Real Estate Acquisitions/Asset Management Interview
Fellow Monkeys,
As a junior, I will be interviewing with two REITS for either Acquisitions or Asset Management. I believe that I am most interested in Real Estate Investment Banking out of college. I did equity research this past summer, and I believe that it is important to get some exposure to Real Estate before senior year recruiting.
I was wondering how you might prepare for an interview at a REIT. Should I either choose Acquisitions or Asset Management if I am interested in doing REIB in the future? If you have worked at a REIT before, what kind of work did you do and how did you enjoy the experience.
Thank you!
Definitely acquisitions if you are looking to get into REIB. Acquisitions is transactions at the asset level, REIB is transactions at the firm level. Plenty of overlap, although plenty of differences too.
REIT work is fun, especially if there are plenty of acquisitions happening. In acquisitions you will be screening deals (lots of DCF and research), then once you decide to proceed, negotiating terms, writing term sheets, sourcing debt and going through all the legal and commercial DD. In AM you will be trying to squeeze optimal returns out of existing assets, so more DCF, optimising tenant mix, looking for value add opportunities and dealing with portfolio strategy. Be wary of firms that do property management in house, as AM roles can sometimes include that (probably my own bias, but I don't like accounting as I am an equity guy).
AM is a really good skillset if you want to stay in real estate for life because it is very transferable, even to investing through your PA. It just won't transfer that well to REIB, which is more focused on capital market and m&a transactions.
Portfolio & Asset Management Interview (Originally Posted: 11/06/2014)
Hi all,
I have an interview coming up as a portfolio and Asset Management analyst position at a REPE. Can someone provide me with some insight on what the interview might be like? such as certain questions? Firm specializes in class-a core assets.
Graduated college 2013 and I currently work in acquisitions and my general take is that the interview process will probably be quite different. I dabble with asset management a little at my current firm and understand where office buildings should run on a per sq.ft. basis and have negotiated leases, tis, etc via NER calculations. I know many of you may ask why I would switch from acquisitions to portfolio / asset management. First, I want to switch into REPE and after doing some research, it seems that the asset management team collaborates a great deal with the acquisitions team, which, in my opinion, is a positive sign if I were to transition back into acquisitions. Second, I'm dabbling with the idea of going to get a MBA business schools">M7 MBA after a number of years at the REPE (if I can secure an offer). This way I think I can provide insight on how acquisitions and asset management both work. Couple with an MBA business schools">M7 MBA, I think I would have a fairly strong story to jump back into acquisitions if I wanted to.
Now, this is with the caveat that I want to jump back into acquisitions. BUT, I might really enjoy portfolio / asset management, so who knows.
Appreciate the help very much.
what kind of firm are you in now?
I'm currently in a private owner-operator firm mostly running off of proprietary capital. Pretty much a family firm for one of the big real estate guys in nyc, but we invest nationwide.
Sorry Jimbo, if you're asking what type of investments we make, we are not heavy class-a core players. more class b to b+ suburban office with high value add potential.
You can search old threads - but I doubt you are goign to be hit with anything surprising or shocking given you have already been in the industry for a year or so and understand the business pretty well...
If the PE firm is well known and you have an MBA game plan then go that way. If the PE firm is an unknown entity (like your current firm) then I don't really see the benefit other than getting some deeper AM experience.
Thanks everyone. Appreciate the help.
What was your outcome? It would be beneficial to others for you to walk through your interview process and the end result, whether you received an offer or not.
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