Seeking Advice: Entry Level Real Estate Careers
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[{"id": "fppme2s", "text": "What's your current major? I am a rather recent real estate hire (been in the field for about one year now). I majored in economics and real estate finance and am now working as a commercial real estate appraiser, but we do all sorts of valuation work including estate and business valuation.", "replies": [{"id": "fppmhn8", "text": "Leisure, Sport, and Tourism with a concentration in Sport Studies.", "replies": [{"id": "fppmy5p", "text": "Hmm, did you take any classes that required quantitative analysis? Econometrics/statistics, or any econ/finance/accounting classes?", "replies": [{"id": "fppncek", "text": "Not at all, before I changed my major most business courses were macro and micro.", "replies": [{"id": "fppoda5", "text": "There's an absolute boatload of jobs in the real estate field. I suggest researching the following:\n\n1. Brokerage - Essentially a sales position. I interned at a brokerage firm and did not find it very interesting, but I know several people who enjoy the cold-calling, deal-driven aspect of it.\n2. Appraisal - commercial real estate valuation. Analyzes market trends and financial data to determine the fair market value of properties.  I found this particularly interesting and perfect for my economics/finance background.\n3. Property/Asset management - oversees day-to-day operations of commercial properties.\n4. Credit Analyst - works at banks/lending firms to analyze whether to lend credit for mortgages, construction loans etc.\n5. Real Estate Analyst - Most entry level jobs regardless of real estate firm are some sort of analyst jobs. Depending on which branch, this can mean a multitude of things. From my experience as an real estate analyst for an appraisal firm, the analyst roles were always finance/accounting/statistics based. Most of my friends from school who went into the brokerage field as an analyst did a lot of database entry and sales calls for specific real estate submarkets.\n\nThis is not an exhaustive list of all real estate jobs.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fppp8gh", "text": "Ok, buckle up. It\u2019s not impossible, especially if you are willing to relocate. Your chances of getting a job through job postings is slim tho. As someone who studied history in college and now running acquisitions for an REPE firm, here\u2019s what you should do:\n\n*Disclaimer* - this may be hard to do right now given COVID.\n\n1) Take a modeling course like REFM or adventures in CRE... doesn\u2019t matter which. I was able to skip this step via an internship in college, but if you don\u2019t have any experience or proof of technical modeling skills, this is a must. \n\n2) Simultaneously, identify a market or asset class you want to be in. Do you want to work for a large brokerage focused on transactions in your city? A niche  luxury hotel developer that develops in cities around the world? An industrial value add investor who takes LP positions in major distribution hubs? A debt fund who will lend on anything, anywhere? Try to pick a path and write down WHY you want that path (and for fucks sake, do not say \u201cbecause it\u2019s tangible\u201d). \n\n3) Once you have a couple paths chosen, start researching who the active players are. And by active, I don\u2019t necessarily mean \u201cbiggest\u201d, I mean the companies that are actually transacting. Want to work for a retail developer in Atlanta? go to google news and google \u201cretail development Atlanta\u201d. Want to work for a multifamily investment sales broker in Phoenix? Google news search \u201cmultifamily acquisition Phoenix\u201d then scan for \u201cX represented the seller\u201d. Once you have a list of active players, go to step 4.\n\n4) start to identify who are the best points of entry to reach out to at those firms you have listed. This could be a VP or Director of acquisitions, or the head of asset management. Try to find out their email addresses.\n\n5) reach out, introduce yourself. Tell them you want to learn about the industry and their company, congratulate them on a recent deal that was in the headlines. Schedule calls or coffee meetings. \n\n6) follow up with these people every 4 weeks or so for opportunities. Chances are they will intro you to other people they know. Keep running the circles and the stars will eventually align for a job opportunity.\n\nWhen I did this 6 years ago it took about 4 months from start to finish. Happy to answer any questions.", "replies": [{"id": "fpq701u", "text": "For those already working but trying to move into a different asset class, do you still recommend doing the same things for step 4 and 5? I\u2019ve found networking events through ULI, etc. to be a great way of meeting local developers/lenders/asset managers, but sometimes it\u2019s hard to find that somewhat more senior person you could be looking for to approach.", "replies": [{"id": "fpqgevg", "text": "I have found ULI networking events to be mostly architects/designers and very few developers/owners", "replies": [{"id": "fprdrhd", "text": "I guess it might be market specific, mine has a good representation of local developers and only a handful of architects, if that", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "fpqgbb1", "text": "I love the classes at [Top Shelf Academy](http://tsmfinancialacademy.com).  You pick the property type you want to learn about and then go with either the 1 hour or 3 hour class.  I\u2019ve found those classes to be better than the others if you really want to learn how to model a deal.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "fpqnd7r", "text": "As a guy that worked in M&amp;A for awhile, although it is a bit different industry. This is great advice. WSO should be hiring you next.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "fpqpzl5", "text": "You nailed it. I too was a history major. This is exactly how to get into CRE.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "fprauc2", "text": "Question:\n\nDo VP\u2019s, Directors, and Principals really want to get coffee or lunch with a kid trying to get a job? Isn\u2019t that a waste of time for them? \n\nShouldn\u2019t the approach be to send them a direct email telling them your experience, motivations and asking for a brief call while attaching your resume?", "replies": [{"id": "fprc9a1", "text": "Of course tailor the message appropriately. Is it a Principal with an active job opening on their team? They may want to meet for lunch (that\u2019s how I got my job when I was 22). Is it just an intro, ask if they have time for a brief call. Just use common sense.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "fps12u4", "text": "Great advice. Thanks for writing it! Just curious, what is your opinion on a MSRE?", "replies": [{"id": "fps3f77", "text": "If your parents or employer is paying for it, why not. If you have to take out hundreds of thousands of dollars, I would advise against it unless your goal it to get in with a KKR or Blackstone type group. CRE is still \u201cWild West\u201d enough to get by without it.", "replies": [{"id": "fpszl90", "text": "Got it. Thanks for your reply!", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fpptm4x", "text": "If some brokerage is interested in training you CCIM, realtor license are needed. Let them pay your CCIM tuition.  It is a very tough field to break into right now. Many settle for less with residential, and business opportunity as 2nd choice.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fpr0ydl", "text": "You need to take some of the guys in the industry out for coffee, they'd be more than willing if you just ask.    \n\n\nMeet a young guy starting out and an established broker.  Also try to meet a guy in a small or solo practice, and one in one of the big four brokerage houses.  \n\n\nNothing you read is as good as a face-to-face, or in this case maybe a zoom call if they won't meet, but they probably will.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fqmjqxl", "text": "Does anyone know if commercial real estate firms tend to drug test entry level brokers? What about entry level analyst positions for developers?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]