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You will be learning valuation techniques and it can set you up to move to acquisitions or investment sales brokerage.
I moved from an appraisal role focusing on multifamily to a multifamily underwriting role at a GSE (Fannie/Freddie). That was after 8 months or so in appraisal (first job out of school).
Although appraisal/valuation does not get as much credit as other positions in CRE it is a great place to start in my opinion. I went from an appraisal job to Asset Management for an institutional firm.
I went from appraisal to a private equity real estate analyst. It's great experience, you just need to know how to leverage what you learned into your targeted employment. I would set up an informational interview with someone in the job function you are looking to do and pick their brain.
Commercial Appraisal is a good pathway into Asset Management. If you are interested in the Asset Management route you may consider a few respected designations (i.e. CCIM, CRI, MAI).
I used to work for Deloitte real estate consulting, and a couple of the partners in the NY office started out as appraisers. Of course, the valuation techniques used for our clients were pretty different than what the partners did as appraisers, but it provided them with a pretty solid foundation.
I did a 3 month stint in appraisals at a small mom and pop shop in a major market. Moved on to investment sales at a major brokerage.
A coworker of mine from the same appraisal firm ended up in Asset Management.
Hi. I started a discussion about getting out of commercial real estate appraisal. No replies yet. Could anyone explain what Asset Management is exactly? What are the responsibilities of a manager?
Appraisal is fine way to start. Teaches you how to value properties. You'll have to value properties if you want to lend money, invest money, structure money or even consult about money in REAL ESTATE. So you'll never be stuck anywhere after a single year in appraisal. CRE Asset Management means different things to different organizations. Google it.
How is Appraisal looked upon (Originally Posted: 10/31/2015)
So I recently started an analyst internship for a small independent valuations (appraisal) firm in commercial real estate. They seem to get consistent work and work for large firms (invesco, BBs, etc.). My main goal is IB after im done with my masters but if it doesn't work out what are the "exit ops" for this position. I should have a full-time offer after graduating. Really interested in your input CRE
Appraisal is kind of a base-level skill in real estate, and while it's great to understand and obviously important to have, it's not particularly "prestigious." No one is going to say "Oh, you're an appraiser?" and be impressed.
Now, that being said, if you use your time wisely (join some RE organizations, network, etc.) and spin it well, it's a fantastic place to start. After all, you're going to be learning how to value properties, you're going to understand the market extremely well, and perhaps most important for people hiring in real estate - you will have proven your interest in the industry.
From appraisals, you can get into investment sales for a brokerage, Asset Management for a developer or REPE firm, or as an underwriter for a lender. IB will have a lot more to do with your undergraduate work, GPA, and masters program, but anything is possible.
Agreed with CRE, but I'd also make sure that when you say "real estate IB" you actually know what that is. Outside of a narrow few firms, that's not really the prestigious career path it sounds like. So just make sure you know what it actually is.
@Virginia Tech 4ever" I didn't mean REIB specifically, just IB in general. CRE how do I best spin my experience? I will be attending a real estate networking event at my Uni that will have some pretty big names there (Invesco, Cushman & Wakefield, Crow Capital Holdings, Stream Realty, CBRE, GS).
Why are you doing valuations in CRE if you want to do IB in TMT etc? You're in the wrong internship if you want to do IB outside of REIB (and even that's a longggggg path away by starting in valuations).
Also interested in this. What made you choose appraisal of all things, considering you dont ultimately want to work in RE down the line at all?
Wait, you're not interested in real estate? This applies then:
Yeah honestly, you're better off doing audit or controller-type work at your age if your goal is i-banking later on.
Nothing wrong with joining the valuation group at CBRE, that can be a great place to start, but you will be on a real estate track, not a corporate finance track.
CRE IB being my first choice is far from being "not interested in Real Estate". I am obviously interested as I left an advisory position for this job. Can u please answer my question on how I best spin this internship to CRE firms?
If you're interested in RE then REIB is not where you want to be. You want to be in REPE or at a development fund with the goal of running your own deals and raising your own capital through your network. REIB is only for guys focused in RE but remaining in the corp finance track raising capital. But, if you have a true passion for CRE and if you want to make a sh*tload of money, then you will want to bypass REIB and go straight into REPE or development. I don't see why you would want to go into REIB. Do you even know what REIB/IB in general entails?
If you are trying to spin appraisal experience to a CRE firm, then talk up the modeling/due diligence part of appraisal work.
Developers spend a great deal of time time researching markets, zoning, building ordinances, etc. and do a lot of modeling for their projects. Those skills are directly relatable, but a bit on the technical side.
Are you in TX?
Not great (but you already knew that). It's a hell of a lot better than being a leasing broker though.
Appraisal is a solid internship to have on your resume if you're trying to break into RE, but you don't want to work in the business if your ultimate goal is to get on the investment side. IB, development and investment sales are all better places to start out.
Bump. Does it make sense to get any certifications (MAI, CCIM) while starting off as an appraiser with the goal of REPE / development? Or should it just be a 1-2 year stint -> acquisitions / etc?
Appraisal a good place to start? (Originally Posted: 01/16/2017)
Hello guys, I am currently a sophomore in college interested in mainly Sales and Trading and maybe other IB related fields. I was wondering if a real estate appraisal internship would be a good place to start. I currently do not have any corporate experience at all. However, I don't have many other options as of right now.
Residential appraiser or commercial?
I'm not too sure if appraisal will teach you anything transferable to IB besides the ability to create 100 page reports.
It's a small company that does both residential and real estate.
Honestly, no. Appraisal is pretty awful. It might not get you very far in real estate, let alone IB.
If it's CRE and for a big company like Cush/JLL/CBRE (I think they call it Valuation & Advisory?) you can definitely have good exit opps. I've seen tons of bios of people with reputable firms coming out of one of those teams. If it's with some mom and pop firm and mainly residential, then I would pass.
I do internal valuations (kind of like appraisal) for a national multifamily investor. I have been job searching looking for an acquisitions or debt analyst type role. Its been pretty slow so far getting called back for interviews. I can run DCFs and Dcaps no problem, but other than that my experience from this role is pretty limited. I'm not performing DD, returns analysis or anything like that which I believe is holding me back from the potential interviewers point of view.
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