Leveraged Breakdowns

One common misconception is that a career in repe will solely consist of buy-side work. This would mean all you do is conduct due diligence, buy buildings, and close big M&A deals. At some small shops, this may be the case. But as you grow more senior, the sell-side work starts to pick up. Traditional Buy-Side vs. Sell-Side Distinction Traditionally, buy-side vs. sell-side is used to distinguish between jobs at hedge funds, private equity funds, etc. (firms that buy things) versus work at banks, brokerages, etc. (firms that help sell things. In reality, the lines can get blurry. Through my career in real estate private equity and past life as a junior banker, I’ve worked on both sell-side and buy-side projects at both firms. Buy-Side Projects at the Banks The list of buy-side projects at the major investment banks is a bit more slim. It typically involves advising a sponsor looking to take a company private. Though you might also be advising a real estate company look...

The previous article in this series described: how passion is necessary to succeed in an REPE career, how interviewers look to see how you demonstrate passion through knowledge, how knowledge can be separated between technical and market-based, and how technical knowledge is necessary but won’t set you apart from the competition. This article will focus on how you can set yourself miles apart from the competition with market knowledge. We will show you exactly how we as megafund REPE investors have learned to source market knowledge with our years of experience in our careers in repe.   Where to find market knowledge So, we’ve already covered that the number one way to succeed in repe interviews is to demonstrate a true passion for real estate. Yes, you need to know your technical skills. But really, you’re going to shine once you can speak fluently about current events in real estate. So how do investors source this information? There are four general avenues that I have...

Enjoying our content? Consider supporting us with a Leveraged Breakdowns membership , which grants access to our best-in-class courseload, designed and curated by our team of Manhattan megafund real estate private equity investors. How do REPE investors invest in companies? The first post of this series on the REPE M&A investment process focused on: (1) defining our goal (make good investments), (2) defining the type of investment (long only), (3) defined NAV (essentially it’s our view on a company’s equity value), and (4) briefly touched on market efficiency (and how we believe inefficiency exists, resulting in potential disconnects between a company’s share price and its intrinsic NAV). This post will focus on an important concept for any career in real estate private equity: the capital stack. Namely, how does the capital stack define ownership? What does seniority in the capital stack represent? Who is the most secured member of the capital stack, and why do they r...