REPE Work/Life Balance
Hi, I'm an incoming sophomore at a semi-target school, I'm in the top Real Estate club and I will likely place well (not to be cocky). The main predicament I've been in is whether I want to get paid less and work less at a firm like Harrison Street, or whether I want to grind out 90-100 hr weeks at a firm like Starwood but get comp closer to 200k. I'm unsure if I'm cut out for the crazy workload, and I will likely end up doing development with my family, so does my analyst position matter? One of the main reasons I would want to go to Starwood would simply be status and ego, and paving my path forward, but my exit ops aren't necessarily what I'm concerned about because I want to start my own thing or work with my family before I'm 30. Any advice or similar experiences? I also plan to be in Chicago after college. ///
Harrison Street still pretty sweaty so I've heard. GO for the big name b/c brand does open a lot of doors, the people you meet / are around are pretty sharp + lot of connections down the line (still talk to my analyst class today years later), and the training is unparallel. I actually recommend going to a multi-strat firm, cool to see all the different types of investing / how people see the world beyond just RE.
Thanks - very helpful
Good grades, good connections, and/or good interview skills are going to help you a whole lot more than being in a “top” club. When you interview, focus more on those aspects and less on how prestigious you think your extracurricular is.
You're entirely correct. I've been working on all of those aspects of the application process. As for whether I should try to be at the best firm I can or if I should take it easy in comparison to some of those sweatier firms, what would you recommend?
If you are going to work for your family in development I would suggest trying to go right into development.
I mean jeez if youre in the top Real Estate Club, you might as well start out as CEO. Heard a place called Blackstone is looking for someone with your background.
Please tell me this is a troll post
I've been in the same exact position you are currently in. My family is/was in real estate development, much smaller scale though (1-3 unit development). Throughout college I wanted to do REIB -> REPE, thinking that the experience would help me grow my family's business. I ended up in a finance role on wall street unrelated to real estate. Decided to go back to NYU MSRE, which is where I started to realize that REPE and development are really two entirely different businesses, so I was split between the two. Upon graduating I had 3 offers, MM REPE, institutional developer, and a midsize developer (compensation from highest to lowest were in this order as well). I ultimately went with the midsize developer because I could actually implement the midsize developer's strategies and what I learned at my family's business and 5 years later it was, without a doubt, the best career decision I ever made. I also worked at another institutional developer for ~1 year to try it out and I hated it, primarily because nothing was transferable to my family's business, so I felt as if the job was pointless.
My advice is if you are dead set on working for your family's development business then you should work at a company that is at the same level or better yet, 1 or 2 levels above your family's business. My family was primarily developing 1-3 unit projects, so I worked at a midsize developer who primarily develops 3-50 unit projects. I have my taken my family up to 20 unit developments. If your family is already working on ~50+ unit developments, then you should work for an institutional developer, as you may actually be able to implement the institutional developer's strategies at your family's business one day. Happy to answer any questions as best I can.
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