Real Estate Private Equity Acquisitions vs. MM Investment Banking
What's up WSO. Long time lurker here, but I've recently been put in a pretty conflicting position and wanted some advice or reassurance to talk me off the ledge.
Basically, I've always wanted to work in Real Estate Investing. Earlier this year I managed to grab a really solid FT Offer for a Real Estate Private Equity fund doing Acquisitions. Pay should be around $85,000 increasing to $105,000 by the time I'm a third-year analyst.
The thing is, as much as I've always wanted to work in Real Estate investing, I feel like I'm developing grass-is-greener symptoms already. This has lead me to send out some other apps recently and I have a final round interview at a lower MM Investment Bank that works on really cool deals within the biotech and tech fields. It's a niche bank without a large brand name, but they're very, very solid at what they do. Pay would be around $120,000.
I just worry with Real Estate that one day I'll get bored of working on the same old Acquisitions models and wont be able to parlay my experience into anything else meaningful. I know in Investment Banking I could eventually work for a PE Firm or HF that invests in biotech or tech, or bail into Corporate Development or Consulting. There's also something that feels more significant about working with entire corporations instead of just buying buildings for a portfolio.
Any other Real Estate guys out there ever get this feeling? Anyone regret going into RE? It's always been what I've wanted but I'm just afraid I'll get bored with it.
Just based on this, you sound more interested in the banking route. Nothing wrong with that. I think you're selling the real estate route short though when it comes to exit ops or eventual possibilities. The key word here is "work for." In real estate, you should never really be aiming to work for anyone other than yourself. If you kick ass at a REPE fund as a Acquisitions guy, eventually you should have enough money to do Acq on your own. Maybe you partner with a lady who has deep pockets or a guy who has Asset Management/Ops experience and start your own full fledged company.
There is so much more to real estate than "the model." Models get boring pretty quickly - they're a tool of the job, not the job itself.
Nope. I like being defined by my capabilities and successes and not my "prestige," GPA, or amount of hours I'm in the office on weekends. I also genuinely like Real Estate, which is why I'm in it.