Wanted to get a forum started to discuss sites such asBullpenRE as I haven't seen anything posted on here yet. If you're not familiar with the service (or similar services), it's an online platform that connects real estate analysts with investment/development firms who outsource their investment analysis needs rather than hire a full time analyst.
I haven't used the platform personally, but know a couple analysts and investment firms who have, and here's some of the key takeaways:
- Average rate that analysts charge is $100 - $200 per hour.
- Analysts have their own models that they use
- I've heard of some firms asking analysts to pull CoStar reports and such, which didn't seem to make sense because what freelancer pays for a CoStar subscription
- Investment/Development firms really just need the investment modeling that they can turn around and plug in to their OM, but might go through a few iterations for scenario analysis purposes. They'll likely not use this type of service for their back of the envelope calculations, but only for the full DCF they need to present to investors
As teams run pretty lean (I’d imagine even leaner given the uncertainty surrounding COVID), wondering what some of y'all think of smaller shops using this service? If you only really “need” an analyst for the in depth financial modeling, could see a benefit, but just wondering if anybody has experience/thoughts on this.
Given that we have a good mix of of users on here, thought we might have a diverse perspective from both sides.
