ATL to NYC

I am currently interning at a large developer/Asset manager on the AM team (around $15b AUM), and am not loving Atlanta. I have always wanted to work in NYC after school but am currently feeling a little lost and overwhelmed at the process of re-recruiting in a market where there is already so much talent. I am wondering if anyone has any pointers are or that would help me maximize my odds of breaking into the NYC real estate industry as someone that doesnt have a ton of existing connections and a somewhat average GPA (3.6-3.7) I attend a top SE school (UNC/WF/FL) and have two real estate internships under my belt in the SE. Any help would be very very much appreciated. 

17 Comments
 

Not interested in convincing anyone to like Atlanta and can easily imagine why people might not, but I am interested in hearing what your (and the other two commenters) life is like here. Feel free to DM if you prefer, but I am not from here and have a very fun and vibrant life in Atlanta. And that is for reasons aside from the many tailwinds of Atlanta, imo.

 

Lived in Atlanta for 8 years. It’s not NYC or LA, but some of you guys are hilarious. It has cool parts and shitty parts like any city, and even though I’m not upset that I left, I’d still take it over most of the country. 

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Yeah I’m not sure about all that. It’s all opinion-based on some level, so I’m not going to tell you that your experience is not your experience, but more people more there every year and I only left a year and a half ago so I experienced “post covid” Atlanta plenty. 


House prices there are insane and I don’t miss the humidity at all, but there’s plenty I look back on fondly. 

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Sounds like you’re in college still? Just recruit and network for NYC roles. It’s that simple. Nothing else. Cold email and network your way in. That’s about it. Lots of firms to choose from. I will say - if you want to do asset management there are tons of jobs today. If you want to do acquisitions - it is a bit harder. If you want to work at a developer or local owner operator, many of them do office. Very few are hiring today because office is performing so poorly. But the multi teams might be. Network network network. 

 

Sounds like you’re in college still? Just recruit and network for NYC roles. It’s that simple. Nothing else. Cold email and network your way in. That’s about it. Lots of firms to choose from. I will say - if you want to do asset management there are tons of jobs today. If you want to do acquisitions - it is a bit harder. If you want to work at a developer or local owner operator, many of them do office. Very few are hiring today because office is performing so poorly. But the multi teams might be. Network network network. 

 

Sounds like you’re in college still? Just recruit and network for NYC roles. It’s that simple. Nothing else. Cold email and network your way in. That’s about it. Lots of firms to choose from. I will say - if you want to do asset management there are tons of jobs today. If you want to do acquisitions - it is a bit harder. If you want to work at a developer or local owner operator, many of them do office. Very few are hiring today because office is performing so poorly. But the multi teams might be. Network network network. 

 
Most Helpful

Having lived in ATL, I can tell you there is good and bad. Overall ATL would have been fine if housing prices there were reasonable but at the current level its being priced as a tier 1 city. Its honestly not worth it. People there drive like maniacs. Driving on 85 is a nightmare and it is ghetto. Anything they build, whether thats the ballpark, atlantic station, etc gets ruined by the people there. I miss some aspects like the amazing BBQ, but honestly the city is getting worse each passing day. 

 

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