Would it be crazy to commute from NYC to Philly everyday for an Analyst position at HFF? I am currently working in CRE Tech and am looking to transition into debt/equity placement. I spoke with someone at HFF NYC, who told me that their Philly branch was hiring. He also mentioned that people transferred from office to office frequently, so my hope would be to work in Philly for ~1 year and then transfer.
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That's a 2 hour commute each way if you're driving. 2-3 hours if training each way. Their office is in the suburbs (Conshohocken, PA) - I certainly would not think it's worth it.
"He also mentioned that people transferred from office to office frequently"
Is this really true? Can anybody familiar with shops like JLL, CW, HFF, CBRE, chime in?
Absolutely not feasible to commute from NYC to western Philly suburbs.
Used to work at one of the other shops mentioned above, and can tell you it's fairly difficult to transfer from office to office if you're salaried/supporting a specific team. If you are a producer, they really don't care where you go/have your desk, as they won't be paying you anything until you close a deal in most cases (caveat is you have to rebuild your book if you move too far from your client base when you're starting out). If you are an analyst/salaried position, the mobility is going to depend on how many openings they have, which depends on the P&L of the brokers in each market.
I would imagine that openings out of the Philly office are more rare given the size of the market, but don't know for certain. In other words, would probably be easier to go from Philly to NYC than the opposite just due to the size of the market/economy. If you want to break in that badly though, and you like the gig/don't think you can get a similar one in NYC, why not live in Philly for a year then go back to NYC? Or the obvious alternative is just wait til you find one in NYC.
EDIT: One other thing that's important to think about is payscale and cost of living. In talking with friends who have moved between those two cities, there is a pretty big dropoff in both pay and COL in Philly relative to NYC. So other than being a ridiculous commute to take on everyday (probably close to impossible as mentioned above), you would be living off of a lower (presumably) Philly income structure while trying to pay NYC cost of living, which wouldn't make much sense to me.
Move or decline. NYC to cc philly is a pain, but doable. Conshy is a whole other issue. You can train, but it's a regional rail and not always on time.
Depends on your work hours... I was commuting from Philly to JC's exchange place everyday. Took me, 2 hours... To get into Manhatten, I'm going to say 2 hours and 45 minutes? Good luck with that... FYI, the driving isn't what killed me... It was the tolls and gas. When I worked in Time Square, I parked my car in JC for 200 bucks a month and took the path and subway. I hope you'll be making a lot of money, cause you'll need it... FYI, get an EZ-Pass... 30% off regular tolls.
Not even talking about the ridiculous 2hrs it would take, but no mention of how expensive that monthly pass would be? That alone makes it ridiculous.
Yeah ~ $220 monthly parking in JC... Definitely at least $300 monthly for Manhatten... Gas was $30 every two days... Philly to NYC, one shot is $15, coming back would be the same... If you park in JC, path will be around $110 a month and Subway in NYC will be $120, I think?
So JC parking + Public Transporation + Gas + Tolls on a monthly basis will be = $1,310 a month!!!
So straight shot to NYC without transit and NYC parking on a monthly basis will be = $1,170 a month!!!
This is what I paid.
It's a good time to be a yuppie in Philly... don't immediately count out moving.
Why's that?
Fantastic restaraunt scene, cheap, one of the highest millennial population concentrations, big wave of new development, decent rail system
Why would you want to pay NYC rent on a Philly salary? On top of that, aside from the weekends, you wouldn't even be around to enjoy the benefits of that premium. Move to Philly, move back if/when you get the NYC transfer.
Just wanted to add to this:
I personally believe it is easier to transfer to a completely different firm than transfer in-house. Transferring in house requires you to notify your team of your desire to move (who will, at that time, completely lose any perceived value they had of you), and then wait for an opportunity in your desired market.
If you do a couple of road shows externally, you will open the doors to more opportunities, plus be perceived as more valuable because you have insight on the competitors operations.
NY to Conshy would be an insane, miserable commute. Probably ~6 hours/day.
No shot HFF pays a salary worth it. They have notoriously low salaries (high bonus low salary). Great firm, great group. But I doubt you will make enough to pay Manhattan rents and the long commute. Move to Philly if you really want the gig.
Appreciate all the advice. Realistically going to stay at my current gig and keep in touch with the HFF NY guy. Have a lease through the end of summer in NYC.
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