M&M in dream city or a Boutique in a better long-term city

I've two options. Move to my dream city and work for Marcus and Millichap or move to the city I see myself long-term and work for a boutique. I get the impression that the boutique is doing well, but I cannot they are killing it. Both are tier one markets. What would you all choose?

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I'll probably get monkey shit for this but here goes my honest opinion....

I am writing this with the assumption that the position at Marcus & Millichap is unpaid, which I have heard is unpaid as they ask you in the interview if you can go for 1-1.5 years without a paycheck. With that being said....

Take the boutique x100. x10000. Why would you work for free? I don't get it. Please don't let people fill up your mind with this bullshit of working for free and struggling for 2 years until you make it "big" as a broker. This is propaganda.

Do some people make it big as a broker? Sure. I see these people everyday at work.

Do some people make it big as a broker going without a paycheck for 2 years? An even smaller population than above but yes they do. However they usually have someone floating them. I couldn't imagine the mental stress of going without a paycheck for 2 years and trying to close deals. I would get desperate.

Do some people make it big as broker straight out of undergrad/being new to the CRE industries? Sure a very very minute percentage of the industry will. First I would check their last name though. Most of the time they come from a real estate family and have connections you couldn't even imagine.

Do you see how small the percentage of brokers that make it now? Most people think they can go work for a brokerage straight out of school and two years later and be crushing 200k yearly and deciding what days they want to work. Sorry I am here to say from what I see at my firm it doesn't work like that. We have a young guy at my firm that is absolutely crushing it. Made VP before 28 (guessing based on how young he looks). I am sure he is making no less than 150-200k. Wanna know how he got his start? Working as an analyst for a year paying his dues, even though someone in his immediate family is a huuugggggeee earner for our firm. He paid his dues and then had a family network to help him get his start.

If I were you I would take the boutique job in the city you know you will eventually end up. Build up a network, work there for a year or two and then go live in the city that you want. You will get paid a salary, build up your experience, and network in said city so when you come back getting a job will be cake.

Please don't let anyone convince you to work for free. They are handing you a phone and a desk. They have no skin in the game. If they believe in you enough to hire you, they should believe in you enough to pay you.

If you want to be a broker bad enough then network your way in to an analyst position on a brokerage team. You'll make no less than 50-60k a year for a couple years while you transition to being a broker. Not to mention your broker will introduce you to people and you will have a network to lean on when times are rough.

 

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