What exit opps would two solid years doing investment sales (mixed use residential: ground floor retail with resi above; deal sizes from 5mm to 35mm) in Manhattan provide?
Two years of sourcing off market deals, creating relationships with major owners throughout the city, etc.
Thanks,
| +82 | LP coming into deal at higher land basis. How to model returns to GP? | 19 | 6h | |
| +76 | Increasing RE Industry's Cash Compensation, Collectively | 43 | 1d | |
| +73 | Major Decisions | 13 | 2d | |
| +44 | Being asked to stay behind and train my replacement | 11 | 4h | |
| +33 | Niche down to an operator or stay an allocator | 11 | 4h | |
| +24 | Breaking into CRE late 20s | 7 | 4d | |
| +23 | Thoughts on joining an early-stage REPE fund | 7 | 1d | |
| +22 | Self Storage ECRI | 9 | 3d | |
| +20 | Public Homebuilders | 7 | 1h | |
| +20 | How to get good at RE Modelling? | 18 | 5h |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
I've got about 2 years of investment sales brokerage experience and the exit ops are fine. I've been looking for a new job, haven't secured one yet, but I have had a few interviews.
Ranging from REITS, REPE, Developers, SF Developers, to other brokerage groups. Only reason I don't have a new job yet is mainly because of my technical skills and a lot of the companies I interviewed weren't a great fit.
MM, Interesting and I greatly appreciate the feedback. You response brings to mind a few questions:
What technical skills do you need shoring up or acquiring?
How often do you see fellow brokers going out on their own to buy property after doing their time in the I.S. game?
If you could go back say two or one year(s) what would you do differently and/or improve upon?
What skills/contacts/perspectives/[fill in the blank] does a major metro I.S. guy offer a PE/Developer/Etc that a straight acquisitions guy (for instance) does not?
Thanks MM.
Disclaimer: I do not have an IS background
4 is the biggest one. IS is all about who you know and who you can get connected to through your network. People working in IS with the same level of experience will, on average, have larger networks than analysts and associates in more analytical roles. If you work at CBRE/HFF/C&W you will know guys working on transactions in all asset classes internally, buyers for whatever assets you work on, you have connection to your in house debt team. That is access to a lot of information. I'm not saying there aren't acquisitions guys with great network too, but the entrepreneurial nature of RE means there are a lot of small shops out there where you won't necessarily meet the same number of people.
Just my $0.02
Basically just excel. I'm fairly good at it, but a lot of developers/ acquisitions roles want someone with a lot more experience. I probably know more about real estate than any of the other applicants, but have gotten tripped up on a few skills tests and have definitely lost out to someone who is an excel monkey. Most of what you do in brokerage is 1-5 year pro-formas into an already built model.
Once they have enough money a lot of guys start getting into the ownership game. Probably a lot longer than 2 years though. I only own my house and have no where near enough money to buy a rental (would probably look into a 2-4plex within the next few years).
If I could go back in time, I would do three things differently. 1) In college, I would have double majored in Finance and Real Estate (I came in ahead and took less than a full load most years). Real Estate covered a lot of the fundamentals I needed to be a developer, but I lacked the financial skills and money to actually become one. The double major would have definitely set me up better. I'm kind of playing catch up at this point and have debated getting a MSF. 2) I would have found a different company to begin my career at. I basically jumped at the first brokerage to give me a spot and am not quite satisfied with my experiences here. 3) I would have kept networking even after accepting my job. Around the end of college/ the beginning of my career, I was networking like crazy around town, and after securing and starting my job, I effectively quit networking until about November of 2016.
I'm still trying to figure this one out. I've tried playing the whole "wanted to get sales experience and, now, know how to fill (with tenants) and sell a building" piece and also the "self starter not afraid to work on commission thing." I actually think the real benefit is that brokerage really boosts your confidence and removes that fear of talking to/ meeting people and asking them for their time and money.
Hi Monopoly, I have a couple of questions.
I was wondering if you have found a buy side job yet?
Thanks in advance for the responses
Decided to stay in brokerage, I went from a boutique to one of the big 3 and it was a fantastic decision.
Interviewed at a number of places and realized brokerage was probably still the best place for me and the company I work at now has a culture and environment that I fit really well into. In the past year though I have focused a lot on professional development. I did all three of the REFM courses and have gotten significantly better with that side of things. I also joined NAIOP, got more involved in ULI and have spent a lot of time learning and reading. Additionally, I took on a advisor role with with a small not-for-profit that only takes up about 2 hours a month.
I’m happy that brokerage worked out for you. Thanks again for the response!
Pickle, This makes sense to me given that I.S. guys must be on the phones at least 5 hours a day to essentially survive and thrive. I doubt an acquisitions guy is on the phone 1/5 as much as these guys. When you run that out 340 days~ you have a significantly different result by the end of the year. But, the acquisitions guy is going to have much stronger technical skills (excel modeling, valuation of more complicated deals, projects) on average. So, this is the balancing act/test bw these two backgrounds.
Voluptatem sit et asperiores qui sed et numquam. Sint omnis doloremque placeat consectetur assumenda.
Qui beatae fugiat sed harum. Necessitatibus tenetur consequuntur fuga nihil consequuntur est. Aut maxime reiciendis distinctio laudantium et fuga.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...