Buy-side or sell-side in Real Estate?

I am nearing the end of my SA gig at one of the top CRE sell-side shops (think Cushman/HFF/CBRE/Eastdil) on the east coast and am fairly confident that I'll be receiving an offer as a full-time analyst in the next 2 months.

I know that I 100% want to end up on the buy-side in REPE acquisitions, but I'm not sure if I should take the risk, deny an amazing offer, and start the recruiting process all over again. What do you guys think? Am I crazy to pursue the possibility of starting my career on the buy-side (in acquisitions), or should I just try to stick it out as an analyst for the first two years? I would hate to reject a great offer and then end up failing miserably recruiting for buy-side jobs.

 

You would have to find a pretty amazing job to beat out your current offer (unless you’re in one of HFFs tiny offices).

I would accept it and enjoy your senior year. You can leave after a year or two for some very impressive places. Ive found interviews for experienced hires to be much easier because you know you’ve always got your current job regardless of the outcome of the interview. I would go the route with less risk here. The first year or two after college will fly by, and pay is solid at both firms.

Array
 

Thank you immensely for the honest opinion -- I'm in located at the largest office at my firm. I think you're definitely right that I should just stick it out for a year or two. The pay all-in would be fairly equivalent to a BB IB analyst so definitely no complaints there.

It definitely doesn't make sense to go the riskier route. I guess I sort of just needed to hear it from someone else that it's not the smart decision.

 
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