Gaining real estate experience
Hi. This is my first time posting on WSO and don't know how ruthless this will be but, either way I appreciate any input. Anyhow, I'm trying to get my foot in the door in the CRE brokerage industry. I currently am a senior at a School in San Diego and my goal is to get into a top tier firm such as: CBRE, CW, JLL. I graduate next December and have no RE experience thus far. I know firms in the area such as M&M and smaller boutiques aren't too difficult to get into internship wise. I'm simply looking for the skills necessary to be able to get into these top tier firms upon graduation. I have college friends at these top shops in SD but don't want to ask them for any recommendations just yet because of my lack of experience. I know that these firms are heavily influenced in employment based on connections and so on. I'm just looking for advice on what anybody would recommend with experience or knowledge within this industry. I'm originally from Orange County and am willing to relocate anywhere I can get into when I graduate such as LA, OC, or stay in SD. I'm also curious as to which market would be better, OC vs. SD. I know LA would be best but, I know it'd be the most challenging to break into because of the competition from people with roots in the region from USC, UCLA, or prior connections. I appreciate any input and thanks for taking the time.
Start sending cold emails to try and find an internship for the spring or for the summer
If you have college friends at these firms, I would definitely reach out to them. When I was still looking for an internship, college connections proved to be the most valuable.
Keep in mind that your first job out of college is very unlikely to be your last. The most important thing is finding a firm where you will be part of a team that will help you learn and mentor you. That is more important that prestige, market, or even field.
You can, and likely will, move firms, functions, maybe even role/industry. To the extent that it matters, a firm with significant business (deal flow, AUM, etc.) is better than a "slow" one. But again, direct mentorship should rise above all.
If I were you I’d definitely talk to my friends! Having no experience is nothing to be ashamed of, and people love talking about what they do and how they got there. They’d be flattered. You might also end up with someone who happens to know a company that is hiring. Accept help today, and you can always help them back tomorrow.
I am not in brokerage myself so please confirm with someone if this is useful, but if you just want to learn the basics, it could be useful to take the California real estate agent license courses. Take the exam if you are sure this is what you want to do, but do it only when you need it on your resume. If money is an issue, talk to your future employer you’ve taken the courses already and just ask if they’d pay for your exam. At least you can list the courses on your resume.
Call up local commercial brokers (make sure they are commercial!) and just ask if they want an intern. If necessary, work unpaid just to get it on your resume. I started off working part time for an office/industrial broker in college, before I ended up with an investment role. Hope this helps!
I was in the same situation where you can't get Real Estate experience without already having experience. Around that time, I had a roommate looking to buy a duplex to rent out. So I told him I'd look for properties on Zillow for him, and project out possible cash flows for them if he made me his "Acquisitions Intern". Put those 3 months of BSing on my resume and suddenly I was actually getting interviews for some OK positions.
You gotta make your own luck
Not sure if this is the same situation as you, but I had good finance internships but no real estate experience. The way I bridged the gap was by taking real estate online courses / modeling courses and including that on my resume. If you have zero real estate stuff in your resume, they’re going to assume you’re just throwing out applications to random companies (very common among soon to be college grads). Just don’t overpay for the courses.
There are some free ones and ones that cost $100 or $200 but I wouldn’t pay big bucks for in person classes
As stated by the other comments on this thread, you should definitely reach out to your friends who are at the larger firms. Real Estate is largely a relationship driven business. You're coming fresh out of school, so nobody expects you to be an expert from day one. Therefore, no need to worry about the lack of experience. With a December graduation date, you still have time to get a relevant internship under your belt. Also, don't shy away from any solid opportunity, even if it is not brokerage. I know countless people who have started in the research department for CBRE/CW/JLL and moved on to a brokerage role within the same firm after a short period of time (typically less than a year).
When I was a senior in college, I would try to setup at least one lunch and maybe a few calls every week in order to network. At the end of each call/lunch, ask if they can think of 2-3 people who you should also speak to. As long as you show interest and ask good questions, you will be remembered. If you focus your efforts on doing this over the next 6-12 months, you will have a wide network and something will fall into place for you.
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