Seeking advice Possibility of jumping from Acquisition to REIB

Hey Guys,

A long time lurker here and came for a career advice. Just a quick summary of my background, I’m currently working at a small family office in NY (~800 million AUM) as an acquisitions guy. Prior to this position, I worked at a major brokerage (CBRE, JLL, C&W) doing investment sales. Graduated from semi-target (UCLA, UVA, Michigan etc.) with LOW gpa. (~3.1)

My primary role is to source deals by talking to owners and brokers directly, underwrite, and execute cheap off-market deals on behalf of the firm. Coming from brokerage background, I didn’t really have hard time finding deals or calling owners directly, but the pricing and building owner’s expectations are so high that I feel like I’m in a bottomless pit trying to find deals. And I don’t blame them to be honest.

Work balance is great, no one tells me what to do as I run own team and the principal of this firm is the nicest and warmest guy I’ve ever seen. I really wouldn’t mind staying here for a long term, but given that my compensation structure is low base (~60k) + commission, I’m starting to contemplate whether I should stay and continue or find a new role.

So long story short, I’m still fairly young (~23) and beginning to aspire and lured into REIB -> Megafund route, and thinking hard about the viability of this option for me. I was curious to know if you guys have seen people with my background who made jump to IBD or have tips how I could possibly make the jump.

Thank you!

 

It sounds like you have a background where making the jump and coming in as a first-year or second-year analyst would be possible. I would work very hard on networking with analysts/associates in REIB and explain your background and why you want to go into REIB. Spots will definitely open up, so just get your name out there so that you're the guy people think of when they need to bring people in to interview.

 

Interestingly enough, Im currently doing investment sales at one of those shops and looking to switch over to REPE/Acquisitions myself (and NYC is the plan). I would assume one thing you should focus on is demonstrating your strengths at the fund/financial level (more "numbers"), and not just property-level analysis. Not sure maybe those with more experience can chime in.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from my observation, if you want to be considered by big boys like BX, Carlyle, Starwood etc., I think you need to have some sort of high-finance experience. I'm sort of sick of looking at small deals in NYC (prob seen more than 1000 properties already) and want to have more broader perspective on real estate and finance.

 

I disagree that you need IB type experience to transition to a top shop. Taking the 2 years of REIB out of undergrad will definitely be the path of least resistance however I know people at Starwood who came from MM REPE and even from top investment sales groups. Personally I don't think I would enjoy REIB and would target larger/mid market REPE or investment managers in order to stay in acquisitions...that's just me though (I like what I do) if you think you would enjoy IB more I would say you definitely have a shot. Was just curious if you were looking to transition because you felt you would like the work better.

 

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