When talking to ordinary strangers (in Ubers, around town, etc.) I've been asked what I do for a living and multiple times people have gotten hostile when I tell them that I work for a firm that develops real estate. Maybe they'll tell a story about how they used to live in one neighborhood but the new apartments/hotels made traffic unbearable and forced them to move, or they'll voice their anger that everything that's getting built is luxury apartments that are unaffordable. And of course there's the people who are outraged by gentrification. I hear their points but it's not like what we do doesn't also help communities too-- we're creating jobs, reducing crime in neighborhoods, and a lot of the time we're building affordable units in our projects (though apparently not enough to create goodwill).
Anyone else have these types of experiences? Do people see us as the villain? Maybe it's just because I'm in a liberal city known for its NIMBYism. I'm just a little alarmed by the hostility and never expected that I would be seen as the bad guy by all these people.
You ABSOLUTELY are a villain to some people.
A lot of the good that real estate development can cause for a community can take years to take effect while disturbing how things were in that transition.
Construction is disruptive.
Development with inadequate public improvements can overload transportation networks and schools.
A developer who is negligent in the design could rightfully be a villain.
A developer who does a great job creates a lot of value and improves the lives of many.
why the fuck do you care. Laugh in their faces, and give that uber driver a shitty 1 star review so that dog will hopefully know twice before opening his mouth again. Really should not be any of their business.
Isn't this just the general perception of business men and women though. If you aren't in business nor have any connection to finance other than a monthly budget ,the stereotype is that the guy in the suit and tie working downtown is the person making the big bucks and he or she came from a well off family and went to a prestigious school. Since 2008 there has been a lot of media attention regarding how investment bankers fucked the economy, they are materialistic etc which influenced a ton of working class or "everyday" americans to feel betrayed and start to resent anyone who works in any finance industry or wears business clothing.
It's engrained in the mentality of humans that what we don't understand, we generally dislike nor accept it for instance in the 1900s homophobia was socially acceptable because people thought being gay was a mental illness and overtime it was explained and more people have accepted it as a way of life.
Also remember that many people don't associate business as being ethical nor do many people aspire to be in high finance as you may think . Yes WSO is a large website and has millions of users but in reality for every banker or cre developer or hedge fund analyst there are 10,000 uber drivers who don't even know what an ETF is. Funny enough you're more likely seen as a rare chance for that driver to talk a professional instead of some drunk college chick and they may say some ignorant or insultive statements but its really more of a rise against the rich perception.
Trust me i was always told as a kid that wall street guys are unethical fucks who hate their wives and have affairs with russian supermodels on their 100 foot yacht in the atlantic ocean. So yes that might be your MD (sarcasm) but it came from a low income mentality that has serious trust issues especially when you can barely pay rent and next thing you know some dude in a suit pulls up and tells you that you have to pay an extra $400 per month that was going towards bills. Yes they don't like you because of your job title and the first impression they get but overall it shouldn't make you feel better than them or feel like a villain but rather just understand their concerns and don't add more fuel on to the already negative perception fire.
What I always find funny is the perception on Main Street that Wall Street is so evil and unethical.
If you really want to get fucked over, give a call to your local Main Street plumber, A/C guy, electrician, or mechanic. Small town business ethics are no better and often worse than anything I've seen in high finance.
I hate to burst your bubble but the amount of degeneracy on Wall Street is staggering as the sector rewards sociopathic behavior.
When you get in an Uber
1.Put on your Sunglasses 2. Look Out the Window and 3. Keep your mouth shut.
The. End.
Pls fix per below thx
The. End.
It's only happened to me a couple of times when at a party or something similar, wasn't made a big deal but I just asked them what's wrong with working in finance and they basically don't have a real reason so it's simple to 'argue' with them.
Regarding your statement about "reducing crime in neighborhoods" -- Is that because you actively seek to reduce crime or you just outprice everyone who would normally live in said neighbourhood and therefor they need to move elsewhere? Thus increasing crime elsewhere.
You are most definitely still an "ordinary person."
Agreed, what we do in the grand scheme of things means very little. Being one of five people that worked on the financing of a retail center in the city or being a development analyst for a multifamily building is just that not that big of a deal. We like to think we are much bigger than we actually are. The whole shtick of "I like to work on something tangible and like helping shape a city skyline" is a talking point that sounds nice in an interview but in reality deep down if we dig in, it matters very little. I dont get why wehave to do mental gymnastics to believe what we do is so much more important that it really is.
I suspect you thinking of others as "ordinary people" has something to do with it
Oh fucking come on man, you know what he meant. Stop trying to be self-righteous.
Doesn't matter. OP learning to drop the condescension of "ordinary people" and the victim complex of "are we the villians?" will do a lot for him. Calling it out is legitimate.
Why do you care what people who have made poor life decisions (hence being an Uber driver) think about your career choice? Just ignore them and 1-star them when you get out for a free ride if they start acting like that. Maybe they'll learn that when you're in a service business you shouldn't berate your customer over what they do for a living. The majority of people are ignorant and will make no effort to change that, so there's no point in carrying around a chip on your shoulder when one of the many below-average masses decides you're the bad guy because you're doing better in life than they are. Focus on yourself and succeed by yourself.
Hey, just because someone is an Uber driver doesn't mean they "obviously made poor life decisions". I think it's that kind of mentality that causes some animosity towards people in our line of work. People pick up unskilled jobs for all sorts of reasons and circumstances. I did it for a while when I was in grad school to make some extra cash.
I'm not saying the driver was right to say what he did and should probably have kept his opinion to himself, but the idea that you're better than them is part of the problem.
I took a Lyft a couple weeks back. It turns out that my driver was a CRE broker selling $1-10MM commercial properties. He said he drives also because his kids are in college and he doesn't want them to have to take on debt.
Tell the driver that he should be lucky that you booked him for a ride. After all, you were considering booking a helicopter for your commute.
Yes, but ultimately the municipalities are the villains as they are the ones who zone/permit multifamily around what were once great neighborhoods for families.
Multifamily has an enormously negative impact on school districts, particularly affordable housing. Dallas is a prime example of how once great areas to raise children with solid school districts have been ruined by monstrous developments of formerly cheap garden-style multifamily which is now higher density wrap product. Development standards are awful, the properties are disgusting, and the renters are a different demographic than the homeowners in the immediate area. Most of these properties are merchant build and not constructed to age well - they age poorly and blight the area.
Those suburbs in Dallas that have chosen to strictly prohibit multifamily have experienced continued outstanding school performance and dramatic housing value increases such as Southlake, Coppell, and Lovejoy ISD area of Allen. Those suburbs which formerly had great school districts such as Richardson and Plano have/are experiencing dramatic decreases in quality due to, again, demographic changes as the massive multifamily complexes built in the 80's/90's have become more and more affordable.
God forbid people of different class live in the same municipality yuck
You're a second-year analyst already referring to people working blue-collar jobs as "ordinary people". Take a quick look in the mirror and think about what makes people react in a hostile way to you, it's probably not just the job.
Be humble. Treat people like people. Don't be a dick... and put your fuckin Airpods in when you can tell an uber driver is going to be a pain in the ass.
I was looking to move a couple years ago so I went to tour a small older apartment complex near the beach (5 units on a good size lot). I was standing outside waiting for the LL when one of the residents comes out and strikes up a conversation. I tell her I work in Real Estate Development and I see the fire get lit in her eyes. She proceeds to tell me she hates developers and she is going to make sure the LL doesn't allow me to move in and that i'm the reason this beach community is going to shit (more density) .
Not only did I move in but I convinced the LL to sell to my company. I personally told this lady we were not going to renew her lease and that we are currently in the entitlement process to put 3x the number of units on the property.
most satisfying deal I have ever done.
The guy isn't wrong. There are tons of unethical developers. Looking at NYC in particular, where a small subset of real estate operators acted so egregiously that it led to an unbelievably bad law being foisted on the entire state in order to even the scales.
The bad apples in any industry are always going to stand out and be memorable. No one remembers the folks who put their heads down and do their jobs honestly and competently. It's the examples of startling incompetence or really egregious villainy that stick in people's memory.
Also, get your head out of your ass. You aren't "reducing crime". At best, you are bringing in enough wealthy people that the local PDs sit up and take notice to start patrolling. And yeah, maybe you create a couple of jobs, so now there is an extra super and porter making a decent wage. That isn't exactly earth shattering stuff.
There are misconceptions about every industry. Just like all salesmen are "sleazy", blue collar are "lazy" or "dumb", or finance people are "evil" and "psychopaths". It is just an ignorance people have become accustomed to and it is often portrayed this way in television which doesn't help. A lot of people who are high net worth also let power get to their heads and many don't understand poverty which insights a LOT of anger.
I am sure plenty of Amazon workers in awful conditions HATE Jeff Bezos for the tax write off, low pay, etc. To me it really has just become about money and titles associated with power vs those who feel powerless. Being someone who has come from extreme poverty, I have seen that side of the table's point of view and I will always want to give back. I've got to say though, that if I did not experience things first hand I would have a hard time understanding the other point of view because they are worlds apart.
Just my 2 cents
Lol losers who work in Real Estate acting like they work in banking or consulting. WSO has been infected by state school clowns who work in RE.
Frankly I think it's a compliment to not be considered as working in banking or consulting. I'd rather take real risk and own real assets and be compensated for that, rather than be degenerate sponge, leeching money off the system for providing worthless advice, and pretending to be some kind of savior of capitalism. Bankers and consultants are prestige whores, especially on this site - give me a solid project manager in real estate development any day for intelligence and actual work product.
It's funny that people get so pissed at real estate and businesses people. I'm living the American dream. I worked my ass off for the last 8 years to get to the point where I'm at now. I have my own capital markets business and I'm 23 years old. I'm going to do an AmA pretty soon on how a summer job at a real estate morgage brokerage doing office work put me on a path to close over $100 million in debt and equity transactions in the last 2 years while simultaneously finishing up college. people also give me shit and dont understand that most of the bussiness is filled with self made guys. Many of my clients are ethnically diverse and started with nothing. I think the social Democrats in this country have made making money something dirty. This is completely Bullshit and real estate is the type off industry where what you know is more important then your background. You can achieve anything in this industry with hustle and market knowledge.
You started at the real estate mortgage brokerage firm at 15?
Asking this question is healthy in my opinion.
History and newspapers are littered with stories of conflict surrounding finance. From Medici in the late 1300's (or 2000 BC Sumeria) to today, those who have the intellect to structure, insulate, move, and apply capital have been regarded with suspicion, love, and in some cases, hatred. Often seen most clearly at the extremes of human behavior, financial practitioners swing the tides of war, shift power, and facilitate others to commit acts of extreme good and extreme destruction. The king didn't move his army without treasure.
The mainstream is loaded with stories and warnings of the bad stuff that Investment Bankers can do and have done. It's what many laypeople see. It's what they hear. And it's what many who don't understand will often default to. Jobs creation and development is attributed to politicians. Financial ethics are focused correctly on the prevention of fraud, conflicts of interest, and selfish activity. But they are not focused enough, in my personal opinion, on the good that smart investment bankers can (and should) do when we use our talent to bring capital together with worthy projects. How, we might ask, can we make it profitable to... ? How can we incent positive change in the world and disincentivize bad behavior? I'm not suggesting that we all go on a crusade to become do-gooders, sprinkle capital like fairy dust and grow pretty flowers. I am simply suggesting that the narrative around those of us who practice the capital arts might be a little more positive in the mind of the public if we highlight the many benefits and good business we make possible.