Hello all, this is my first post in the real estate forum on WSO, and I am just testing the waters.
I recently finished several rounds of interviews with a small boutique Real Estate Advisory firm that is based out of D.C. I am looking at interning in their smaller office in a subsidiary market (Top 10 cities US) in a role that would be most easily classified as a Investment Sales Analyst. So underwriting certain property types and also preparing investor financials.
After two really great interviews and an offer later, I learned that the internship would be 20-25 hours a week and unpaid. The firm seems really genuine but I am still skeptical of taking on an unpaid offer on top of my school load.
I have let the firm know about my situation and they are still very enthusiastic about having me join their team. This leads me to ask, how many of you have accepted unpaid offers, and does being unpaid potentially offer you more exposure than a similar entry level position that would be paid?
You mention investment sales - so brokerage? (advisory when used in real estate does not mean what it does in banking or the rest of finance.)
As far as unpaid internship. It's pretty common in brokerages but it's possible that they may reimburse travel, provide lunch, etc. Beyond that - I can't really see them paying out for someone to do basic modelling, canvasing, preparing pitchbooks, or helping out on walkthroughs.
As for experience paid vs unpaid - shouldn't make a difference.
Someone more familiar with DC specifically might be able to chime in.
If you don't have to worry about paying bills, take the job. Experience is everything in real estate and an internship is better than no internship.
That said, companies that offer unpaid internships are, without question, scumbags.
First - congrats on the offer. What year are you and what school in DC?
As alexiaous pointed out, advisory is brokerage. However, I would disagree with his latter statement. Some advisory firms, take AZ for example, play an important role in advising clients. Whether it is analysis on a refi/recap vs sale, restructuring financial obligations, 1031 advisory, etc. a firm with such clout plays a similar role that an IB would to owners of an operating company. Conversely, there are a lot of "advisory" firms that do not fit the bill and more or less sell assets rather than advise and place.
With that being said, which bucket does the firm who offered you the job fall into? You would have to make an educated guess, or PM me with details. In any case, assuming it's not a subpar shop, I would take the unpaid internship in a heart beat and learn everything your little heart can soak up. If you will be underwriting assets and exposed to live deals, that is valuable experience while still in undergrad.
I went to school in the DMV area. I took an unpaid internship because I was hungry and knew I needed it to dress my resume up like a little school girl on picture day. Sounds like you know what you're doing because you are taking initiative. Keep up the good work, that's how you get ahead.
-REPE Associate in NYC
I don't know as much about the RE game as others but would recommend doing a internship as long as it doesn't crush you financially. Could also use the "unpaid" argument as leverage to better firms/industries. Like you want it so bad you'll work for free.
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