10+ year career in CRE and don\u2019t have your own portfolio of cash flowing real estate to live off, you\u2019ve fucked up.", "replies": [{"id": "is745sk", "text": "Something that pays. So I entered RE as an analyst outta college and bounced around a bit between different points in the industry and recently got carry at my last two firms but that never materialized due to the incredibly long time horizons. But yea maybe I fucked up, but if you go the institutional route, it\u2019s just the way it is.", "replies": [{"id": "is74xk4", "text": "I hear you. I don\u2019t mean to be a dick and rub it in, but I just know so many competent people in this industry who are capable of putting their own deals together, but instead choose to tee things up for their boss and make someone else rich.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "is7ydgv", "text": "im going to respectfully disagree. 10+ yr cre broker here many high 6 fig yrs. plenty of cash stockpiled. invested in and developed diff projects and yet still havent created a portfolio as u describe it to live off of. 10+ yrs if you start out of college puts u in your 30s. its very rare that everyone has made enough to buy cash flowing RE assets to live off of. many times our heads are down doing deals putting out fires and keeping the engine running. you also may not start to make big numbers until later in that 10+ year run. im speaking mainly of brokerage here. so i dont we fucked up necessarily, i think we gained valuable diverse skills, deal making reps none of our peers outside of cre might have and the ability to create income from thin air. \ni think OP is looking for something in a diff industry, like tech or marketing or anything interesting. i agree it can turn out to be a boring grind for some of us after a while\u2026im in a similar boat where the personalities in the business are comical to me and the avg age of a landlord is too old for it to be any fun", "replies": [{"id": "is802qz", "text": "You hit the nail on the head. Trying to figure out how to get into something operational related.", "replies": [{"id": "is82xls", "text": "im in the same boat man. burnt to a crisp not interested. realized lots of ways to make money. lots of interesting unique ways. CRE is real old school\u2026", "replies": [], "depth": 4}, {"id": "is83i6m", "text": "went same route and became coo of a startup", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}, {"id": "isg3xh2", "text": "10+ year career with many high 6 figure years? So let\u2019s say you\u2019ve been at it for 14 years and made $750k in 7 of those years. You have access to good deals as a broker and have been investing your disposable income all along the way. You put at least $2mm to work and you can\u2019t come up with 10% cash on cash returns to get you $200k a year? Respectfully, this math doesn\u2019t add up.", "replies": [{"id": "isg7u0r", "text": "i think you\u2019re working in a perfect world. lets say more like 5 of those are yrs are high six fig, not always finding a 10% coc return - but also its real life, start in an expensive major market, be a 20-30 yr old with a life and a decent apartment - buy a house have a few kids and a family of expenses, have a life with modest vacations and balance, and welcome to not just living off 200k and also not investing every year. respectfully this is likely the majority of us, plenty of runway left to put 2-3m to work. its not the math that needs to add up as everyones situation will be different.\u2026in the end OP just doesnt want to do cre", "replies": [{"id": "isgastk", "text": "I\u2019m working in your world of \u201cmany high 6 fig yrs\u201d in a \u201c10+ yr cre\u201d career in your post. I think you\u2019re either BS\u2019ing on your comp or you just didn\u2019t invest that money well. More likely the former if I had to guess. Modest vacations and your decent apartment should be a drop in the bucket with your comp. 10% CoC doesn\u2019t always happen on year 1 for sure, but what about the stuff you bought in 2015?", "replies": [{"id": "isgliv8", "text": "typical reddit out to prove someone wrong when the the majority of ppl you\u2019re preaching to haven\u2019t invested enough to get returns to live off of. bought in 2015? what if those high 6 figure yrs didnt come until after 2015. like i said, if i have plenty of cash then its not that i didnt invest well, its that i wasnt able to invest at all. Bigger profits came later on. so your point is we all fucked up, as we all have to assume you\u2019re living well off of your investments - my stance was we (the majority) didnt fuck up. pretty simple. i dont believe you can make a blanket statement like that is all. have a good one", "replies": [{"id": "isgtew7", "text": "I\u2019m just calling you, as an individual, a jerk off. You either invested $2-3mm over the course of 10+ years like a moron, or you never had $2-3mm to invest. Have a good night.", "replies": [{"id": "isgv30g", "text": "hahaha. who calls someone a jerk off over this? u need to be checked out my friend. you\u2019re right, we all fucked up not being you. i think its funny when ppl like you think you\u2019re calling someone like me out. the vintage tough internet guy. you and i know you\u2019d never call me a jerkoff if this conversation was in person. why dont you smarten up and converse like an adult.", "replies": [{"id": "isj14wh", "text": "I apologize. I\u2019m being a jackass. I thought you embellished your income and I took things too far. No hard feelings.", "replies": [], "depth": 9}], "depth": 8}], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]