Share Stories or Posts About Some of the Best or Worst RE Acquisitions, Asset Management, or Brokerage Culture that You Have Seen
Hey WSO, I know RE workplace culture has been discussed hundreds if not thousands of times on this forum, but I'm curious to hear about RE firms with one of the best or worst workplace cultures that you've experienced in the past or heard from close colleagues or friends that love their job. I'd love to see if anyone could share their experiences with teams or firms where they have really enjoyed the workplace culture whether its in acquisitions, asset management, brokerage, or any other type of related real estate roles.
I'll start off by sharing a story of one of my buddies who used to work at the Eastdil office in SF and tells of the dreadful hours he had to work 70-90 hours per week with mediocre pay based on the work given. I'm not too shocked since Eastdil seems to be one of the best brokerage or REIB (as they call it) in most top markets. He said workplace culture was hardcore but he would do it again given the top exit ops provided to him. I'm curious if anyone has worked at a top REPE, asset management or brokerage firm who had better experiences. Usually high compensation is correlated with longer hours but has anyone worked for a top firm that has a very young and chill workplace culture?
Interviewed for a summer analyst position in Eastdil's NY office and was asked multiple times if I could handle working 100 hour weeks. And when I asked about summer analyst tasks/experience, I was told that even if there wasn't work to do I was expected to come in on the weekends and just watch analysts/associates do their work. Sounded brutal and glad I didn't get an offer because I probably would have hated it.
Eastdil pays better than any other real estate brokerage firm by quite a healthy margin. People typically take pay cuts to go to PE unless it’s BX.
I think the mindset of an intern should be that you want to be in on the weekends to learn all that ish as they are paying you to be be completely useless in terms of productivity. It’s the most valuable education you can take on and you’re getting paid to do it! That goes for pretty much any internship worth a shit.
I'm 6 months into my first job out of undergrad, an east coast multifamily REPE shop with 4Bn AUM.. I'm on the asset management team and i'll say it is far more relaxed than I was expecting. I probably work 9-5 every day, I've worked past 6pm 5 times, worked one Sunday and that's it. Given work from home, I take an hour at lunch to workout, read, prepare good food etc.
I think i'm getting spoiled because the comp is fair (not crazy but in line with other shops), the coworkers are super cool, and aside from working on my weekly and monthly tasks, I largely hangout and study internal materials just to further my education (models etc).
How much do you make?
Probably 85 all in
Hahahah oh boy.
An oppressive boss singlehandedly ruined our office culture by talking about our (ALL the analysts) professional mistakes and shortcomings behind our backs, constantly complaining about work and events outside of our control, and insulting people on a personal level for work deemed ‘insufficient’ in their eyes despite poor communication of expectations.
Perfect example: I got pulled into a meeting that was already 30 minutes in to discuss underwriting I had done for a revived deal I modeled some three months ago. No warning the meeting was happening despite the subject being my work. Kind of sloppy? Sure, but I walk in anyway to help them walk through the deal. Before my butt has hit the chair boss is drilling me with questions: exit cap? Market rent growth? Lease up velocity? I haven’t touched a page of analysis or even given the model a look on our screen. The second I start to utter “let me check and see what we had” (again how much modeling and other work have I done since I looked at this months ago?) their response:
“Why did I invite you in here? You can’t fucking help me. Did you even work on this deal?” And my favorite: “did you work in real estate before this job?”
A good 5-10 peers representing several companies are in the room and/or on the conference call listening to the drama unfold uncomfortably.
That happened about 5-6 times in my two years there.
Second this, currently in an environment where everyday feels like a fire drill and not always being told the correct amount of information, getting the full picture or being kept in the dark about certain aspects. Btw which market do you happen to be in?
Midwest physically and for most of my assets/deals
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