When to cut losses
Currently an associate at a family office, the family is active and I was told they had big things in the pipeline during my interviews. I’ve been here for a little over 6 months and we have closed some interesting deals, but I’ve come to find out the asset level experience I was looking for is just not here. Most of our positions are LP checks so these guys just look at the sponsors model mainly looking at going in cap, “stabilized cap”, and then IRR. There is no thought to doing our own market analysis, what expenses should be, or countless other nitty gritty details I was hoping to learn. I came over after doing 3 years in an analyst seat at one of the big 3 brokerages so I have tons of underwriting experience across a few asset classes and can hang with anyone in a model, so getting more uw reps is not my concern. My question is, do I stick it out and just do what these guys need for 2 years and then jump ship, or cut my losses and get out as soon as I can? Comp is fine and most people would love the seat I’m in, but I have some lofty goals and I’m worried I’m hurting my career progression by being here and not learning from a seasoned acquisition team.
Just post what your review process is to your Linkedin, you'll have a lot of deal flow if that's all you guys do.
Honestly, not a lot out there ATM, I'd stick it out until the market recovers. Most people just sitting on their hands dealing with their at-risk deals, so at least you've got some actual deals you're looking at. At least until the market recovers a bit more and hiring ramps up.
lol, I’d have so many multi syndicators in my inbox. I agree market is tough, it might not be ideal but probably best to wait.
Is anyone explicitly stopping you from asking more in-depth questions and doing more granular diligence? It's kind of unclear what it is you were hoping to learn/do versus what your lived experience is.
Just because the investment committee at this family office only cares about the stabilized yield doesn't mean you can't do more, not unless they tell you to back off. As long as they're doing deals, you have the opportunity to grow and learn and ask questions. In some ways its actually super valuable, because you can make mistakes without it mattering! Like, who cares if you marked up your own version of the purchase and sale agreement and missed something - they didn't want your feedback anyway! Do the extra diligence in your own internal model, and then see how everything plays out compared with how you thought it would. It's almost like getting reps doing this on your own, but without any of the pressure or risk that would come with that.
It's very rare that someone will yell at you for asking too many questions, in my experience. And if you do catch something, then you're the hero. So it sounds like you truly can make of this what you want; don't jump ship just because the grass might be greener somewhere else.
This is a great point and something I should have clarified further. I came from a very institutional team and was looking to do institutional sized deals and get more hands on asset level experience. We do larger-ish deals so that box is checked, but the hands on experience box is not. I’ve brought my thoughts up with the team and oddly enough got push back saying we don’t want to look into this any further we trust the sponsor. The work is very siloed and there isn’t a ton of collaboration between the team so there hasn’t been a ton of opportunity to get my hands on all aspects of the acquisition process either. I’ll ask to get on calls with lenders or be copied on the PSA turns with legal and the people running it will forget or just handle the call themselves.
I agree with the points you’re making and will implement your ideas for my own edification. I never thought I would be complaining about doing too little work but here we are lol. Thanks for the help!
Yes, you could do all that yourself, but without any feedback from someone more experienced how valuable is it really? Unless your saying wait for whatever you marked up or changed etc. just wait for the deal to materialize and review against that, which can take a lot of time and also might not have the most visibility. Always better to learn from veterans you can trust to help you grow, at least grow faster, because sure you can learn from mistakes but many have already done it so learn from their mistakes and grow faster. There's an old saying "He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a teacher"
Also a very good counterpoint. I was referencing waiting for the job market to comeback and to put some more time in this seat as to not get the job hopper tag.
More valuable than feedback. At least, it would be for me. I learn by making mistakes; I tend to think that is generally true, that a mistake imprints itself on you more solidly than 15 minutes of feedback on a Tuesday afternoon, but everyone's mileage may vary on that.
I guess? This is only somewhat true. I mean, that PSA is getting marked up pretty quick whether or not the deal runner wants my feedback or not. You can investigate potential tax abatements or available subsidies or potential energy efficiency savings on your own and get feedback from third parties. Your (generic you) boss's opinion isn't worth having simply because he's your boss - go talk to experts or people with specialized knowledge!
I mean, I agree with this, but for two things. First, this opinion presupposes that the only veteran you can learn from is someone in-house to whom you report, and also that someone else's advice is an equal substitute for your own learned experience. Advice is only helpful in the sense that it's a shortcut to avoid making mistakes that others have already made, and in my opinion an inadequate shortcut at that. All else being equal, your own lived experience is more valuable than someone else's that you hear about, and as I said earlier, this seems to present an opportunity for OP to go out and make a lot of "mistakes" without costing anyone a dime.
In general, real estate is an industry where after a couple years, success often hinges on being proactive and not waiting for feedback from on high. If you want to be a project manager at a developer, or even an acquisitions person, you need to be able to go out and chase down answers and drive the process forward. OP has a wonderful opportunity to learn a lot of this stuff on someone else's time and in a way in which even if he falls on his face, it sounds like no one will care or notice because his firm wasn't concerned about any of that in the first place
I’m also working at a top brokerage shop(JLL or similar) and was genuinely wondering what your comp/hours are. I’m interested in my job but the comp is pretty bad right now so was wondering what I can expect leaving to principal side like you did 1-2 years in. If you could share your comp break down and wlb that was be SUPER helpful. Thanks man
I don’t think my case is the best data point to go off of but hours are 40-50. TC will probably fall in the 130-160 range with most of that being base.
I was in a similar spot to you and if I could give myself any advice, as evident by this post, it would be to focus more on finding an actively and highly reputable shop with upward mobility over initial comp and WLB. Know your worth and don’t take some BS comp package just because it’s a brand name but you have to make sure it’s the right fit overall.
Dang super tough man. That’s good wlb but comp in real estate is brutal. I’m making half of that now because I’m supposed to get deal tips.. that’s not going too hot rn. Potentially looking to leave RE but need motivation. Do you have any friends with other comps you could mention? Would it be worth to move to a shop like Eastdil before going to principal side? How hard was it to get top shop interviews coming from brokerage?
Junior, get the fuck out. Just get the fuck out. When your gut is tickling your prostate like it is right now, when your spider senses are making ur tight little gen z anus pucker up, listen to those instincts. And know that men cant get pregnant. And that you need to get the fuck out GO BRO NOW I saw you say you are being siloed BOUNCE just bounce
Hey Man, I really appreciate your candid response. This made me think internally about what the job is giving me and what I’m getting in return. I’m about 10 years younger than you and it was beneficial to hear the perspective of someone who took similar advice that I was given in regards to a smaller shop. I’m in a big MSA but you make some good points that resonate with my situation as well.
It sounds like you know what you’re doing and will land a the position you’re looking for shortly. Don’t beat yourself up so much, it isn’t going to help you get where you need to go and could in fact hinder your progress. You make a lot of mention to what others are doing and how much they’re making you, you have to remember that comparison is the thief of joy. There’s always going to be someone bigger, stronger, taller, makes more money than you, and on and on and on. Who cares what someone else makes, you know exactly what you want to do, figure out the right path to do it and knock it out of the park.
Feel free to PM me if you need to talk.
You are 100% correct. I have found myself in similar situations where all the work you do is unappreciated.
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