Real Estate

As the title says, I'm currently trying to grasp which is generally the better route. I understand everyone has their own opinion on which is best, but I'm hoping to learn from you all to make that choice myself. These are the main things I understand about the two sides: GP (invests a smaller portion of equity) gets more hands on experience on the deal. Not only sourcing the deal upon acquisition but also executing the business plan to earn a promotion. Business plan work includes leasing, capital plans, development, redevelopment, etc. Lots of local expertise in a given region and asset

29 Oct 2020

The following is an interview with RE Acquisitions Analyst and new WSO Blogger PinkPoloShorts (he is also available to answer your questions) Are you a professional and want to do an interview? View our interview template here and then email me your responses to [email protected] Q&A's and "How I Work" posts are also an option. Let me know! 1) I am a financial analyst in acquisitions at a small real estate private equity firm specializing in residential land development and management. 2) This is my first finance job and I started in January of this year. Prior to working at my current

24 Nov 2020

Hi WSO! I have finally come to the conclusion that I will be buying my first apartment building as an investment. I feel like this is the best way to learn how to become a successful principal and although I am still in school, I want to start now. I am a senior in college with enough capital to be a GP on my first acquisition. I will need to raise money from limited partners in order to meet the down payment requirement. Still waiting for clarity in the market over the next 6 months but actively looking and receiving influx of deals. Looking for advice of DOs and DONTS when buying my first

24 Sep 2020

I am currently an underwriter for a regional bank who is a driver of CRE in the region. I make around 65k. I could be a lender in 1 year and make 80-100k. I am being poached by CBRE - a multifamily IS group - to be an analyst. They keep telling me the first couple of years will be rough but will guarantee that I make 70k the first two years. I am not sure which path to go. I want to make more money - I know that my bank is safer but the potential at CBRE is untouched. I have been wanting to get into acquisitions on the buy side but have been having a very tough time. Any advice on where the

25 Sep 2020

Hey all, I am a current senior in college, and I was very lucky and fortunate enough to receive offers from Freddie Mac as a capital markets analyst. Do you guys think starting a career as an analyst at a government-sponsored enterprise is a good choice for a beginning career? Any 2-cents from you guys would greatly be appreciated (Job prospect, exit opps, pay etc.)

12 Oct 2020

Right now I'm a second year asset management analyst at a private real estate firm, but I've found the work becoming incredibly tedious as the job (all the way up the chain) is just JV partner reporting and emailing all of our other teams to gather information. I majored in quantitative subjects in school and miss that critical thinking/analysis type of work, plus I've been coding on the side for about two years. Is there any path in RE that would use these types of skills or am I going to have to switch fields? I've been looking into some kind of CLO research or something but am having a hard

31 Aug 2020

I am a third-year analyst at a family office seeking advice on lateraling. We invest in core/core-plus assets around the country and AUM is north of $3B. Due to their permanent capital, the family (see IC) makes a lot of investment decisions based on the qualitative features of an asset (see trophy asset) rather than the returns analyses. Recently, things have gotten quite political at the office, which has resulted in high turnover and a huge drop in productivity. I don't see this going away soon and think it may be time to leave. I landed an offer from a smaller, opportunistic shop that

22 Aug 2020

I am starting at a new shop in a week. Will be working on real estate acquisitions, real estate development and small venture capital opportunities. My new employer is offering me a low-interest line of credit to co-invest in deals, to be used at my discretion. The line tops out at $25k/year, which for reference is about a third of the base comp. The interest and principal on the line get paid out as the deals perform. I am not very familiar with the various co-investment structures out there so I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this type of structure and what some of the

24 Aug 2020

Hi All I am a recent grad from a semi target uni for Economics (top 6-10 in the UK for Economics) and I have worked in Business Restructuring at a Big 4 for 18 months now where I am due to complete my ACA by summer 2022. Over the past six months or so I have been figuring out what career I would like to have and decided that Real Estate is what really excites. I feel like the ACA isn't teaching me much that is relevant and I will have to still wait another 2 years for it be complete, so I am wondering if it is best to try move into RE now. My long term aim is to end up in Acquistions at a REPE

20 Aug 2020

Trying to get an idea of what my chances are and what next steps I should take. Background: I have a social science undergrad and an MBA from a bottom of the barrel University. I was fortunate enough to do one internship at boutique a M&A firm, always with the intention to get a job in real estate. After graduation, the job hunt didn't really pan out and I had to start working quickly. Apprehensively I settled for a job as a data analyst at large marketing agency. After 2 years, things are going well. I've had a few promotions and learned a lot of technical skills, but I hate the ad industry

15 Sep 2020

Who is making loans in this environment? Have heard that many big banks like Wells Fargo are on the sidelines. It seems like the GSEs are lending, but with more structure, such as escrow requirements. My bank, about $20 B in assets, is lending, but it's still somewhat unknown what we can get approved. We're requiring full recourse, lower leverage, and it will probably take some money pledged for Debt Service in the event that tenants can't pay.

27 Apr 2020

There's a lot of threads about top RE groups, but between CS and RBC it's unclear to me. I've seen deals from RBC but not CS, but websites seem to mention CS more. Thanks!

26 May 2020

Looking for some advice from some family office peeps. I have a great gig now but this opportunity feels too good to pass up. A close mentor and friend asked me to leave my job and help him grow/manage his personal investments. He has told me he wishes his kids (who I am pretty close with) were involved in his companies - they each have their own hobbies/businesses. He said he wants to essentially set me up in his businesses and give me some participation in deals. It feels like he is putting me in position to manage his investments when he is ready to retire and live easy. His investments are

30 Jun 2020

Wondering how people are approaching CRE in the near term, say 6 to 12 months, in terms of transactions. Both from a sponsor and lender perspective. What product type are you looking to buy, begin construction on, or lend on in the near term? Seeing any challenges in finding debt at desired terms? Difficulties in finding construction financing? At my lending institution we are taking it deal by deal, as our thinking is evolving given all of the unknowns. Looking more favorably towards multifamily, distribution, and maybe self storage. Office and retail are dead unless under very consrevative

16 Apr 2020

Hi Everyone, Curious if any of you had any insight on Turner Impact Capital. Worked on a deal with them, or have insight on the culture there? Seems like a very smart group. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

11 Sep 2020

Curious to see if any of you have pulled the trigger on owning property yourselves. I'm putting in offers on buildings in Cleveland between 7-15 units so crossing my fingers I'll have a deal under contract by end of Jan!

04 Jan 2020

Looking for a tutor to do a few one on one sessions with me via zoom to review case studies and give basic overview of REPE modeling basics. Any resources for live tutoring? Or anybody on this forum interested? I have done online self paced courses.

25 Aug 2020

If I were to accept a debt capital markets analyst position at a REPE firm (AUM is >$20billion), what would my exit opportunities be? Also, would it be a good experience to transition to acquisitions or asset management at a REPE firm?

05 Nov 2020

I'm about to start my summer internship at a large development firm on the west coast and wanted to see if anyone can speak to what tasks they have had as a development/acquisitions intern? Just hoping to get an idea of what I should be learning before so I'm not dead weight, thank you!

03 Jun 2020

I've progressed through a few rounds of a top 40 REPE firm. I recently got an email to take an excel test and set up an interview with a few people who I would be working closely with in the role. I did not do well with the excel test, which covered basic financial modeling. I was under the impression I wasn't able to use resources as it was a test on my knowledge, and I forgot how to calculate NPV :/. I feel like I generally have relied on template models throughout my internships. My education is in urban planning, but I've had a lot of real estate internships, and recently enrolled in a

29 Oct 2020

EDIT 1: Thanks for all the replies below and fair comments. I should have mentioned I joined in global markets (illiquid sales for 4+ years) but looking to move to RE but experience on RE modelling is severely lacking. Got the interview after bare networking given that my background is not RE and can't screw this up. Barely having time to prepare and was looking for a shortcut - not sure where to start but will give it a go and get back to you with specific question. Cheers! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Can some provide me with the excel solution to the

29 Feb 2020

Hello - I'm in a not so uncommon situation but am curious how folks in the CRE world feel about this. Ive had about ~9 years of CRE experience (6 at my last job) and i recently started a new role at another financial institution. Most things are fine, comp is decent and I have a ton of my responsibility since the group is super lean (handful of folks) and i get to make a lot of fairly important decisions/calls even not being super-senior age/experience-wise. The problem is that the institution is having internal issues - when I was hired I was told that they had gotten approvals form the head

06 Feb 2020

In a particularly interesting thread the other day, featuring a great podcast recommendation, a discussion popped up between @Dumpster Fire Yuppie" , calculatedrisk , and I about CLT/GluLam/"Heavy Timber" construction (and also I discovered there are people out there who like brutalist architecture, which was...unexpected.) Low and behold, an article came out yesterday about [Mjøstårnet, an 18-story apartment, office, and hotel tower that became the world's tallest timber building when it opened last year.](https://www.cnn

14 Feb 2020

What have you accomplished professionally in 2019? What wins have you celebrated? What mistakes have you had to overcome? What worries are on your horizon? What makes you excited for 2020? I've always found commercial real estate to be an industry very willing to extend an olive branch to both friends and strangers alike. I want this thread to be a place for the Certified User crowd to look back on the year that was, hopefully with insights that readers can carry with them into the new year, and celebrate both monies made and [manatees saved.](https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/get-over

09 Dec 2019

Each quarter I see increased late cycle behavior in the real estate world. From vast amounts of SFR home flipping at an institutional level (see Door/Zillow/Redfin) to development sponsors needing to farm out their 10% equity pieces due to insufficient cash at the operations level plus the reemergence of unsecured and interest-only debt at record high leverage points this cycle, irrational exuberance seems to be inundating the space. Multiple sponsors have approached us seeking opco level investment to recapitalize their firm because they have become so overextended chasing promote despite

14 Oct 2019

Dear Fellow Monkeys, I wanted to reach out for advice/insights/guidance on career paths to REPE. I've been 2+ years at a RE boutique family office underwriting CRE senior/subordinate loans and some hybrid debt/preferred equity transactions, with increasing exposure to origination/deal structure work. The work itself is fun especially with more players getting into bridge debt space but it offers very limited growth progression/potential due to the size of the firm and how it's been operated so I'm currently looking for exit opportunities. Also, I wanted to point out that I'm international so

13 Jan 2020

My current position is in capital markets/investment sales at a national brokerage firm. I enjoy brokerage, but my real goal is to become involved with investing and property ownership. Can anybody speak to different career paths in CRE that translate well to property ownership? Example.) I've heard appraisal and property management offer the ability to learn a great skillset to facilitate growing a healthy portfolio. Asking specifically about: - Appraisal - Private Equity/Fund Acquisitions - Property Management - Brokerage/Capital Markets Bonus - What activities/content do successful real

14 Feb 2020

What are some of the top loan to own firms in the industry? Is it major private equity and hedge funds like Lone Star, Cerberus, Apollo, Angelo Gordon, Ares, etc or smaller middle-market firms?

04 Jun 2020

5829 E Jean Avenue, Phoenix type Single Family - Detached List Price $8,000,000 City Phoenix Days on Market 258 Status ACTIVE MLS# 6014107 City Phoenix Bedrooms 5 Bathrooms 5 Living SQFT 7,000 Lot Size 86,850 Subdivision Glencoe Highlands Private Roads Year Built 2002 By: Blackbox Consulting in Rob's AZ Real Estate

27 Aug 2020

WSO, I've had conversations about joining the MetLife equity team at the senior analyst level. From my understanding they do direct investments as well as JVs with notable sponsors. I'm not too familiar with the equity side, but they are well capitalized (30Bn+) and MetLife debt is highly regarded. I was wondering if anyone could speak to the job experience / compensation / exit opps? Should I receive the offer I'll happily share the details. Thank you

24 Aug 2020

What is typical architectural cost and engineering cost for a ground-up multifamily development of 25-50 units? For architecture fees I have heard and read figures ranging from 3% of hard construction cost to 8% of total project cost...if the total project cost was $10-15 million with square footage of 24-36K square feet, what range of of architecture and engineering cost would you think reasonable?

23 Jan 2021

Hey Monkeys, Wondering if anyone who's been in an equity position at a lifeco can talk about culture/comp/where they exited to. I'm currently working at a sponsor as an internal capital markets guy, where I finance deals once committee has approved the deal. This is about 70% debt or structured/preferred equity and 30% JV equity. I just graduated my MSRE program a few weeks ago and am really looking to target moving back to the equity side full time and have mostly been chasing private equity acquisitions opportunities. That said, I just got a call back for a second interview for an associate

23 Jan 2021

-How is it in regards to hours/pay/exit ops? Is there travel? -I'm equally interested in debt and equity, which one is more established and has better exit ops?

03 Sep 2019

Which BB (BAML/JPM/GS/BNPP/UBS/CS, etc) has the strongest RE presence in Europe/UK in terms of REIB/REIM/Real Estate Finance?

19 Jan 2021

Sorry for the specific / single firm post here but I'd really appreciate any insight folks have on BNP Paribas Real Estate? Appreciate any insights on deal team structure/culture/recent deals/recruitment process, etc. Thanks in advance!

19 Jan 2021

Dear members, I have a phone interview with Dartmouth Partners in London for the Analyst programme of Tristan Capital Partners (Real Estate fund) and I wanted to know if somebody did it and what topics/questions did they give? Thanks so much.

18 Jan 2021

Dear members, I have a phone interview with Dartmouth Partners in London for the Analyst programme of Tristan Capital Partners (Real Estate fund) and I wanted to know if somebody did it and what topics/questions did they give? Thanks so much.

17 Jan 2021

i submitted my second round hirevue a few weeks ago. i have heard nothing. they said we would hear back at the end of sept. at the latest.

22 Sep 2019

Hi all, Hope your keeping well! I recently got an offer for a Real Estate Investment role for the summer (Blackrock, PSP, Aviva etc.) and a Sales and Trading Summer Analyst Role at a BB. I don't really have a long term goal as of yet but I would like to keep my options open. I have an interest in both industries I am just confused about the long term prospects for each. I am in my second year studying Econ at uni. Many thanks in advance!

14 Jan 2021

Hey guys :) I'm a rising sophomore getting a bachelors of architecture degree. I'm looking to possibly go into Real Estate, particularly development and other sectors that are more on the buildy/architecty side rather than the finance side. I have a few questions: 1. What are key experiences/skills I should know and the best ways to learn them? Classes or learn on the job experience? 2. What do real estate firms look for in new hires? To what extent are real estate firms looking for concrete skills vs more invisible stuff like soft skills/personality/leadership/critical thinking? 3. When/how

05 Aug 2019

About me Been working at a top tier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Firm in New York for 7+ Years which makes me an old geezer. Ask anything you want about the industry, happy to answer and help guide you. Separately, I worked for three years at a proprietary trading firm in Chicago before jumping into real estate so happy to answer any questions about that as well and how the two industries compare.

15 Jul 2019

Hello fellow chimps, I am in my final year of university and having no luck with internships or analyst roles in London RE. I want to learn underwriting so am looking for roles that will give me significant exposure to this. I gained experience this summer at a RE investment manager, so have a little understanding of underwriting, but I can't make a full model. Does anyone have any idea's of what kinds of firms are hiring for RE Acquisitions in London? (I have already applied and been rejected from the likes of BX, Northwood, M7, Wells Fargo, GS, MS after having interviews). Many thanks!

09 Jan 2021

So I've been scouring the internet by doing simple Google searches where I've coming across some helpful YouTube interviews/audio-programs to eventually finding some insightful posts on Reddit to then coming across a post on Reddit that recommended WSO as the go-to place to find information on IB, PE, CRE, etc etc. To give some context, I'm 24 years old, I have a son (2 years old), I've been in the residential real estate industry for 2.5 years now, have an Applied Science degree in Finance from a community college, some experience in underwriting (residential BRRRR, flips, and buy&hold deals)

09 Jan 2021

Hi Guys, Long time fan of the forum and I am coming to you today with an urgent request to help understand how to get to a purchase price for a modelling test practice. I have the following information: GIA - 50,000 Units: 54 70% OMV and 30% Social Housing @ 35% of OMV Demolition Costs: 5/sft Construction Costs: 200/sft I've been told "You should target a geared profit on cost of 20% to dictate purchase price" and this is where I run into an issue. I've done a BTR model before know how to determine a sale price based on a Cap Rate and NOI but I've not done a Build-to-Sell model and had to work

08 Jan 2021

Can someone please tell me about the most commonly asked real estate FAQs? I want to add them to my website and looking for some quality data.

07 Jan 2021

Which platform is best for the advertisement of Real Estate Business? Is the website promotion(both paid and non-paid) is enough or social platforms also play a vital role to generate leads?

06 Jan 2021

I'm curious to know what major deals have still been going through in your market, either acquisitions or obtaining financing for new developments. How are you seen the current economic uncertainty being factored into the sales price/loan terms/buyer & seller motivation, etc? I've heard that some opportunistic buyers are looking for distressed assets, or looking to buy at same cap rates on depressed rent roll, but I'd think that sellers in a strong position would rather wait it out than sell at a significantly reduced price. What have you been seeing/hearing?

18 Apr 2020

Good day everyone. Happy new year. Greatfull to Joe Stampone from astudentoftherealestategame for introducing me to this platform. Highly recommending everyone to check it out. I'm really passionate to work in CRE and preparing for that. It will be a career switch from accounting to CRE. Looking to become an analyst and work my way up. Need advice and guidance from everyone here who are far more senior and experienced. Looking to connect.

06 Jan 2021

Hello all, Thanks you in advance for your assistance. Working on a loan model where a loan has defaulted and has not paid interest since April. Historical interest that is not paid is being accrued and compounded. For valuation purposes on projected cash flow, we differ in opinion, between another senior guy who insists that he is right and the other person is dumb. He insists that the forecast interest should compound monthly. It does not make sense to compound interest on forecasted projections to scenarios extending to 18 month and 36 months. Feels like we are hitting the loan too hard

05 Jan 2021

WiredScore operates the Wired Certification, which is a commercial real estate rating system that empowers landlords to understand, improve, and promote their buildings' digital infrastructure.

05 Jan 2021