What is your compensation in CRE Lending?

Saw the great post on compensation in real estate finance (here: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/what-is-you…) but wanted to drill down to the lending side of the business.

Industry: Middle market lending Title: Analyst Market: nationwide Office: large southeastern MSA Shop Size: Small Experience: 2 years real estate Product: Mostly bridge (balance sheet) loans Duties: underwriting & asset mgmt Compensation: $60ish base, ~$5,000-$7,000 bonus, 401K, Health

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in my old position at a middle-market insurance lender, mainly doing bridge/short term relatively low risk loans: Title: Analyst Market: nationwide Office: New England secondary (maybe third) city Shop Size: Small (0-20 employees) Experience: 0-1 years real estate, unrelated masters Product: Mostly bridge (balance sheet), but will do construction loans Duties: underwriting loans and LIHTC Compensation: $75,000 base, ~$15,000-$20,000 bonus, 401K, Health, tuition reimbursement, all other insurance perks Hours: 40-50

 

Firm Type: Bulge Bracket Investment Bank Title: Associate (1st year) Market: Nationwide Office: Southern California Shop Size: My local team 5 people / National Team 50+ / Company 10,000+ Experience: Four years of CRE experience Product: Primarily CMBS with a substantial balance sheet Duties: Origination & Underwriting Compensation: $95,000 base, 50% bonus, 401K, Health Hours: Depends on the office, but the west coast satellite offices generally work stupid hours due to the time difference. 70+

 

Firm Type: Large bank Title: Analyst Industry: Large BS loans Market: Southeast Office: Atlanta/Charlotte Shop Size: My local team 25 people / National Team 200+ / Company 10,000+ Experience: Straight out of undergrad. Interned in RE lending for a different company. Product: Construction and bridge. Some mezz Duties: Underwriting and portfolio management Compensation: $60,000 base, 10-15% bonus, 401K, Health, $5k signing Hours: 45 when no deals are going on (this summer). 55-60 when on a live deal.

 

Old position for me or someone I know

Firm Type: Life Co Title: Senior Analyst Market: Nationwide Office: Large MSA Shop Size: Small (0-20 employees) in office Experience: 4 years, MBA Product: Senior debt, mostly low leverage core with some bridge and value-add Duties: origination, underwriting and loan management Compensation: $75K base, ~$20K bonus

 

Firm Type: Large bank Title: Analyst Industry: Large BS loans Market: National Office: North East - Secondary City Shop Size: My local team 50 people / National Team 300+ / Company 30,000+ Experience: Straight out of undergrad. Product: Construction, term, perm, cross-sale of other bank fee products Duties: Underwriting, portfolio management, origination, and capital market functions Compensation: $60,000 base, 401K 4% , Health, $5k signing Hours: 40 / Will probably increase to 50-55 as I progress through my program.

Does anyone have insight on compensation in a role like mine that's on the origination side 2-5 years down the road? I want to possibly transition to the REPE or Development side of things, but don't want to stay too long in the bank lending side. Also want to stay long enough to gain sufficient experience and possibly reach a 'VP' level. Would MBA or MRED be smart?

 

" increase to 50-55 hours as I progress through the program", what program is that/? Is that like an internship? And your position, role is exactly what i would like to do, so if your comfortable can you pm me the bank or the types of banks I should be targeting? Thanks!

 

I don't work in the field, but have buddies in CRE lending in Texas making $60k base and eligible for up to $15k bonus. They are 2nd year analyst at a large commercial bank. As for hours, they say they do between 45-50 hours. I and am sure many others can attest here that CRE lending has very favorable hours where you can have a life. Hell, the lenders that finance our stuff are never in the office past 5pm on weekdays and if its a Friday, don't even bother calling because everyone is gone after 2 p.m.

Array
 
"TeddyTheBear"

I don't work in the field, but have buddies in CRE lending in Texas making $60k base and eligible for up to $15k bonus. They are 2nd year analyst at a large commercial bank. As for hours, they say they do between 45-50 hours. I and am sure many others can attest here that CRE lending has very favorable hours where you can have a life. Hell, the lenders that finance our stuff are never in the office past 5pm on weekdays and if its a Friday, don't even bother calling because everyone is gone after 2 p.m.

Can confirm this as well, minus the leaving at 2:00 part, although people in my group did leave around 4 if things were slow.

"There are only two opinions in this world: Mine and the wrong one." -Jeremy Clarkson
 

A lot of BS lenders don't directly tie comp to individual production for a reason. If your goal is to put as much money out the door as possible you might stretch numbers in order to get deals done where it doesn't make sense to. Sure credit might catch it sometimes, but a lot of times they wont.

The key in lending is not production, it's risk management. Think about it this way. If you lose 10% on a $10M loan, you probably have to make $50MM in new loans just to break even. It's a lot easier just to make a $10M loan when you are 99%+ certain you get your $ back.

 

Curious - is it common for CRE underwriters to transition to C&I underwriting or vice-versa? and/or a hybrid underwriting role encompassing both?

 

Any data point on analysts with minimal RE experience in shops like Arbor, Hunt, Northmarq, Berkadia etc? What's the next stop for an analyst like that? underwriting or origination?

 

Industry: Commercial Real Estate Lending Title: Analyst Market: Mid-Atlantic Shop Size: Large Bank Experience: Relevant internships. First FT position out of undergrad Product: Mostly BS Loans (Multifamily, Office, Retail, Industrial) Duties: Underwriting & Asset Management Compensation: $65,000 base, $5,000 sign-on bonus, Expecting a low first-year bonus, 401K, Health

 

Would you prefer staying on the debt side of things or move to the equity side? For analysts who started at your bank, what was the career progression for them? Become underwriters or originators? How long will that take on average?

 

Firm Type: Regional Bank Title: Commercial Lender Market: New England Experience: 8 years, MBA, was an analyst for 4 years Product: Senior debt, mostly low leverage core with some bridge and value-add, mainly CRE , construction, long term, bridge, lines Duties: origination, underwriting and loan management Compensation: $105K base, 15-30k bonus

 

Firm Type: Major Life Co Title: Asset Management Analyst Market: Secondary City Experience: less than one year, but have Master's degree Product: We have multiple capital sources Duties: asking borrowers for their financial statements, rudimentary analysis an 8th grader could do Compensation: $60K base, 6-8k bonus Hours: On paper its 40 hours but we "work from home" once a week and those days tend to be just off days. So it's really more like 32

I like the lifestyle of having 4 day work weeks but I'm not making enough to meet my personal financial goals. Not to mention I feel unchallenged and the work is not sexy. Gonna pivot to something else next year though

 

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