Distressed & Special Situations - CRE Focus

I am in the process of interviewing for a distressed & special situations (DSS) role focused on real estate with a megafund. Although I am experienced within real estate (spent the last couple of years working across asset classes in investment management with a top 10 REPE firm) I am curious as to why I was selected to interview for the role given my lack of a restructuring/banking background, but am very excited by the opportunity to expand my skillset. 

A couple of questions for the people of WSO:

1. Why would a DSS group be interested in recruiting someone with real estate asset level experience as opposed to someone that is experienced within the realm of restructuring/banking? I feel like the latter skillset is more relevant to this type of role as it seems like they would generally be evaluating REITs.

2. What would the day to day of such a position even look like? What is the level of difficulty picking up this type of skillset on the job, as I know DSS can be very broad in focus?

3. Any ideas on resources that I can use to educate myself quickly on this topic?

6 Comments
 

You should read the question before typing up stupid/unhelpful comments. The question is about why you would hire someone with real estate background as opposed to someone that has restructuring/banking experience.

 

I think you should reread what you wrote, you got selected to interview for a role on distressed and special situation real estate, you currently do real estate, yet you’re confused why they would choose someone with real estate experience vs someone with none.

Why would would a corporate pe fund take an investment banker over someone who does real estate?

Your question makes no sense, you’re not explaining what the role is properly, or you don’t know what the role is

 

Rerum eum ut sit cum. Consequatur facilis omnis ut amet eos. Sint cumque culpa deleniti. In qui totam autem rerum fuga. Vitae similique neque consectetur quaerat.

Totam voluptatem molestiae reiciendis. Omnis ut omnis eos suscipit dolores dolores accusantium. Illum neque culpa saepe non harum quos quia consectetur. Et ratione et illo quia voluptatibus libero. Sapiente rerum harum voluptates et.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”