Real Estate Professionals of Reddit - I Need Career Advice
I am a recent graduate with 1.5 years of experience working in the back office of a hedge fund. During my time here I have worked on Alternative Investments and have seen a lot of interesting investments occurring in the Real Estate space. I have done some soul searching as well and know that I want to enter real estate due to its tangible nature compared to some of the other assets I work with (stocks, bonds, etc)

I have been looking into opportunities within CRE and Private Equity Real Estate in order to acquire a financial analyst role within acquisitions and/or asset management. In addition, I am looking to purchase a Real Estate Finance and Investments course and financial modeling package through www.getrefm.com to further learn these skills prior to acquiring a job/interviews. 

Real estate professionals of Reddit, can you please provide some insight and tips into entering this field. 

-What tools should I be utilizing now to learn the in's and out's of the business on my own.
-What tips can you give for acquiring an entry level job? 

Any help would be much appreciated!



[{"id": "daboeyz", "text": "In my opinion, If I interviewed you, you would be an easy fit for an analyst. As far as resume, under play your equity/fixed income experience and oversell your CRE work. Your comp may take a hit though as an entry level analyst coming from a hedge fund.  Have you considered underwriting? Of course you would be more involved in the actual deal as oppose to back back office analysis. PM me if I can add any content. thx", "replies": [{"id": "dabqgl2", "text": "Yep, I'd hire him for an acquisitions analyst role.", "replies": [{"id": "ddognj0", "text": "Hire me ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dac5kx3", "text": "This smells like an ad for that website...", "replies": [{"id": "dacf3xy", "text": "It isn't. He posted a similar question in r/real estatefinance without the link", "replies": [{"id": "dacixin", "text": "Then he should have responded instead of downvoting me.", "replies": [{"id": "dacwpgw", "text": "Hi EnderWiII. I promise this is not an add for the site, just trying to get some insight. I've been on reddit for some time, but just created an account...I do not recall downvoting you. \n\nThanks to all for responding and providing some insights. I'm ready to hit the books and excel modeling and hope to grow a little portfolio of CRE related work as I try to acquire a position in 2017.\n\n", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "daccly1", "text": "To answer your questions:\n\n1) Focus on learning how CRE is modeled in excel. I am sure you understand investment distribution and waterfall models, given your current role. Understand how to find a property's NOI, and how debt and equity are modeled into a cash flow pro forma. You probably already know how to do this.\n\n2) I just moved from a brokerage analyst role to a development analyst role. My advice for your job search is to not limit yourself to indeed.com, monster.com, etc. Do not be afraid to reach out to people out of the blue, through an email, letter, or cold call. Create mock models, presentation booklets, etc. that you have worked on to present during meetings and interviews. Also consider other sides of the industry (brokerage, development, lending, etc.). All are very lucrative, and a lot of fun (well, except lending).", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dacf463", "text": "If you live near Orlando, FL, I'd be happy to discuss over a cup of coffee. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dah030o", "text": "I work for a large balance sheet lender, first year analyst. My job will transition to client facing sales, getting clients for construction and perm lending, cross selling into other banking services.\n\nI had wanted to go into the equity or development side but landed this job and the bank is really behind my back in growing into the relationship role. It's also better work life balance, I could probably get into $100k soon despite giving my life up. I'm planning on buying houses and flipping them with a few other partners and buying rental property on the side. \n\n", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dajt9dv", "text": "I posed a similar question on this board a short while ago and was told that CCIM offers very good and practical courses. Might be another good source to check out in addition to REFM. \nI'm also in a similar position as you in that I'm seeking an Analyst role within the Acquisitions/Asset Management side. However, I am 7.5 years out of my undergraduate program and coming from a background in residential real estate lending. So far I'm having a pretty hard time gaining traction with my applications due to what I can only imagine being a lack of CRE experience. Can anyone shed some light on how recruiters would look at this circumstance of mine? I stress on my cover letters that I'm actively seeking to transition into CRE and willing to start and grow from an Analyst position. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]