Next week I have a 90-minute set of phone interviews for an equity research position as a REIT analyst. I would be coming into a junior position as an experienced hire. I've done consulting in the real estate industry for about three years now.
How can I best prep to nail this interview? What questions should I expect?
You can expect anything that might be touched on in REIT ER. There will be a combination of fit and behavioral questions. You can also expect them to try to figure out your suitability for research (any background you have in it etc).
As to technical stuff, expect NAV questions, cap rates, WALE and stuff like that. The best prep work would be to read anything published by the people you are going to interview with and make sure you understand it.
Out of curiousity is the for GSA?
WALE is a metric I've never come across.
Also not sure what you meant by GSA.
Should I prep for property type or locational specific questions? I assume I should go in with REIT picks..
WALE - weighted average lease expiry. Very important from a quality of earnings perspective.
If you don't know who GSA is then don't worry about it.
I would only prep for property type and locational items if you are interviewing for a specific coverage role. So, if its a generalist role you should definitely be conversant in trends among the main property types (Office, Industrial, Retail, Multifamily, Lodging).
REIT picks... you can have them, but remember these guys live and breathe them so be careful. Overall trends are better as well as why a REIT could be a good buy.
WALE is weighted average lease expiry
Also know FFO, implied yield (calculated using portfolio noi over EV).
Honestly, try to get a hold of a equity research report for one of the major retail (Simon), office (Boston Prop) and industrial (ProLogis) REITs.
You also should understand what fundamentals drive rents. i.e. increase in jobs, or supply contraints etc.
Honestly all my dealings have been through a headhunter so far, so I don't know who exactly I'll be talking to nor do I know many particulars about the job other than the bank and the info outlined above.
REIT/Telecom Equity Research Interview (Originally Posted: 03/14/2013)
Happen to have an interview coming up for an ER associate position. I'm told I'll need to know about REITs and the telecom space. Any questions or recent events I should be aware of regarding either space?
Any advice would be great.
Thanks!
M&A and IPO deals heating up in the REIT space. New players from the private REIT market coming into the public arena. Know valuation multiples I guess (FFO, AFFO, etc.).
Be sure to review American Tower, Crown Castle, SBA Communications closely and understand the basic story. American Tower is a REIT and others will be following in the next few years to capitalize on the tax-advantaged structure. GAAP requires REITs to provide a reconciliation from net income to funds from operations (FFO) and valuation typically centers around FFO/AFFO multiples, discount/premiums to net asset values, but could also include implied capitalization rates, dividend discount and free cash flow models.
Most REIT analysts tend to stick to the major sub-sectors (apartments, retail, office, industrial, healthcare) and leave the timber, tower and other alternative areas to other parts of the house i.e. paper/packaging, telecom, etc.
Good luck!!
Know things like vacancies, occupancy, as well asset classes. Look in to difficulties REITs face (missed payments for retailers) and the importance of cash flows and credit worthiness of the tenents. Also real estate is a long hold. It's long. Know how this has advantages and disadvantages.
Telecom is phones and stuff. (probably not something you should say during an interview)
they will be impressed if you know about Iron Mountain(the box company) became a REIT
Thanks a lot guys. Great info that will hopefully help me nail that interview.
Equity Research Covering REITs (Originally Posted: 04/09/2008)
What are the possible exit ops for a job in this area? Lead to anything in the real estate field such as real estate private equity acquisitions?
Thanks.
I'd be interested to hear about the exit opps, too. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised to hear that you can go from equity research (REITs) to REPE. REPE's a lot easier to get into than LBO funds.
Equity Research in the REIT Industry. Need more information. (Originally Posted: 05/16/2015)
I have an interview coming up for a position for the field. While its not my first choice, this bank feels I would be a great fit for this position and its probably my in to getting into ER.
Is covering the REIT space desirable? Is it an interesting field? Would it pay well? I would be an associate but have prior finance experience. I find the field to be interesting but don't want to pigeon hole myself.
Are there good exit opportunities? What are the exit opps? is it hard to move to the buy side in REIT? Are their lucrative opportunities if I decide to go into industry? Is this a good path to go in?
What are some good things to read before the interview? Is the WSO Reit modeling course prep worth it?
Please tell me everything you know. I am very interested.
Thanks!!!!
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