Torn between two job opportunities
So I just finished my undergraduate career at a target university this week with a degree in Real Estate development/finance. I have two job offers on the table that I have to make a decision on by Monday. Option #1 is financial analyst position at Wells Fargo with their CRE lending team. They've got a great training program and have a massive deal flow across all asset types. Which I feel will help me truly learn each RE class type. Option #2 is my current internship position which will be turning into a full time offer. I'm an acquisition/development analyst for a investment company that builds, acquires, and manages self storage properties. I definitely like what I'm doing today and I like self storage, however I do feel there in a cap on growth because of how small the company is and I feel it's too early on in my career to specialize in any single asset type. The offers are as follows:
WF
$65,000 base salary
10-15% bonus
$5,000 sign on bonus
Full benefits
Current Job
$70,000 base salary
$15% bonus
$ Undisclosed Sign on bonus
Full benefits
My ultimate goal is to start building up my own portfolio and work on my own acquisitions/developments. I do feel that both help me achieve that goal in different regards but both do have their individual drawbacks. I'm looking at both opportunities from a 5-10 year lens and what each can do for my career opposed to the temporary benefits each has. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
If it wasn't self storage I think this would be a slam dunk, but I still think that the skills/knowledge you'll get in development will far outpace what you learn at the WF role. You'll be working in the debt side, which won't necessarily translate into hands on, direct CRE ownership / project experience although there will be some overlap. With the development role, you'll be learning everything from the ground up (literally) on the principal side. You might need to educate yourself later on down the road on the particulars of the market/nuances of whatever other specialty you decide to focus on if/when you leave self storage (industrial, office, multi, retail, etc.), but learning those metrics and those markets I think would be a lot easier than having to go learn the development process down the road. Also, generally speaking, what deters a lot of juniors away from entry level development roles is the fact that the starting pay is not as great as other gigs such as debt/brokerage/acquisitions/etc. even though a lot of those people still gun for development as their end game. However with your decision, the opportunity in my mind that will get you better overall career development is also the one that will give you better $ up front - so you don't have to make that tradeoff. The only real selling point on the other side is as you mentioned the volume which would probably give you the opportunity to build a better network initially just because of the size and brand name of WF, but again I think you'll get a better foundation knowledge/skillset with the development role.
BECAUSE it's self-storage this is a slam dunk decision. Self-storage is the most insanely lucrative asset class conceivable. OP should spend 3 years learning the business like the back of his hand and go out on his own. He'll be a multimillionaire by 30. I so wish I had had that opportunity.
I cannot believe the terrible advice about going with Wells Fargo lending as a generalist. I say that as a former Wells Fargo generalist in lending. Just terrible, terrible advice in this thread.
I see what you’re saying. In my opinion: If you want to climb the corporate ladder at a large, well established PE fund or developer, I’d go Wells Fargo. If you want to be your own boss ASAP, then I’d go with the developer. That’s an oversimplification but there are different risks/rewards and pros/cons to both scenarios so it ultimately depends on what OP wants. I also think 3 years of experience before going out on your own is an aggressive estimate
Quoting the OP:
My ultimate goal is to start building up my own portfolio and work on my own acquisitions/developments
Doing generalist real estate lending at WF takes you a few tiny steps toward that goal. Working for a developer and specializing in an asset class takes you giant leaps toward that goal.
Three years is aggressive (if not impossible) for class A multifamily, office, etc. Self-storage is a niche product (i.e. relatively few people know anything about it) and is insanely simple. Ridiculously simple. Three years specializing in self-storage would make him one of America's foremost experts in the field (I only say that partially tongue-in-cheek). And if and when the U.S. becomes overbuilt or the market declines, the entire world is basically hugely under-served by the storage community, especially Europe. There is endless global opportunity.
I'll repeat my criticism of this thread--some of the worst advice I've seen given on WSO.
I think you are underestimating the potential of the self storage market.
I’ve become somewhat of a bear on self storage. Not my expertise but the recent argument that autonomous vehicles will dampen demand in the suburbs due to freeing up an extra car space in two car garages seems plausible. Similar argument with urban garages. Curious why you are so bullish bc I recently told a friend not to buy a storage facility, not that my opinion was the only one he sought.
I meant to type, 'if it wasn't only self storage, but let me be clear - I'm not saying that self-storage doesn't have potential to be lucrative and crush it over the next few years. It sounded from the OP that he wasn't sold on doing self-storage long term, which is why I was saying that's the only thing in the 'con' column for him. But I still think that even if OP doesn't want to do self-storage, this role will serve him better down the road, for many of the reasons you and @Dances with Dachshunds" mentioned + more.
You're young, and if your current "job" was in a less specialized area then I would say keep on trucking. But, because you are young a Wells Fargo "stamp" will serve you much better in your career. A president of a very well know mid market CRE bridge platform once told me you to to bank of the ozarks when they pay you a million dollars. With the gist being stay with the name brand. A big bank like this will train you, develop you set you up with a large number of industry contacts and if you ever want to capital raise it will help establish you.
I would 100% take the WF.
You will be working on all different asset classes and exposed to all different types of transactions. Everyone in the US knows about WF and how good their RE groups are. What happens if you go to the developer and you want to jump ship in say 1-2 years? You won't have a brand name on your resume and you won't have the exposure to different property types. If you want to jump ship from a WF in say 2 years, you will have a brand name as well as your development experience from your internship on your resume.
As someone who has only just jumped over the seemingly impassable obstacle that is pigeonholing, I would 100% suggest going for Wells Fargo. You're still young and you may grow tired of self-storage - WF will give you lots of experience and produce a more rounded CV which will play to your favour when it comes to looking for your next job..
I'd go with Wells.
Self storage investing is fine and dandy and all, but it's not necessarily the big leagues and you don't want to be stuck as a storage guy the rest of your life.
I also vote Wells. Sounds like the role would have you participating in FAP. From my experience doing a similar formal analyst program, they carry a lot of weight when interviewing for jobs down the road.
100% Wells Fargo. Self-storage is hot right now but the product type is en-route to being overbuilt in many markets and if you read the headlines, hedge funds are starting to short some of the largest self storage REITs for this reason. It's a 100% commodity merchant-build product.
Furthermore, self storage is a challenging game politically and the deals I've seen us go after frequently run into NIMBY issues. I would second the opinions above about seeing as many product types as possible early in your career; furthermore, at a shop like Wells, you could go into development, PE, etc..it would set you up well for a top MBA given the brand name, and you could probably go wherever you want after that depending on the school. You may not even need an MBA and find that you have great options after doing a few years at WF. Good luck!
100% WF. The brand name on your resume will open a lot more doors in the future than a small self-storage developer. The training program and diversity of deals you will work on will create a great foundation for the rest of your career.
I currently work for a "blue chip" shop and I have to say from my own experience that having that brand name on your resume is a much bigger deal than I ever expected. I would highly recommend putting WF on your resume and getting some broad exposure, then choosing a specialty a few years down the line.
Who says Wells Fargo is a "blue chip shop"? Again, I'm a former Wells Fargo guy in a very similar role and nobody has sucked my proverbial d*ck because I had that on my resume.
And just for the record, few people "choose" a specialty. Generally speaking, people end up in a specialty because that's the way the market took them. The idea that people wake up one day and "decide" to go into a certain real estate field is kind of laughable. I think young guys who have seen nothing but an incredible real estate market have a misperception about how easy it is to float into the perfect position.
What makes WF a blue chip shop?
Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that they are the #1 lender in the nation? You clearly have some type of hatred towards WF as you're a former employee as you said. WF guys have incredible exit ops. Much better than a self storage guy with a developer that probably only people know about in his 10 mile radius.
Also, OP mentioned broadly how he wants to invest/develop. Never said specifically self storage and he said how doesn't want to specialize in just one asset class.
I said that I work for a "blue chip" equity shop not that Wells Fargo is a "blue chip" shop. I can only speak from my experience but I have networked and/or sought employment both with and without a brand name on my resume and there was clearly a difference.
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