Getting into PE Real Estate from Operations

CAIA
#1

I have read that getting into PE in real estate is changing because the firms are looking at operations experience and not just the IB and MBA/CFA track. My company does financial management for one of the top 20 largest PERE firms and hedge funds in Chicago. So we pay debt service, taxes, vendors, fund properties for CapEx/operations, collect rents, invest excess cash, pay distributions, capital contributions, handle investor money, etc. I come from a corporate treasury background and have a Finance undergrad from Illinois, MS Real Estate Law from a law school in Chicago and have worked in RE for 10 years.

I have some residential land modeling experience for a top home builder but nothing in the past 10 years. The program at Breaking Into Wall St has RE & REIT modeling and good courses on intro and advanced LBO modeling. The CAIA program would be ideal for me to prove my intellect and understanding of the alternative investment industry. Before I go through the skillset that I could get outside of an actual Associate role, what do you think of this non-standard approach to getting into a profession that I am passionate about? There won’t be anyone with my graduate law education specifically in commercial real estate and few people also who understand the ownership/property dynamic with knowledge of operating costs. Any comments whether negative or positive are appreciated. Do I have a good chance?

Thanks

#2

I really don’t see the CAIA being the best use of your time. Your legal background is very valuable if it is RE specific. Your asset management experience is valuable so long as you understand how all those cash flows fit together. Can you create a cash flow model from the ground up based on a particular partnership structure? I would focus on learning that skill and being able to analyze specific deals. Unless you want to cover the REIT sector, look at models that are deal specific. You need to understand where the equity comes from, the debt structure, the waterfalls, and sensitivity analysis.

For RE modeling, try to get into a course or self study from Real Estate Financial Modeling.

www. getrefm.com

Their courses do a good job of describing how all the pieces fit together and are relatively inexpensive.

#3

It’s difficult to move to anywhere from operations, if you can pull it off more power to you.