I went from appraisal to a private equity real estate analyst. It's great experience, you just need to know how to leverage what you learned into your targeted employment. I would set up an informational interview with someone in the job function you are looking to do and pick their brain.

 

I used to work for Deloitte real estate consulting, and a couple of the partners in the NY office started out as appraisers. Of course, the valuation techniques used for our clients were pretty different than what the partners did as appraisers, but it provided them with a pretty solid foundation.

The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.
 

Appraisal is fine way to start. Teaches you how to value properties. You'll have to value properties if you want to lend money, invest money, structure money or even consult about money in REAL ESTATE. So you'll never be stuck anywhere after a single year in appraisal. CRE Asset Management means different things to different organizations. Google it.

 
Best Response

Appraisal is kind of a base-level skill in real estate, and while it's great to understand and obviously important to have, it's not particularly "prestigious." No one is going to say "Oh, you're an appraiser?" and be impressed.

Now, that being said, if you use your time wisely (join some RE organizations, network, etc.) and spin it well, it's a fantastic place to start. After all, you're going to be learning how to value properties, you're going to understand the market extremely well, and perhaps most important for people hiring in real estate - you will have proven your interest in the industry.

From appraisals, you can get into investment sales for a brokerage, Asset Management for a developer or REPE firm, or as an underwriter for a lender. IB will have a lot more to do with your undergraduate work, GPA, and masters program, but anything is possible.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

@Virginia Tech 4ever" I didn't mean REIB specifically, just IB in general. CRE how do I best spin my experience? I will be attending a real estate networking event at my Uni that will have some pretty big names there (Invesco, Cushman & Wakefield, Crow Capital Holdings, Stream Realty, CBRE, GS).

Array
 
cre123:

Why are you doing valuations in CRE if you want to do IB in TMT etc? You're in the wrong internship if you want to do IB outside of REIB (and even that's a longggggg path away by starting in valuations).

Also interested in this. What made you choose appraisal of all things, considering you dont ultimately want to work in RE down the line at all?

 
BobTheBaker:

@Virginia Tech 4ever I didn't mean REIB specifically, just IB in general. @CRE how do I best spin my experience?

Wait, you're not interested in real estate? This applies then:

cre123:

Why are you doing valuations in CRE if you want to do IB in TMT etc? You're in the wrong internship if you want to do IB outside of REIB (and even that's a longggggg path away by starting in valuations).

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

CRE IB being my first choice is far from being "not interested in Real Estate". I am obviously interested as I left an advisory position for this job. Can u please answer my question on how I best spin this internship to CRE firms?

Array
 

If you're interested in RE then REIB is not where you want to be. You want to be in REPE or at a development fund with the goal of running your own deals and raising your own capital through your network. REIB is only for guys focused in RE but remaining in the corp finance track raising capital. But, if you have a true passion for CRE and if you want to make a sh*tload of money, then you will want to bypass REIB and go straight into REPE or development. I don't see why you would want to go into REIB. Do you even know what REIB/IB in general entails?

 

If you are trying to spin appraisal experience to a CRE firm, then talk up the modeling/due diligence part of appraisal work.

Developers spend a great deal of time time researching markets, zoning, building ordinances, etc. and do a lot of modeling for their projects. Those skills are directly relatable, but a bit on the technical side.

Are you in TX?

 

Appraisal is a solid internship to have on your resume if you're trying to break into RE, but you don't want to work in the business if your ultimate goal is to get on the investment side. IB, development and investment sales are all better places to start out.

 

If it's CRE and for a big company like Cush/JLL/CBRE (I think they call it Valuation & Advisory?) you can definitely have good exit opps. I've seen tons of bios of people with reputable firms coming out of one of those teams. If it's with some mom and pop firm and mainly residential, then I would pass.

 

I do internal valuations (kind of like appraisal) for a national multifamily investor. I have been job searching looking for an acquisitions or debt analyst type role. Its been pretty slow so far getting called back for interviews. I can run DCFs and Dcaps no problem, but other than that my experience from this role is pretty limited. I'm not performing DD, returns analysis or anything like that which I believe is holding me back from the potential interviewers point of view.

 

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