Mid career architect advice
Looking for a bit of career advice. I've been lurking off and on for a long time and thought that being active here would be a good start.
I'm a 35 year old Architect with a wife and 2 small kids who is basically wants to make some "real" money vs the 75k I'm getting in a traditional arch. firm now.
I've been watching youtube lectures from Nova's MSRED program and reading a lot, but haven't actually done anything.
I'm thinking my choices are: - Find a partner with money to do my own small scale retail or MF projects - Go back to grad school, seems like the pay would be comparable pretty quickly. - Get a project manager type job at a firm like CBRE and learn/network like crazy - Suck it up and be happy where I'm at, I like the work and I barely touch 40 hrs most weeks.
I'm not sure the value of another grad degree at this point in my life and I'm not really sure the best way to get in contact with the people who might want to partner on a small project.
I used to do small strip mall and drive-thru restaurant projects all the time. My work lately has been larger scale commercial and gov't.
Anyway, I'd really appreciate any advice.
Thanks!
You have a pretty good technical background; I have a few follow ups for you before chiming in:
-On the project's you've worked on, have you handled any of the financial aspects/project and construction management, or is your expertise mainly on the design side?
-Also, what is your willingness to sacrifice hours/work life balance for more $?
-Do you have a target $ amount in mind?
-What about the work you're doing now do you like, and what do you dislike?
Are you kidding me? I would love living your life. You have a job in which you're good at, that's going to be there until you retire. AND you get to work 40 hours, not the BS 60+ hours finance requires. You have job security, which in itself should be valued.
I agree that 60+ hours is total crap. I've had to do that a few times and takes me a week to recover
Architecture is just as cyclical as construction. I don't know what its like on the other side though.
Thanks!
Got it.
It sounds like acquisitions may not be for you, given the fact that the hours would be a significant ramp up in a lot of cases, you wouldn't have a lot of autonomy starting out, and it doesn't seem to align as strongly with your end goal - even though the income trajectory would be strong and you would have some flexibility later on.
Development might be a really good fit for you given the variety of tasks/problem solving involved, but I would imagine that the hours are going to fluctuate a lot, at least starting out. If your goal is to do your own thing anyway, though, this would probably be the best combination of learning how to run your own projects/interesting work/pay. I would say that project management/construction management would fall under this umbrella, even if it's not a perfect fit.
Asset Management does also have a variety of tasks that you would probably enjoy - budgeting, project management, leasing, performance monitoring, TI work, strategy, etc. The hours for these gigs are tough to gauge - I know some AM professionals that work a ton of hours (usually more on the portfolio management emphasis) and then some that come in under 40 hours of time in the office (not necessarily including other things like site visits, etc.). The pay is generally pretty stable and you can get to 6 figures pretty quickly. Similar to acquisitions though, this might not be as beneficial for your end game as development, although you would still be getting a good skillset in both.
If I were you, I would probably look into a PM/CM role within development, but just my $0.02.
EDIT: forgot about the advanced degree.... Definitely don't think an MBA would be your best bet, but you might benefit from MSRED or something similar.
Also, try not to compare yourself to lawyers..... In many cases they work a ridiculously higher amount of hours than any gig you'll have on the ownership side.
Project manager at a family office could be a good opp rather than the larger institutional firms like CBRE for your work/life balance. No need for the Masters, just make sure you find a principal who is good to work with.
Reach out to your lawyer friends in 5 years and ask them if they want to JV with you after you get a better understanding for the financial side of the equation
oh please do DM me. I studied architecture undergrad, and then went the finance route via MBA. I've worked in real estate development, then in real estate PE. But ultimately this is a personal decision.
Working on architecture was much more fun and fulfilling (albeit as a student) than jockeying a spreadsheet ever will be. I would likely not go to a real estate broker. Your skillset is best used in PE, where if you just study a bit online first to get the finance down you'll be much more valuable than most any other worker, because you'll have product+finance capability. When I made the switch into real estate PE they LOVED that I had architecture experience, esp when we did did development deals.
I guess I'm really not that knowledgeable..... what is PE?
I suppose I'll need to know the lingo if I'm to make a move!!!
Earum voluptatem blanditiis a consequatur omnis et. Et et a molestiae non magni eveniet quibusdam.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...