Breaking into REITs, RE Development out of UG
I'm interested in working real estate out of undergrad, perhaps eventually moving into real estate investment sales, brokerage or a REIT eventually. What's the best path for this? I'm looking at Grubb & Ellis, Jones Lang LaSalle, CBRE, service based firms and development firms such as Tishman Speyer.
A bit of a broad question, but can anyone out there who works in real estate (preferably commercial or multifamily) shed some light on this?
ugl equis?
All of those companies hire analysts out of college.
You don't need to 'eventually move' to a REIT or investment sales group - you can do that right away. REITs hire analysts on campus all the time. So do the brokerage shops. An analyst gig at any of the above would be an excellent place to start. And there is the potential to make pots of money doing either, but only at the senior level..
Thanks prospie. Do you know how competitive these analyst positions are? I really don't care about compensation out of UG, I just want to be somewhere I can learn the business and open up doors. Do you know of any firms I didn't list below that have programs?
Graduate RE Programs straight out of undergrad? (Originally Posted: 06/18/2015)
Does anyone know of any strong RE graduate schools where it is relatively common for undergrads to go straight into? Most programs surprisingly either don't list their class profile (e.g. Gtown) or unsurprisingly require at least 2 years of experience.
...
I know people who went to NYU, UF, Clemson and Maryland straight out of undergrad.
asd.
My recommendation would be to start networking ASAP and try to get an entry level position or internship in the RE field that way. Even if you were an exception and got into a Columbia, for example, I think you would be better served having had some work experience (even if minor or tangential). The stuff you learn in the program becomes much more relevant and easier to learn, plus when you graduate you have a huge leg up. It's not just about getting into a school but how future employers would view your resume upon graduating. It's the same reason why I personally don't think it's the right course of action to get an MBA right after undergrad, even if one were to get accepted.
My personal experience: I was accepted into an MSRED program after previously being an auditor at a Big 4 auditing REITs and REPE firms and even with that experience I sort of wished I had more direct RE experience before going back into the program.
Undergrad prep for Real Estate (Originally Posted: 06/25/2012)
I was wondering if undergrad preparation for working in RE PE or IB would be any different than undergrad prep for more traditional IBD? Also, what's a typical path for someone to land a good RE job (Blackstone, GS, JPM, etc.) in terms of sophomore/junior internships, etc.?
There are three top-tier RE PE fund firms that I know of who hire undergraduates: Morgan Stanley (MSREF), Starwood, and Walton Street. Walton and Starwood seem to do most of their hiring from Cornell and Wharton; MSREF hires separately from MS IBD, but seems to take folks with similar IBD-esque undergrad resumes who demonstrate an interest in real estate. In general, I think you ideally come from a target school, major in finance (or similar), and take as much real estate-related coursework as possible. A couple regional real estate internships that demonstrate interest would also be helpful.
The vast majority of the top-tier RE PE opportunities, however, do not come until you have a couple years of work experience. Traditionally, the best experience for exit opportunities is working in the real estate group at a bulge bracket investment bank (or, even better, working for one of the aforementioned firms). Working at a lower-tier real estate shop or a brokerage firm is, in my observation, generally much less desirable than an analyst role in RE IBD.
Perhaps unfortunately, to get a role in RE IBD as an analyst, you generally have to recruit as a generalist first, meaning you need to understand corporate finance concepts for a regular IBD interview. Once you've gotten the job offer, you'll go through placement and lobby hard to be in the real estate group. Fortunately at most firms (except ones like MS who hire their RE analysts directly) it's not that hard to get into the real estate group since most of your analyst class will want to be in M&A, Sponsors, or a vanilla industry group like Industrials, Consumer, or Tech.
re-ib-ny: Have you heard of any Penn College kids with real estate experience breaking into Walton, Starwood, etc.?
I know a connection with Poli Sci/Intl. Relations degree who landed a position at Eastdil but these are PE firms so I’m sure it’s even more difficult.
I would try to be active in clubs on your campus and demonstrate an actual interest in real estate. I learned how to flip houses in my spare time with an investor- this was well received by my interviewers. However, an IB internship goes a long way paired with something that shows your interest in RE. My path was F500 RE Internship>IBD SA at a boutique>RE PE Analyst. IB SA experience is very valuable IMO. Overall, I think the prep is pretty similar, just make sure you stand out by doing something in RE.
Penn, haven't seen it, but I believe shops like those recruit on your campus. You should check that out. Otherwise, try to target RE IBD.
Sense, Blackstone hires out of college for its IB advisory practices. I have not seen them hire on the PE side, but I could easily be mistaken.
All of my answers are based on anecdotal observations, so this is by no means a statistically proven answer, but most of the Cornell people I have met that went straight into real estate seem to have had some real estate background at Cornell. The ones who came through banking were mostly engineers or perhaps some general business-type majors. I'm not all that familiar with the specific programs at that school, though.
While I do think it helps to be in the hotel school, I don't think it matters that much at Cornell. There are the hotel school students and then there's everyone else. If you are a physics major and you really want to work in real estate banking, nobody can stop you simply because you're not in the hotel school.
Just saw a Starwood Capital posting for a FT position on PennLink, our job listings database, only to discover applications are restricted to only wharton kids..
second class citizen..fml
Would anyone recommend attempting to reach out to the HR/contact listed to submit a resume or would this just be a hopeless idea?
What would be a good internship to have in order to show a good CV for a FT offer ? Is an internship in CBRE or low tier REPE a good option or I'd rather go with a IBD internship ? I'm located in Europe (I'm from France and looking for a FT job in London).
I would like to work in REPE acquisition ultimately. I know that it's very hard to brek into REPE as a fresh graduate and that I would probably have to go the REIB route first. I was asking the question because I thought that rather than having an usual IB internship, having done something RE related will give me more credibility when applying for a RE related position.
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