Is Legacy and Power What We're After?
All,
I'm sure we can all relate to this. Does having power in your city and everyone knowing your name what we're chasing? I'm in CRE appraisal valuing pretty badass real estate across the country. But at the end of the day, I'm creating a report with a number, that only the client and myself see. I'm sure other professions in this line of work like developers and syndicators get a feeling of power and ego when people know their name and they control community-impacting real estate. Is this what everyone is chasing? I often have to re-evaluate why I'm doing what I'm doing and why I want to eventually develop my own real estate and it always comes back to having this sense of power. Is this over-rated? My job (and every other job) is stressful enough and sometimes even hated. Having to manage people's money and undertake risk in exchange for this ideology would compound my current stress ten fold. Curious to know how many of y'all would want the least amount of stress possible in life and not take the developer/fund manager route.
Ah yes, the legacy and power of an appraiser, what a life.
Seriously though, I am under the impression that young professionals like you and I seemingly want to work all those hours, get as many reps as you can, be available 24/7 etc. but as you get older, life changes and if you value your life over your career, then your career will change too.
Not everyone wants or needs to be a deal junkie their whole life, some are just fine doing whatever 40-50 hour week lifestyle they have and there is nothing wrong with that.
lol certainly no legacy and power as an appraiser. That ideology resonates with my wanting to get into development down the road, so people can see what I create. Things do change and we can never really know what's going to happen in life. I guess that's why only a handful of developers make it. As cliche as it is, I always hold onto the fact that anything is possible especially if you meet the right people. Crazier things have happened.
I feel you homie, my first job was in appraisal so I understand. You absolutely can go on the development track, especially if you are doing land valuations for prospective developments - you should be in constant contact with someone on the developer's team and can network that route.
Anything is possible for sure. I once saw an analyst go from agency underwriting at JLL/CBRE to acquisitions at Apollo/Carlyle. You got it.
Maybe for some people. Plenty of us are happy flying under the radar making good money and working on interesting deals.
I'm looking for almost the exact opposite of what you're talking about.
Obviously being successful is the goal, and with that comes limited notoriety in your chosen field, but I think there are many disadvantages and only few advantages to being a "celebrity" in this business. Donald Trump is an outlier in that he wasn't a successful developer but was a successful celebrity, but even folks that are/were highly successful and live their life in the public eye as a result seem to be chasing something that has no tangible value. Harry Macklowe is brilliant, one of the few people who I would genuinely say has demonstrated creative vision over his career, and not just rode a wave of cheap credit or a hot market, but does anyone really think that being known for all that has gotten him anything? If anything I'm sure it has made his life more difficult.
Better to be wealthy and unknown. Especially because if no one is hounding you all the time, your time is more your own, and that's really the end goal, I think, for most of us - to be in a position where we can afford the luxury of disposing of our time as we see fit.
I know what you mean. It's hard not to have an ego, it's an easy by-product of being in RE. Especially when you look at achievements of top figures at renowned companies. I'm 27 and the idea of being successful at an age younger than the typical "successful" RE individual appeals to me. But more importantly/in a lesser sense, I'd want to own enough real estate to be able to pass down to my kids. But that doesn't necessarily mean I'd have to be on the complete end of the spectrum and be a top player. It's very achievable to own well-performing RE flying under the radar.
I don't think you do know what I mean.
I think it's extremely easy to not have an ego - what I don't understand is people who do. You're making the explicit point that you want to be more successful than your peers, and the way you're phrasing all this means it sounds like you want people to know that you're unusually successful, as well.
"Flying under the radar" and not being the most successful person in your field are not the same thing. Flying under the radar means not advertising your success. Means that when people think of the most successful people in a field, that they don't think of you even though they should. That's not at all the same just not being in that tier (however you define it) in the first place.
It's the difference between whether you're calling your publicist every time you close a deal, or ducking calls from the press because you don't want your name in the paper.
Quite the contrary actually. Not in the industry anymore, but I would gladly have taken $250k/year for the rest of my life coasting by in a tier-2 COL city.
I have had no desire to be a known, real estate "player" as that is much harder to do than many might think. I'd rather work on interesting deals, with educated and enjoyable people, making enough money to support myself and my family without worries.
What made you leave the industry?
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