CRE Investment Sales - Looking for advice on career (x-post WSO + /r/financialcareers)
TL; DR - Senior analyst/associate on investment sales team wondering if and when to jump to buyside

I am currently an analyst on an Investment Sales team in a primary market. Three years out of college, two years in real estate and with this firm. My firm is smaller and regional, but covers the full spectrum of brokerage and asset management activities and competes with all of the national tier 1 firms. Deal-flow has been strong the last two years, and I would expect it to remain strong for our group outside of any major market turmoil.

I really enjoy my job, benefits are good (eg I have my own office, hours are generally no more than 45-50 a week, partners are very reasonable, etc.), and will be sitting down with the partners in the next few days to discuss my position and future here. I've been the senior analyst for the last year and generally work on all our major assignments. My all-in compensation last year was around $110k, and will likely be slightly higher this year.

What I'm struggling with is that there is no real upward mobility available in this position. I will most likely get a title change and a slight salary increase (most of my compensation is from the bonus pool as-is and I feel like I'm already at the comp ceiling for my role) but the day-to-day work will largely be the same. The only future opportunity would be to eventually transition into a full-time investment sales broker, which isn't something I'm sure I want to do.

I've been thinking about starting to apply for associate-level positions on the buyside (eg REPE firms, institutional asset management groups, REITs, etc.), but my understanding is that compensation and hours will likely be worse. I originally had an offer at a REIT two years ago that would have had all-in comp about half of where I'm at currently.

My current thought process is that I should probably stay on with my current group for now. My group works with most of the REITs and institutional groups in the industry, and we compete with most of the major national firms, which has given me a lot of exposure to the industry.

My real question is would I be holding back my career by doing so? I obviously don't want to be doing analyst-level work forever, but this is a good job and I am generally very satisfied. My worry is that if I stay here for another few years, I will have essentially just been treading water from a career-progression standpoint, even if I was making more money.
[{"id": "d58dm1k", "text": "What is attractive about the buyside to you?  Why would you not want to be a full time investment sales person?  I would agree you are well compensated at your current position. ", "replies": [{"id": "d58f30g", "text": "Thanks for the reply. \n\nHonestly, I guess I haven't put a huge amount of thought into why the buy-side is appealing, outside of it seeming like the natural progression based on my skill-set. I think it might just be I haven't been sold on staying in brokerage for the rest of my career.  I will try to have a more candid discussion with my bosses on it, but I'm not sure I really see myself fitting in as a part of the broker culture. Everything about their line of business seems very relationship driven, to the point of them being good friends with many of our clients. At least one of my bosses is very much in an \"always on\" mode, where he's constantly on the phone with clients, even on vacation or around his family. Personally, it just seems like that it requires a huge amount of effort and that it would be very draining.\n\nHonestly though, those aren't really huge issues that would keep me from ever trying it out. I would still like to test the waters to see if I could deal with it. The larger issue is that our team currently has 4 brokers, which is more-or-less a full team. Without switching firms, I'm not sure if I could be as successful or achieve a deal-flow level that would support the compensation I could get elsewhere, unless I was more successful than our current junior broker. I also think that since I'm the most experienced analyst they have, they wouldn't really want to transition me on to brokerage unless they had to. I guess that ties in to my larger point of just treading-water though, especially if I end up trying to be a broker and it doesn't work out. Would I then reasonably be able to switch to the buy-side as an acquisitions VP (or comparable role), or would end up having to start a couple rungs back down the later? I don't really know, which I guess is what I'm trying to get a sense of. ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d58t2ur", "text": "$110K a year as an analyst? Are you licensed and earning part commission-part salary? Sorry if you mentioned it and I missed it. Guys I know working as analysts/assistants at the big firms like CBRE and Colliers make less than half that. I'm an analyst at a commercial mortgage brokerage and make half that. Quite a nice salary there.\n\nBeing a broker is absolutely relationship-driven and every broker I know is mostly in an \"always-on\" state. Even though it might seem draining to you, if you have the personality for that type of career then you'd be surprised how naturally it can come. Since you seem iffy on being a broker, I would recommend just trying it out and see first hand how you handle it. But you definitely raise a good point about going broker first or buy side first and unfortunately I'm not far enough along in my career to give much advice on that part.", "replies": [{"id": "d598kn7", "text": "I am licensed and most of the compensation is non-guaranteed bonus.  Salary component is slightly more than 1/3 of the all-in comp, so if the market tanked I would not be making very much. I realize that I got very lucky with this position, we've got great deal flow and the partners really share the love from the fees. \n\nI think my current plan would be to stay on at least another year and see if I could get a better feel for the brokerage aspect and try it out to some extent. Appreciate your perspective. ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d595adk", "text": "You are in a struggle that many analysts face. There is a point where you either have to become a broker or move on.\n\nAs you know - you can make a great deal of money becoming a broker, especially if you areworking with a team that will invest in you - which it sounds like they do given your high compensation. If you do decide brokerage - I would talk to them about a steady 6-9 month transition as a quasi-analyst/broker until you are more involved in deals.\n\n\nWhy do you want to work for a REIT or Private Equity? As you know it will be a big pay cut, you will be doing the same work (i.e. not learning anything new), and there is not much upward mobility with them either. In your current position, you are probably exposed to many assets and deal types, whereas working on the buyside you will most likely be pigeon-holed to specialize in something.\n\n", "replies": [{"id": "d5998sp", "text": "&gt;Why do you want to work for a REIT or Private Equity? As you know it will be a big pay cut, you will be doing the same work (i.e. not learning anything new), and there is not much upward mobility with them either. In your current position, you are probably exposed to many assets and deal types, whereas working on the buyside you will most likely be pigeon-holed to specialize in something.\n\nThat's a good question. My understanding was that there would at least be a more clear line of progression (ie associate -&gt; vp, vp -&gt; director) in the acquisition world than in my current position. I guess I just think of it as a the natural progression to move from investment sales to some kind of acquisition/dispo role. I would prefer to keep progressing professionally, and it seems like from that perspective at least that would be route to go. \n\nMy firm is specifically focused on one asset class, which is somewhat limiting, but I do deal with a variety of different deal-types, so the exposure is good. When I do speak with them, I will try to see where they see me heading and see if we can discuss a hybrid role. The current junior broker on our team did some of the analyst-work for a period before transitioning, but he was always hired with the transition planned which wasn't really the case for me. Will need to see what the options are. Thanks.", "replies": [{"id": "d599ka5", "text": "My only advice when you meet with them is to act enthusiastic about becoming a broker. You will lose a lot of value to your team if they think you are going to leave later down the road. Not suggesting you lie to their face, but keep an open mind ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d59fwyh", "text": "Its common for many analysts to want to become brokers when working on a brokerage team and seeing all of the commission checks coming in the door.  The thing I've found with successful brokers over the years is that you are either born with the personality for it or you possess the determination to overcome what you are lacking in natural talent.  Most people fall into the group that is lacking natural talent for the position.  Of that group I'd say less than 10% actually have the determination to stick to business long enough to overcome their shortcomings.  The business is very process driven; call, meet, propose, list, close, over and over again.  If brokerage is not for you there are plenty other ways to make money in the business.  You're learning an invaluable skill, how to evaluate deals.  It may not be today but at some point you will figure out how to leverage that into something bigger.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]