Offers in Development & REPE Acquisition & AM ...... Help!
First off, thank you to those that provided insights on my previous post where I was deciding b/w a role in REIB and REPE. I received great feedback and hope you guys can help me out again. Since then, I accepted the role out west in REPE ($25b+) doing MF acquisition and AM focused in the SE markets. I was extremely happy with my decision but things have recently changed. A few days ago, I was offered a job with a prominent developer in SoFlo. I have built that relationship for the past year and a half and it has finally come to fruition. They are truly best in class, vertically integrated, and develop amazing resi, office, and retail throughout the southeast (not just soflo). The role begins in their financial services department where I will get exposure to every aspect of every deal (well as much as I can handle starting out), and they truly want to invest in me for the future. This is a role where I would stay for the next 10+ years as many of the guys have done at the firm. It's basically a frat, but they are all sharp guys that work on awesome deals.
To preface, I am coming out of school, and this will be my first full-time job. I am really just hungry to learn and to set myself up for the future. It seems I will have amazing exposure in both roles and will eventually have a voice in the decision process once I am ramped up at both shops. The role in soflo is ideal as I ultimately want to stay in FL, but I am just not sure what is the best option. I interned for a developer and enjoyed the process of turning farmland into cash-flowing RE, but at the same time, I also eventually want to build my own portfolio of MF which is precisely what I would be learning at the REPE role.
I feel extremely blessed to be in this position, but I am conflicted more than ever and could use some advice. So any guidance would be truly appreciated. Hope you can help, thank you!
Easy answer. Development
Development, especially if you have been cultivating that relationship for awhile
Interested in others' thoughts, as I'm in a somewhat similar boat (in advanced stages with PE firms and developers). But IMO the real answer isn't as clear cut as other posters make it out to be. $25B REPE is pretty big, and probably provides better comp / branding / training
It should be clear cut - if you want to do development, pursue a developer, if you want to do REPE, pursue REPE. They are different skill sets in the long run. What interests you more, doing project management and building something from nothing with some finance tied into the job, or a more pure play finance role where your entire focus is finding the next great deal?
Real estate isn't traditional PE, branding isn't as important (within reason). In terms of comp, 100% REPE will be better with very few exceptions. In terms of training, I disagree because it will be entirely firm dependent. The only places you're likely to get a real, structured training program will be in brokerage or REIB. Buy side you learn as you go and hope you have a good mentor who's willing to show you the ropes.
To answer OP's question, it sounds like you're more interested in development and have really been striving for the development role, so I'd pursue that.
People and culture aside, I would go wherever you believe you will see the most deal flow. I'm a couple of years removed from school but just went through the decision of whether to stay at my previous REPE firm, move to a larger REPE firm, or go into development. I am passionate about mixed-use development but the two developers I was in the mix with didn't have the deal flow or stable capital source that gave me the confidence to make the jump. I moved to the larger REPE firm so I UW a lot of opportunities including development.
I would be careful to renege on the offer you accepted though. I'm not sure how much it matters long term but it could hurt your school and yourself in the near future.
I would be hesitant to renege on an offer that you accepted, unless it was something where you had accepted an internship and were then offered a FT position somewhere else, which isn't the case here. If ultimately you decide to take the development role I'd be reeeeeeally delicate with how you deliver that message.
Here's my 2 cents. Even if you want to transition back to development/Florida at some point, starting out in REPE is not a bad idea because you are going to get a lot more reps, plus you'll have a much better understanding of the capital stack. You could spend 2-4 years at the REPE shop and then transition back to a developer, although you'd likely have to make a lateral jump at that time. It's a lot easier to transition from REPE to development (up to a certain point in your career) than the other way around.
Is it really hard to transition to REPE from a Tishman/Trammel Crow/Hines/Greystar/Wood Partners type development shop?
No, wouldn't be as challenging coming from one of the mega-development companies.
I sure wouldn't say it would be "really hard", but normally the flow of people is the reverse, from "REPE" to development. That is people who get into development, tend to want to stay in development. So, I can't think of too many examples of people leaving development to go investment mngt, but I'm sure it happens (especially at the analyst/associate level or via grad school exit).
To be honest, I get networked with people in the real estate investment mngt/private equity side on how to join development quite frequently, but maybe the reverse is happening more than I realize.
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