Getting Your Foot in the Door in Development
I am currently a senior finance undergrad student who has interned on the property management and investment sales sides of the business.
What are my hopes of landing an analyst position with a CRE Development firm? (Large firm or a small firm) Also what can I be doing to make myself more attractive to CRE development firms by the time I graduate?
I am working on an excel certification for Commercial Real Estate Modeling.
Any help would be very appreciated.
I promise I'm not trying to be an asshole, but a better use of your time would be calling the developers where you want to work and asking them.
If you're still in school, go to career fairs and use your professors/school resources. Getting a job afterwards is tough and the ticking clock gets real loud when you're not getting a paycheck.
Just landed a FT development position as an undergrad. Like you, I have a finance major. First off, development is pretty difficult to break into directly after undergrad. A lot of developers like to hire people who bring experience/connections with them, that being said, it can be done. You can definitely leverage your PM and IS experiences, it’s good you’ve seen 2 different aspects of the business. It’s good you're planning on taking a modeling course, because your best bet of breaking into development right now is coming in as a financial analyst. You’ve probably built a solid base of financial understanding in school, and have a basic understanding of the industry from your internship experiences. If I were you, I would attend any career fairs your school provides and contact alumni currently in the industry and ask them if they know any developers hiring for entry level roles. Real estate is a lot about relationships, applying to positions on job boards are a waste of time.
This isn't meant to discourage you by any means, but it's very hard to break into development out of college. Out of the development colleagues I know personally (maybe 200?), I don't know a single one with a newly minted undergrad analyst. I don't say this to discourage you, but just to give you a sense of the practical reality out there.
Now, it doesn't necessarily take 5 years of experience to make the transition. If you can lock down an acquisitions/asset management job, or brokerage job where you are interacting with a lot of principal groups, the transition will be much easier. Maybe sharpen your underwriting and valuation skills for a year and then start pounding the pavement?
Agree with the above. Best thing to do is to aggressively network and get an acq./am role. Even with acq./am role they are hard to land. If you can't get into acq./am, try to work for one of the larger brokerage firms. A lot of development shops are local and lean. They are less likely to have the time and capacity to train someone right out of undergrad. Also, your first 18 months out of undergrad is going to be a whirlwind (little thing call life) and you are going to learn a lot of things that are not even RE related. RE is a long game just don't give up.
It is definitely difficult to break in out of undergrad, but definitely not impossible. I got two development offers out of UG. A lot of it is about having a story (which you have with PM and IS experience) and being able to speak to your interest in the industry. Real estate is a pretty niche industry that isn't very transferable, so a companies want to make sure that you really are interested in a real estate career, and that you aren't just randomly firing off applications.
I'll echo what others have said about the value of networking vs. applying through online job openings. If you do apply online, try to find someone in that company that you have something in common with (went to the same school, from the same hometown, etc.) and follow up with them. My success rate increased significantly when I started doing this. Best of luck and feel free to PM me.
It's very hard out of undergrad. I recently graduated (a year ago) looking to get into development. Had a few in-person office/coffee meeting with developers, some I've known for years, who said they wouldn't hire because I'm so new, I need experience. One said he could hire me to look for potential acquisitions (land), but he feels brokerage would be a better path starting out.
Currently in investment sales. Going into another aspect of RE, with potential exit ops, for 2-3 years isn't that much time in the long run. There's still so much for you to learn, brokerage is a great way to meet people/get comfortable in the industry before making the jump.
Try and find a land brokerage team, and work for them as an analyst and/or lead generator.
I’m going to provide a different perspective and argue it’s not as hard as you think. Yes, it’s a small niche and there aren’t many positions, but you have a tremendous advantage over anyone who isn’t 100% committed to real estate. I sold hard on that during my interviews. Most people who just want to do IB won’t answer real estate specific questions as well, so play that to your strength.
I had an economics degree from a target school, did admin work for an industrial broker, then worked for a boutique developer doing acquisition work while studying abroad. I found this postions through my college’s career website and interviewed from abroad.
FYI, I am an immigrant with absolutely no connections, growing up in a family of non-business people. Add female and minority to that. If I can do it there’s no excuse for it to be had for anyone.
Brush up on your definitions and your modeling. We don’t expect first year analysts to know anything, but we expect you are passionate about and committed to real estate development.
Hope that’s helpful. You got this!
I haven’t read any of the comments. There’s a fuck load! I say this being well entrenched on both sides and across everything from industrial to childcare, to storage etc. First step, don’t talk to a banker. Second step, don’t talk to a real estate agent. Learn as much as you can from engineers, architects and similar. Prob’s join a “developer”. Work your way through to acquisitions. It will improve both your direct/credit game, and, you’ll produce models that actually make fucken sense. It will land you in the sweet spot that bridges theory and practicality.
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