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
You know this is a finance forum when all the posts are copies of the previous post with slightly different formatting changes.
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.