What knowledge and skills do you need to get ahead in real estate?
---- Quick background ----
We published a self-assessment last week to help early-career professionals evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
Sample interview questions...
1. Why did CMBS spreads compress in 2024 while banks remained relatively inactive?
2. Core funds' returns over the last two years were lower than many opportunistic fund returns. How does that make sense?
3. This 100-page lease includes three big problems. Can you find them in less than 30 minutes?
4. Our venture has $2M to distribute and we get 50% of profits over a 9% pref. At what $ amount does our promote kick in?
5. Here's last year's budget, a survey of comps, and a list of planned capital projects. Build a dynamic pro forma in Excel.
6. We were under contract to sell an asset, and the buyer threatened to sue us for not disclosing a document. If I give you the PSA, can you quickly summarize our related obligations?
7. We borrowed a 65% LTV CMBS loan eight years ago, it matures next year, and the collateral value is down 15%. Of the five lender types, which is most likely to be able to refinance our loan in full? Why?
8. If a developer needs an 8% YOC and we give you development costs and a rent comp survey, can you build a development model and answer if the developer can pay $3M for our site?
9. We have a 10% co-investment and get 25% over 9% and 50% over 15%. What will the LP's share of the profits be if the deal doesn't hit the pref?
10. Build an acquisition model from scratch that provides return sensitivity to rent growth and exit cap rates.
[You can find the complete assessment in our 2025 predictions post.]
---- Checklist ----
Several followers requested the checklist we referenced when creating the self-assessment.
Before sharing the checklist, though, we polled our FastTrack team leaders (i.e., early-career outperformers) to get a sense of relative importance.
Some of the conclusions might surprise you...
Average importance of skills:
8.9 out of 10.0
Average importance of modeling:
7.7 out of 10.0
Importance of networking:
8.9 out of 10.0
Importance of where you live:
8.4 out of 10.0
Most important skill:
Valuation (10.0 out of 10.0)
Note: This list and our survey aren't sacred; we share it to provide general direction and facilitate a helpful discussion.
What should we add to the list?
Which items are most important to you?
We've found this type of discussion to be very helpful for early-career talent.
---- Quick background ----
We published a self-assessment last week to help early-career professionals evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
Sample interview questions...
1. Why did CMBS spreads compress in 2024 while banks remained relatively inactive?
2. Core funds' returns over the last two years were lower than many opportunistic fund returns. How does that make sense?
3. This 100-page lease includes three big problems. Can you find them in less than 30 minutes?
4. Our venture has $2M to distribute and we get 50% of profits over a 9% pref. At what $ amount does our promote kick in?
5. Here's last year's budget, a survey of comps, and a list of planned capital projects. Build a dynamic pro forma in Excel.
6. We were under contract to sell an asset, and the buyer threatened to sue us for not disclosing a document. If I give you the PSA, can you quickly summarize our related obligations?
7. We borrowed a 65% LTV CMBS loan eight years ago, it matures next year, and the collateral value is down 15%. Of the five lender types, which is most likely to be able to refinance our loan in full? Why?
8. If a developer needs an 8% YOC and we give you development costs and a rent comp survey, can you build a development model and answer if the developer can pay $3M for our site?
9. We have a 10% co-investment and get 25% over 9% and 50% over 15%. What will the LP's share of the profits be if the deal doesn't hit the pref?
10. Build an acquisition model from scratch that provides return sensitivity to rent growth and exit cap rates.
[You can find the complete assessment in our 2025 predictions post.]
---- Checklist ----
Several followers requested the checklist we referenced when creating the self-assessment.
Before sharing the checklist, though, we polled our FastTrack team leaders (i.e., early-career outperformers) to get a sense of relative importance.
Some of the conclusions might surprise you...
Average importance of skills:
8.9 out of 10.0
Average importance of modeling:
7.7 out of 10.0
Importance of networking:
8.9 out of 10.0
Importance of where you live:
8.4 out of 10.0
Most important skill:
Valuation (10.0 out of 10.0)
Note: This list and our survey aren't sacred; we share it to provide general direction and facilitate a helpful discussion.
What should we add to the list?
Which items are most important to you?
We've found this type of discussion to be very helpful for early-career talent.
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