Real estate transaction teams at Big 4

got a friend at one (London). doesn't like it, doesn't scream quality and the way he talks about it doesn't make it seem as though he "gets it" or has developed that deep a knowledge in his 2 years; but we don't tend to talk much about work.

Depends on where you are located.. Two of the big4 firms have a very strong RE market presence in some countries and hardly any in others. In some countries its just regular TS or M&A people trying to do RE deals as well.

I worked at one of the Big 4 real estate transaction teams in NYC. Experience and growth is limited. I was able to leverage the name and experience into a job at a REPE firm after 1.5 years. I don't recommend staying there any longer than two years. Good to have a Big 4 on the resume, but not for development.

Worked with a guy at a CMBS SS who was an analyst that took a job at E&Y in RE transactions after about a year. He said he hated it. Only plus is that he said he gets to travel alot.

Huge thanks for all the input so far guys.

CL81 could you give me a simple breakdown of how you spent your time in that role? Eg 50%x, 20%y, etc...would be really helpful as I compare it to the deal teams at the property agencies. It couldn't have been so bad as you were able to move into a PERE role, my plan would be

I also used to work withing one of the Big 4 RE transaction groups and am now in an acquisitions role. I would echo just about everything that CL81 said as my experience was similar. Adding to his comments, I think that the experience will depend on which on the Big 4 the role is with as the group size and subsequently deal volume/size varies quite a bit. That said, deal volume will be market dependent no matter which one you're at.

One thing I would point out about the valuation/audit assit work is that you will be reviewing the models from top investment shops and if you spend some time with them, you can learn about how they underwrite deals. Even though you won't be able to see how they decided on certain assumptions, you can learn how all of the inputs flow together. In addition to the valuation and transaction work, I also worked on a few strategy/advisory projects which I found very interesting and a nice change of pace. An example was performing a complete company evaluation of a regional owner/operator to identify strengths/weaknesses and suggest areas to improve. This is not the "normal" work though - only certain managers/partners brought in these kinds of projects so you had to position yourself well to get staffed on them. Not sure if all of the Big 4 do this kind of work.

Overall, the pros are exposure to a variety of projects and asset types. You can build a solid foundation of core real estate concepts. Cons are that there is only so much that you can learn after being there for a while. I would advise not staying for more than 2 years unless you really like it and can see yourself staying for the long term. Moving to acquisitions/AM will not be easy to begin with and will only get harder if you wait beyond that 2 year period.

I’ve previously spent about two years at a big4 RE group that’s probably the strongest RE group out of the big4 in that particular country. My experience is somewhat different compared to what previous posters are describing.

A rough estimate of my billable hours: 10% of my time was spent on audit assist work (almost all of it in mid-autumn or January) 50% was spent on RE sell-side mandates 20% was spent on buy-side mandates 10% was spent on due diligence assignments (some colleagues specialize in this, I merely assisted) 10% was spent on financial modeling and strategic planning

As a Transaction Real Estate Transaction team , you’ll prepare and assume responsibility for proposals, as well as fee and expense budgets, mainly for larger, more complex engagements. Your responsibilities will include:

1) Being responsible for engagements related to strategic real estate advisory services, transaction support, asset management, project management, MA. 2) Preparing reports and presentations as well as summarizing memorandum of results. Carrying out final meetings with the client in cooperation with the partner.

I can confirm CL18's experience. I spent a year at Big 4 TRE in Dallas after getting my MRE, and only spent 2-3 weeks actually working on transactions, the rest of my experience was limited to "audit assist" (appraisal reviews), purchase price allocations, or being shipped off to other groups in need of resources.

You can get a solid base knowledge of real estate terminology and fundamentals, but I would only suggest that undergrad accountants with an interest in real estate look into this type of position. That being said, a year or two of Big 4 TAS on the resume isn't the worst thing and will at least get you some call backs, but be prepared to do plenty of your own studying if you're looking to get into a REIT or PERE acquisitions.