From Real Estate Investment Sales to Debt

Hi All,

I'm currently spending my Junior summer interning at a commercial broker (think HFF/Eastdil Secured). I've realized I find the debt aspect of real estate more interesting than acquisitions or investment sales. I'll be recruiting for a full time position and will be applying to the different lenders, mainly targeting CMBS and Life companies but also open to balance sheet lenders and debt funds. I have a couple questions for all you real estate people:

1) What concepts/questions should I know going into those interviews? 2) What is the recruiting cycle like at these firms/funds? 3) What will the modeling test consist of? 4) How does the underwriting process really differ between investment sales and debt originations?

108 WSO Academy Real Estate Session Reviews: 4.91/5

Class of '29 Sep 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Real Estate Career Roadmap (optional)

“Nick was extremely informative and gave me a lot of solid and practical advice. He answered all of my questions clearly and thoughtfully. I really appreciated that he gave me an actionable plan for how to approach recruiting and developing my career in general. He was very open about sharing his own experiences. He also gave me helpful perspective on how to differentiate myself during the recruiting process and make my conversations with professionals more meaningful. I feel like I have a clearer understanding of what I should focus on and concrete next steps. This was overall a helpful and valuable conversation. ”

Class of '28 Aug 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Real Estate Mock Interview

“Nick was fantastic. He didn’t just glance at my resume and give me generic advice—he explained exactly why it wasn’t telling the story I wanted it to tell, then helped me figure out how to fix it. He pushed me to be more intentional about how I talk about my experience and gave me concrete steps to prepare for interviews, from tailoring my resume to practicing financial modeling. I also appreciated how candid he was. When I asked about real estate capital markets versus sales and trading, he gave me his honest opinion while being clear about his own perspective. He shared interview guides, answered all my questions, and offered to do a more detailed mock interview if I move forward with JLL. I left with a lot of work to do, but also a much clearer idea of how to do it. I’d absolutely recommend talking with Nick.”

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1	redever	99.2
2	kanon	99.0
3	Secyh62	99.0
4	BankonBanking	99.0
5	dosk17	98.9
6	GameTheory	98.9
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10	Mimbs	98.8

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From Real Estate Investment Sales to Debt

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Elite Career Bootcamp. Top Job Offer Guaranteed.

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From Real Estate Investment Sales to Debt

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