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Does your head hurt?
“Why is it so hard to marry a 10 who is also incredibly chill with a rich dad who thinks of me as a son. Surely there are enough for everyone!”
But also, isn’t comp lessor and no carry at the big name shops that do trophy deals / opportunity is better with smaller shops? I wouldn’t necessarily think it’s the same as guys flocking to a 10 w a rich dad.
I feel like most people actually don’t think working at a shop like that has much opportunities for growth. I really just love those projects and everyone successful I’ve met just says do what you love and somehow the money always follows.
I think the disconnect here is from people who don’t specify the level they are discussing. Complaints such as lower comp or lack of opportunity for carry are often far more relevant at the VP and Director level than they are the Analyst and Associate level.
A place like Hines, or TCC, or Related isn’t stiffing their Analyst class, and people work there specifically because of the experiences you gain, the network you build, and the resume bullet point you acquire. These positions are difficult to acquire because they are highly valuable.
When you get a VP promotion and get told that you aren’t getting promote until you hit MD while your boys at smaller shops are collecting $100k+ checks from selling surface parked apartments, or you’re a MD spending all of your time doing one hyper complicated deal that may or may not be profitable when you could be doing 5-10 far less complicated deals and have 1-2 absolute home runs in that set, that’s when the value question starts to set in.
That is not relevant to an Analyst though and it’s also not a black or white decision, as evidenced by the higher ups at those firms making plenty of money.
lol I actually did that, but he doesn’t give me any money. I feel like a phony tho, I got an average comp at and avg shop and don’t really see getting in the 1m/yr range here, and I have this 10 wife from this good family that married a smuck. Everyone I hear people mention/talk about got this inheritance or cool job from their families connections way ahead of me right now in life. Can’t help but compare/want to do what I want to do for work at least.
Gotta give the inlaws offspring. Secure the future. Secure the bag.
Just did that last month. Maybe things will change around here.
What’s criteria classifies a shop as sexy?
A good logo
Goldman Sachs immediately doesn’t count with the new rebrand
What were they thinking honestly
I’m mainly referring to projects a shop works on without really considering culture, comp, etc. so, projects like HQ2, Hudson Yards, Ocean Reef Club, The Carlyle Hotel, etc.
So I’m considering a shop sexy if they work on anything like that. Frequency is a plus. Projects that are architecturally amazing, thought provoking, and intricate are why I got into real estate.
Not as much as putting lipstick on existing retail buildings, rezoning land, and fixing up low income apartments for returns. That isn’t why I fell in love with the thought of this as a career.
I have done both. Once initial shine of the mock-ups and touring the site wears off, the physical buildings are still sick, but the work itself is not really thought provoking and in reality the owner/CEO is the shot caller on absolutely everything you would deem cool about the project (design, retail mix, etc etc). Not even the SVPs or MDs, who “might” get input. Cost change, leasing calls and budget reconciliation monkey.
And would classify myself as an actual junkie of the RE itself. I love skyscrapers and urban planning and the like but I actually find value-add investing (in commercial or lodging) much more interesting. Theres only a couple things in this industry that sound more boring to me than working on HQ2 for JBG to be honest.
All my opinion and others may think differently however.
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Is this a troll post? Isn't is a bit obvious why highly sought after roles are tough to get?
Most of these “sexy developments” as you call them don’t make money. Wouldn’t chase these roles. They make huge fees. But they aren’t worth the risk you take by paying top dollar, doing crazy risky construction, and projecting top dollar rents. Much easier to make money doing light value add.
These firms are fee chasers. Much like the upstart VC boom in the last cycle were for the most part all fee chasing.
I work at a “Sexy” dev shop that everyone here mentions often and I can tell you we aren’t fee chasing. However we also aren’t really known for projects on the scale of Hudson Yards (we are doing our first ever similar but smaller project at the moment. Otherwise we are much more traditional merchant build). Are Related/Hines really making all that much off of fees? Our goal is to generally cover OpEx with fees, but it’s not by all that much. We just want to be set up so that any promote or principal profit then goes straight to the bottom line.
This is what I mean. In a world where everyone suggests not to chase these roles, why are they so hard to land?
I get it. They suck, don’t make money, and you may never climb the ladder, but I care more abt the fulfillment of the projects that I’m working on.
I want to visit a project I played a role in making that doesn’t raise a red flag and you wouldn’t think I was up to something sketchy if you saw me for once haha.
It isn’t particularly fulfilling to work on a money losing project or incredibly complicated project that causes so much agita because nothing is simple. These are the risks that are why these types of projects generally don’t make money. Keep it simple applies to real estate as well.
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