Received two job offers recently, and would appreciate everyone's thoughts (which would you take?)
Job A: Analyst at a mortgage bank (JLL/Northmarq) working for a veteran mortgage broker on multifamily/agency deals. I would be the only analyst as the previous went on to work for an operator I was told.
Job B: Analyst at a startup RE investment company. Newly founded shop roughly 1 year old looking to hire their first analyst. Founders broke off from a low income developer and are now doing their own LIHTC deals. Would be working on acquisitions/development underwriting. Sounds like they plan on doing a handful of deals a year.
I would be excited to accept either option, although would like some guidance to help with my thought process. If Job B was at a large developer rather than a startup I would jump all over it, just unsure of joining a small shop as I am very early into my career (1 year as a credit analyst at a small bank). Comp is similar for both.
Very suprising the comp here is the same. I'd think the mortgage banking job would pay better of the rip. I'd probably take A rather than working for the start up but can't go wrong either way.
I didn't negotiate comp at all... Base is actually ~ $20K lower at the mortgage bank and no idea what the bonus will look like at either place.
What do you want to do in the future? Developer? REPE? Private lending? IS?
Those are all career paths I would be super excited to pursue besides IS as I do not fancy myself a salesman... Yes, I know that is what mortgage bankers are and what most business careers end up being. I will have to cross that bridge when I get to it. I would be taking the banking job planning on exiting several years down the line to a lender/operator/developer or trying my hand at slinging debt if it feels right at the time.
If I had to choose, dream job would definitely be a dev analyst at a large developer which is why I even consider the startup. The guys I met there seem legit, offering a full corporate compensation package, just worried I may end up not having any work half a year from now wondering what could have been at the bank. I suppose I need to decide if I am willing to take that risk in order to pursue development.
Ozymandia would be better suited to provide feedback on LIHTC since that is his business, but from what I understand, LIHTC should be insulated from the current interest rate environment since it is basically funded by the government and not really market driven. I think what matters more is how experienced (see Ozy's response to my question in this thread: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/real-estate/has-anyone-made-it-bi…) are the founders in LIHTC. If they were spearheading the developments at their previous employer than they probably know what they are doing.
Personally, I would lean more towards the mortgage bank if it is JLL/Northmarq or similar. Both are great positions that will move you closer to your goal of working for a large developer and you will learn a lot, but I think JLL/Northmarq has 2 major advantages 1.) The brand name and 2.) Optionality. Brand name matters less in real estate, but it still helps. Everyone in the industry knows JLL/Northmarq, so just that name will get you a first round at many places. As for optionality, I think JLL/Northmarq will not only open doors for you to developers, but will also open doors to REPE/Capital Markets/ other RE Finance roles. I know less about LIHTC, but it is a niche field within real estate and a lot of the red tape, financial modeling, and financing aren't applicable to other areas in real estate. The 2 advantages of the LIHTC shop are 1.) working on the actual development of the project, which is fully applicable to market rate development. However, you may need to stay for 3+ years to see a full cycle development. 2.) A lot of larger multifamily developers have a LIHTC team, so you would def have a leg up when recruiting for those roles.
I appreciate the insight. I would say the founders are extremely experienced in low income housing development as they both worked at the same large/highly respected LIHTC developer for their entire careers, roughly 30+ years between the two of them. Low income housing dev would honestly be one of my most preferable asset classes to work on being these deals seem to be the hairiest and, as Ozmandia makes is sound, one of the few places where it is more what you know not who you know.
That being said, was definitely leaning toward the mortgage shop and was hoping that would be the consensus of this thread as well. At the end of the day, what I look to gain most in my role is financial analysis/underwriting expertise, which I will certainly be able to get at the bank. As you pointed out, the banks brand name alone is a signal to future employers I've seen the guts of a deal.
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