Last year I graduated from a well regarded public school in the southeast and came back home to a place that is a highly competitive and over saturated job market (especially for real estate and finance). I completed an internship with a developer during my undergrad and realized that I would like to be in REPE for my career. Over the past 8 months I've interviewed with several big CRE firms as an analyst, some local REPE firms, BB banks, and some asset backed finance firms (been keeping my options open). But I've gotten nothing so far. One of my friends recently started as an appraiser for one of the larger CRE firms and mentioned he could see if I could hang my license under his as a trainee. I don't really see myself in appraisal long term and don't want to settle for something I don't want to do, but if it would enable me to make the switch to brokerage or REPE after a year or two, I would totally consider it. Does anyone know if this is a feasible switch to make or should I just keep hustling until I get something? Been working part time in an unrelated field to explain the gap on my resume and am completing REFM courses to enhance my skill set and plan on pursuing CAIA in September. Thanks in advance!
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So, there have some really good past threads on appraisal careers and how they can be leveraged into doing other things (def worth searching)...
A few points to your setup..
- I don't think appraisal is the type of career you can just "hang" a license with that easily (its not like a broker lic), if you aren't committed to really doing appraisal/learning valuations (like a 3-5 year process, much of it getting licensed), I don't think it's a good use of time tbh. This is the "knock" against appraisal (as compared to IB or IS/DE brokerage), it takes many more years (at low pay sometimes) to really get the benefit of it.
- Not withstanding the above... some appraisal firms (esp. the larger ones) hire "researchers" who are like trainees (may even be trainees) but do more "work" like analysts in support of appraisers, rather than being an appraiser and actually "signing" reports... this is not a bad job for sure, and may help you move on without all the investment and time to get appraisal licensed.
- So, could you work in valuations to gain experience/exposure and then apply for analyst type roles in brokerage or buyside? Sure, this does work out, and probably better than what you are doing in an "unrelated field". Just know this basic strategy will just get you another "entry level" job (albeit at one you really want potentially), not the big "jump" an experienced appraiser could make into investment mngt or development like is known to happen (I've even seen exp. appraisers go right to mid-level roles on big time brokerage teams, as clients like talking to brokers who actually understand valuations...).
Side question.... Are you looking to shift markets? I'm taking a random guess where you based on your user name (have you tried to by meth by paying with a live gator recently? lol). I ask because if you do the appraisal "researcher" type role, you will be building exp. that is more valued in that market than any others (yet, is still transferrable tbh). If you work in banking or something more "finance/cap markets", that is much easier to port around the nation for jobs. It's a reasonable consideration when you mention "coming home".
I’ve looked in some different markets, just way fewer jobs in RE up for grabs in some of these smaller markets. I’ve looked on LinkedIn at backgrounds of people in REPE and the background is diverse (some from IB, Brokerage, PE, Comm Banking, some directly out of school). Is it common in RE as it is in finance to go from “sell side” to “buy side”?
Yes, it is very common in CRE to go from sell side to buy side, lots of people go from IS/DE/IB as well as appraisal/consulting/RE services (I basically went from consulting/advisory to development in strategy/research role). A lot of buy side headhunters will target sell side firms for recruiting, happens all the time. Still, I wouldn't say its "easy", you have to prepare yourself, network, and be very intentional (I presume this is equally true of finance world as well).
FYI, I have a lot of exp. in FL markets and with FL firms, so if you want to PM me for more tactical/personal guidance, feel free.
Just as a data point, I made the switch from a valuation analyst to an acquisitions analyst last year. Worth noting I did have an acquisitions internship on my resume which helped, but people still generally liked the appraisal background and it wasn't too hard to get interviews. It's definitely possible to make the switch, it will just be more of a lateral move.
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