Anyone start in RE and end up leaving for another industry?

My 2 cents..

I went from an RE fund (doing asset management as a junior) to an equities AM fund. Found out that equities as an asset class was levels more mind numbing than i thought, and now im fighting to get back into RE (but on the acquisitions side this time).

I think it's a question of stimulation and relation - I found it impossible to relate to share prices on a Bloomberg screen when our clients were all locked in for 5-10 years in a big fund. It didnt make a damned bit of difference what the Dow had done that day because the market corrects.

Maybe its just that RE debt is on the boring side of RE, given that you just look at numbers all day and really youre focused almost exclusively on the downside. RE equity looks at the upside and so youre more incentivised to think and dream perhaps.

Again, just my 2 cents..

2 Cents as well from an even more Junior than you.

I was in Real Estate AM in Paris (Amundi) 6mth, I was thinking that it was boring and not challenging so I moved to IB (DCM French Bank Paris 6mth) and now I'm in a German Bank in London (Debt Syndicate) and trust me the only thing I want is moving to RE acquisitions in a REPE fund or moving to an Infra Fund.

Maybe you should move to REPE or PE (In London it's a quite common move in shops from what I saw)

100% agreed with RadioOpex.

I found RE to be very boring. I was at a developer, then post-MBA was at a REPE fund. But I found it very boring. The REPE was all about buying assets with a little hair on them in emerging Asian markets. I liked the travel, but looking at one office building after the next was mind-numbing. I much rather look at different companies, industries and technologies.

RE is a great way to build wealth. So I enjoy investing in RE in my portfolio. But I do not like just looking at one boring asset after the next.

I found leaving RE to be difficult. I was not given credit for the financial modeling or analysis experience I had by non-RE employers. It's like RE is seen as a separate planet and that getting into or out of it is really difficult. But the knowledge required in RE isn't given much credit, outside of RE.

Same position as you, OP, except I'm screening cmbs/mezz deals. I've thought about this too, so hopefully there will be some more good replies.

How long have you been at your spot?

I think about it occasionally. Certain groups are going to be more mundane than others. The easier answer is to try to lateral to a more exciting group. If you want to stay on the debt side, maybe ACORE Capital or similar would be more interesting. But in general I imagine the equity side is much more stimulating.

I started in a less glamorous area of RE as well, and lateraled to an investment bank working in the REGL group. From here, I have the option to lateral to other investment banks in non-real estate groups, but I don’t think I will. Once you get exposure to more complex RE deals, you’ll see that there are a lot of interesting deals going on in the real estate world.

I think the highest probability way to get out of RE is through an MBA. You can try lateraling to REIB / Equity Research and then lateraling again but there aren’t many spots So I would put it as low probability.

I think the key is to find something tangentially related to real estate and go for it. EG If you underwrite a lot of hotel loans, maybe try to go work for a consumer / leisure company on the strategy side. Just depends what your long term goal is

I started out in CRE lending, lasted ~18 months. Now work at a developer. I'd say give it another chance in real estate to figure out if you don't like what your job is operationally (day-to-day), or if you don't like the subject matter (real estate)

This is an interesting thread, curious if you asked in the IB or PE forums if you get more responses... still, here are my thoughts.

1. YES, people of course leave RE for other fields within finance. I've known several over a matter of years who have left various parts of RE to go to PE, banking, corp fin, gov't, non-profits, etc. Some are staying in semi-RE related roles, but some are outright in other fields. If you really want to transition or jump, it is of course possible.

2. The OP and several of the responses seem to be from analysts. Trust me on this, early stage of most careers in most fields suck. Your first 5 years are usually difficult, boring, tedious at times. Worst, you have the lowest amount of degree of control/flexibility of your job even if pay is really good (relative to other jobs, it often is in RE). Thus, these thoughts are frankly very normal. People in all those fields listed above are asking how to enter RE (the more common WSO RE forum thread) for a reason. So, the real question to consider is do I dislike my current job or parts thereof, or do I really dislike the field or industry? (that is a purely personal question).

3. RE can be hard to get into, leaving and coming back may not be easy. Obviously if you can transition out, you could transition back in. But, this return trip could be a lot harder. If you signal disinterest it may be tough to get an employer to consider you for a field/career you already left. Thus, make sure the grass is really greener. If you leave for a job that is a clear promotion, step-up, etc., this will not be much of an issue as you can then claim "I missed RE".; if you go lateral or downstep, it's a bad look for a resume on a rebound.

4. Lots of finance and related fields are more boring than real estate. That is why people who get in often do not leave. In fairness, your role "at a debt shop as an analyst" is not likely the most exciting in RE nor all that intellectually challenging; but it is a great role to develop skills and experience. It can be valued by many employers for more advanced roles and paths.

In short, the best play may likely be to hang tough, moving too early can be a mistake. My general advice to many on this forum who ask for advice on switching jobs/careers/firms/etc. is to only do so if the next role is a step-up in title, role, duties, and/or pay (prestige of firm is a good one too, but more maybe if only lateral). Recruiters and HR/headhunter firms scan for longevity when they search for people to poach, if you jump, you may reset that clock to where the jobs start calling you (no rule for when this happens, but usually 5 years exp. is the min, common after 10+).

Good luck!

who would leave real estate?

Here's how I look at it: 1. Are you interested in the RE industry or some other industry. This is the toughest one to answer, as you probably have not had much exposure in other industries. I personally like RE - it is tangible and real. Unlike other traditional PE business, you are somewhat more certain with your income projection and you actually can have a legit "value-add" strategy. 2. Do you like equity more than debt? Some people think debt is boring in a way that a lot of things/steps are mechanical/repetitive. Debt is also more quantifiable compared to equity in my opinion. If you trade CRE debt/bonds, a lot of firms just run propitiatory models to get loss projections then compare to CE and trade to XYZ spread over. It feels more finance/fixed income than RE to me. 3. Is it because the function of your group? As I mentioned above, debt can be quite repetitive, especially if you are doing lending. Will you be interested in acquisition, trading or asset management?

Just some background about myself - I started with structured products at sell side and then managed to transition to CRE acquisition. I found CRE "unchallenging" and networked my way to a hedge fund to trade consumer loans. Now, I really miss RE. To me RE feels a real business compared to trading. Although some people may find HF trading very prestigious, I am personally so lost at looking at numbers over numbers over numbers everyday. Trading has no value add at all. You look at some data and make a bet on your view (or educated guess) and hope things to go your way. You have no control over macro (where rates will go) or micro (will my borrowers pay or not). There's nothing you can do except for finding the right buyer who has a more bullish view than you. In RE, at least you can try to execute some sort of business plan.

I am trying to get back to RE, but finding no success. Maybe people don't like my fixed income background. So if anyone has some advice, please let me know

Can I replace you if you leave?

Bump

Great advice and guidance guys! JerryOfTheDay I'm definitely going to talk about that value adding during interviews for junior position in REPE London, thanks mate!

what about transitioning from RE to IB or PE in other industries'teams non-RE? I'm actually interning in the capital markets of a CRE brokerage, would it be a feasible transition ?

I moved from real estate debt to real estate acquisitions to corporate private equity, so yes it can be done. This had less to do with disliking real estate and more to do with opportunistically wanting to take on a new line of work that seemed interesting.

I think I could probably move back to real estate if I tried, but I don’t think I’d get much, if any, credit for my time in PE, so I’d probably come back at a junior level, and the pay cut would be hard to stomach. I certainly miss the hours I worked then...

I think you need to ask yourself if you aren't interested in RE, or if you aren't interested in debt before you look into leaving the industry entirely, because once you're out it could be tough to get back in.

I find the equity side interesting because you aren't just running numbers, you're investigating the ways you can add value to your investment, as well as constantly investigating new markets to see if there is potential opportunity in them for your fund (depending on your office's goals, of course).

I have no experience on the debt side, but from what I know of it I feel like it would get very repetitive and uncreative, and I could absolutely see how it would get old fast.

Deleted. I'm going to stay

I can certainly relate to your scenario. I was in CRE underwriting for a MM bank and hated the repetitiveness, non-challenging work and working with relationship managers that didn't like you. Ended up moving to wealth management because I wanted to be more client facing plus have more unpredictable days to keep things interesting. RE is never something I had my mind set on I just happened to be placed there after a rotation program. I did really try to buy in to the role and figure out career options in RE, but didn't ever feel confident enough/wanted to use my finance degree for more conventional asset classes.