As the name suggests, I’m deciding between an offer to be a Director of Investments at a boutique PE firm in a secondary market (I.e. Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, etc.) or moving to the big apple to likely get in the giant rat race. I’m from a non-target, 2 years of BB CRE investment experience, 2 years of REPE experience. Call me ignorant, NYC sounds fun, but also full of hyper-competitive sycophants who will make career progression or just landing a decent job nearly impossible.
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Secondary market. You’re 26? Next 4 years of your life with be formative and you don’t want to be balls deep in a job in a city that you want to secretly leave because it’s crazy expensive and a terrible place to raise a family...
I think we need to know a little more to give you sound advice.
For example, not to denigrate your resume, but 26 year olds without business school experience (or really much experience at all) don't often get offered Director-level roles. How real is this shop? How realistic is their deal flow/assumptions, that they expect a 26 year old can either create it for them or handle it by himself? What are your true responsibilities?
All of this isn't to insult you or your experience, it's just... odd. If it's truly a role with responsibility for sourcing and executing transactions, that's great. It also depends where you see yourself. Do you want to start your own firm at some point? If so, NYC can offer huge advantages in building a network and meeting potential capital partners. Lot more opportunity to exit to other roles. What kind of person are you? If you're willing to settle into a role in Atlanta and grow there, that's amazing and you should do that.
Part of the difficulty in answering this too is that it’s hard to know you and what you prefer.
I love life in “Tier 1B” cities like Dallas and Atlanta and would never want to live in NYC. Other people I know would only ever want to live in NYC. Lots of other people think that Indianapolis or Oklahoma City are the “big city.”
Applicable for the sunbelt because capital is chasing the geography, but Tier 2s elsewhere are not going to carry the same clout. Miami, Atlanta, and Dallas are NOT tier 2 cities for CRE, period.
Yeah I was trying to avoid arguing over what cities are in what tiers. Traditionally US "gateway markets" are Boston, New York, Chicago, DC, LA, and SF.
Trust me I get it, but as someone in a gateway, I do enough cross over work in those places to consider them tier 1. Especially in certain product types - mostly industrial/MF. I think gone are the days that Chinese nationalist's willingness to hide money in the condo market is what constitutes tier 1 vs 2. If the institutions can put their core buckets there, they're tier 1.
The two of you are definitely from Texas and/or Georgia
https://i.imgur.com/TSWN1Hj.jpg
Aren’t these cities all losing more people every year than they are gaining? Liberal policies are crushing these places. Add Chicago to the mix...
Thanks for all your replies. I like life in my current city, the allure of NYC as a commenter above noted is the chance to get hooked up to massive capital connections and front office roles. I have experience in interesting deals in basically all asset classes, but I’m a bit concerned I’ll just get lost in the crowd in a job market like NYC as opposed to the strong connections I have in my city/state/region and the esteem my peers hold me in (sorry if that comes off arrogant). Moving without an offer is also freaky, I’ve been applying for months to no avail.
Dude. People work 90 hour weeks in NYC at most shops. If you go to a non-gateway market and work the same, you’ll be the smartest person in your market. AND pay less in taxes
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