Looking for guidance finding my path in commercial real estate
Looking for guidance finding my path in commercial real estate
I am currently employed at a mid-size commercial real estate shop (Think M&M competitor) in the Houston Texas Area. We are a locally founded shop, but also have satellite offices in a few other large metros. I specialize in retail investment sales and have been employed with this firm for the past 12 months. Although I have learned a lot, I am not passionate about brokerage or the office culture. There is a lot of slacking off, lack of presence in the office, and little/no training. Most people are more concerned about 3PM happy hour, rather than working hard to close more deals. I have learned a good bit from being around other experienced brokers, however I have come to realize that brokerage is not what I want to do longer-term.
I love the idea of creating something from nothing. The tangibility of real estate development fascinates me.
With that being said, I am looking to pursue a new career and welcome any suggestions, comments, or criticism regarding my future aspirations.
I have always been an entrepreneur at heart. My longer-term objective is to work for myself in development - whether in residential or commercial. Ultimately, I want to facilitate the entire development process. Closing the deals, planning, designing, and orchestrating the entire development process from start to finish. I’d like to specialize in town-homes and larger multifamily properties.
I'd like to gain enough exposure to be able to go out on my own in five years.
Thoughts and paths I'm considering taking:
-Work for a larger national developer as an analyst - Probably will take longer to gain exposure to deals
-Work for a local niche developer - May gain more exposure but will probably be less of an education
-Work for a local homebuilder - Confused as I feel this is more construction oriented and my not contribute to my longer term goal of being a real developer.
-I’m also considering just starting to learn deals by doing smaller fix & flips and rental units on the side. I could stay in my current job (being it is so relaxed, and do this on the side)
—————————
If anyone took the time to read this; I greatly appreciate your time and any advice/guidance you could provide.
Best Regards,
Kyle
There are about 600 threads on what to do to look solid enough to get hired in RE at this point, but to sum up the points I think are most important:
You seriously don't need to be some sort of excel wiz or real estate mastermind. Just know the basics and for the most part firms will hire you if they think you'll fit in.
Resources for items 2 & 3: I honestly think having an Argus cert looks great on paper if the person reading your resume has not met you yet. If you network in, it probably does not matter if you have it since it is pretty easy to teach. REFM is a good course to take to brush up on financial modeling/excel. Honestly even if you just took the level 1 cert course, that might get you just about to where you need to be to start off. Doing level 2 and understanding it well would 100% have you further along than you need to be to get an entry level job at most companies.