Advice for University student
So long story short I am entering my third year at a Canadian university studying political science and a minor in geography. My goal was to go to law school after I graduate but I realized this past year that this dream is no longer of interest for me and instead want to focus on a career in CRE with an end goal of working in either REIT or REPE. Because I am in my third year I am not eligible to take any finance or accounting classes but instead geared my classes towards both urban politics, retail geography, and city development. How do you think I should prepare myself to learn RE finance? I am currently studying to write the GMAT for this September because I plan on going for a masters in real estate after I graduate and work for 1 or 2 years.
Based on your coursework now, you should study urban planning and development. It will relate to your studies and give you a look into CRE. As for getting into RE Finance, learn as much as you can about modeling and pro-forma's.
Do you suggest I get a copy of Linneman Real Estate Finance and Investments: Risks and Opportunities 4th Edition to learn real estate finance or start from the beginning and get my hands on basic accounting and finance textbooks? The problem is that I don't think I will have the time do both because I work close to 20+ hours during the school semester and plan on taking a course overload to catch up on my credit requirements so I don't really have the luxury of time on my side. The advice I have been given is just learn the basics of finance and accounting but many CRE firms in Canada don't have a structured program to train new hires so I am afraid that I will fall behind in learning the tools that will directly benefit me from day 1.
It would be hard to say since I do not know your experience level, but I would start with learning basic financial principles. If you get into advanced level real estate concepts like capital stack and waterfall financing, it will be a waste of time if you don't have working knowledge of how debt/equity contributions or pro-forma works. My advice would be to start with finance, then move to real estate.
Good plan; also posting to keep in my history
Where will you do RE masters?
AFAIK there's only one school in Canada with RE masters program.
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