LA or NYC Acquisitions

If you had the same acquisitions analyst opportunity lined up in both NYC and LA, which would you take? Assume it is a huge company and you will have the same deal flow/exposure to different property types.

Things to consider: lifestyle, comp, anything other considerations leading to an enjoyable life.

 

Are you an east coast or west coast kind of guy? Big difference between NY and LA culture... this difference will largely decide which opportunity people would take (assuming all else equal in the job itself - pay, career progression, "prestige" of company).

 

If you really enjoy NYC and were born and bred there, I would stay in NYC, unless you're open to staying in LA for a year or two. Most of my friends from NYC can't imagine living the rest of their lives out in LA due to cultural differences (a few have tried and moved back) and will likely just stay in NYC.

 

LA is a different beast. Wouldn't recommend relocating if you have grown up / worked in a major metropolitan city. The cultural differences will be more frustrating than interesting.

 
reLA:

You love orange county? You like gated communities, suburban families, and the occasional night out in newport?

What's wrong with Orange County? Not a bad place to be, yeah sure it's cookie cutter but you can't complain about living there. Much worse places out in the world.

I had a flair for languages. But I soon discovered that what talks best is dollars, dinars, drachmas, rubles, rupees and pounds fucking sterling.
 

From personal experience, the LA real estate circle is small and the major players run in the same circles. If you can break in with a good shop and team, you can set your self up for the long term in the PERE industry.

Also, most of the MD's and Principals live in Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica and Malibu which are all sweet. Pretty encouraging if you see yourself in their position someday.

"Ric Flair Drip"
 
pe_re24:

@reLA - I like Maserati's, Ferrari's, amazing beaches, mansions and dime pieces wherever I look, so yes, yes I do. I don't need go to a club until two in the morning anymore, bars suit me just fine and get the job done.

Haha this is ridiculous. Have fun man!

 
pe_re24:

@reLA - I like Maserati's, Ferrari's, amazing beaches, mansions and dime pieces wherever I look, so yes, yes I do. I don't need go to a club until two in the morning anymore, bars suit me just fine and get the job done.

Why do you hate LA then? This douchebag statement is typically the answer to my question, so I am now confused......

 

I can't argue with you on traffic, smog, hipsters, and the mass entertainment population. So I see your point on that. Traffic really sucks and i hate it, but i take the good with the bad.

If you don't like hipsters, stay out of Venice. Lack of any nature? i mean have you ever lived in LA? This thread was comparing NYC to LA, and I would say nature is a positive for LA and a negative for NY. There's so many places to hike and be outdoors in LA (runyon canyon is literally in Hollywood).

 

Also I think Mad Men is addressing this question right now Spoiler alert

....is Pete really happier in California with a tan and a vapid girlfriend? Why won't Don leave NYC? When is Roger going to decimate Jim Cutler's career/presumably buxom young girlfriend?

/end spoilers

Fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds of run. - Kipling
 
Gene Parmesan:

Also I think Mad Men is addressing this question right now *Spoiler alert*

....is Pete really happier in California with a tan and a vapid girlfriend? Why won't Don leave NYC? When is Roger going to decimate Jim Cutler's career/presumably buxom young girlfriend?

/end spoilers

Draper has no idea what's coming. Team Ted 4 Life

 

I have cousins who grew up in Carlsbad and like you wrote, when people think of CA with beaches, surfers, bonfires on the beach and bong hits, that's SD and the towns north. SF is great, I lived there years ago right out of college and my dad lived in the Bay Area when I was growing up so I spent every summer there and know it well, but SF isn't the CA everyone thinks. I really like it, but it's kind of an east coast city with a more laid back and crunchy population. It is by far the best economy in CA.

 
kmzz:

That's because SD is where dreams go to die. The only people in SD are retired and rich or young and unmotivated and probably working at your local bank branch inside of a grocery store

Pretty true, except *working AT the grocery store, not the bank inside the store! The start up scene in sd is getting bigger, and biotech is big down here. DT is growing fast, but still seems like a long time before SD catches up to other cities, well it won't catch up, but it will progress. Which is also the beauty.

OP, as stated above, repe is a small community in CA, but REPE is highly regarded and RE overall is huge here. So if you are at a reputable shop, you will have lots of opportunities here for the rest of your life. Most the rich people I know here, all work in re and by the end of their careers personally own multiple apartment buildings and income properties. The really rich ones start their own real estate development/investment companies owning apartment buildings or developing mixed use properties. At the BB bank I worked at in LA a couple years ago, I knew an analyst in the RE group. He had it GOOD. Not IB bonuses, but worked probably 55-60 hours / wk, with an amazing career path. I had a friend in REIB in LA, he worked a lot, but got IB bonuses. There are lots of rich RE investors/developers that run relatively small/lean shops, I believe these are good companies to join after a few years, good work/life balance, and opportunities to invest, or do your own deals.

Can't speak for NY, I'm sure the industry is much bigger there, but I would also assume they work more and there is more competition (from others doing your same job). Also, again, I would assume with the cost of RE there, it would take longer for you to make your own investments. I have RE friends here in their 20's owning income properties, flipping properties, etc., outside of their company, often they do this alongside their boss.

 

IMO, LA = great climate, crappy people. However, as the first comment mentioned, this is a completely personal question you can only ask and answer yourself. Go visit and figure it out.

Let me preface this by saying I consider LA as Downtown to Beverly Hills, I put Westwood and all the coastal spots (Santa Monica to Orange County) in a separate bucket (I like the coastal parts). Some people move to LA and take to it like a duck to water, others hate it and move out not long after. I've rarely met someone in the middle, it seems to have a polarizing effect on people.

 

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