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...

Leveraged Breakdowns offers the best real estate private equity course for anybody looking to break into the industry. We were once outsiders at non-target universities. We had to fight our way into this extremely exclusive industry. Through this process, and our subsequent years in the industry, we have learned how to navigate the interview process. Generally speaking, you have to master three things: Networking - this is the art of connecting with people. It’s not as hard as people make it out to be. Rule of thumb, I recommend you call two people every week for a year to get one job. My math is based on a 10% chance you’ll get an interview out of any call, and a 10% chance you’ll succeed in any process (so 1% chance any conversation gets you a job). So if you call 2 people a week for a year, that’s 104 calls. At a 1% hit rate, you’ll get 1 job from your networking efforts. So if you haven’t been calling two people a week, you aren’t taking your path seriously.   Market kno...

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...

Passion sets you apart from your competition   The daily responsibility of a career in real estate private equity is to think and hypothesize. We build models to address hundreds of what-if scenarios, trying to figure out the most likely path forward. We ask lots of questions and try to see each investment opportunity from as many angles as possible. So naturally, nearly all repe interview questions are simply looking to test your ability to transpose and reconfigure investment problems in real time. This is where passion comes in. We only want to hire people who are actually passionate about working through these problems every day. If you aren’t passionate, the work will feel exhausting and tedious. If you are passionate, then your curiosity and drive will propel you to succeed as an investor. So how do investors judge whether you’re truly passionate in an interview setting? Knowledge demonstrates passion To demonstrate passion, you need to prove competency with...

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...

Introduction This article focuses on how you should personally prepare for real estate private equity interview questions. Most students will just download a guide and memorize responses to questions. But this practice does not develop a strong mental model. In fact, interviews exist to probe your understanding. Your interviewer’s job is to hit you from every angle to expose your weaknesses. If your only defense is a rote understanding of common interview questions, then you will not hold up against a seasoned interviewer. So, what can you do to best develop true understanding ahead of your interview? Always practice for interviews by speaking out loud When preparing for real estate private equity interview questions , it’s all too easy to allow your brain to go on auto-pilot. Thus, I always make my mentees practice their interview questions out loud. Yes, it probably feels uncomfortable to speak out loud when you are alone. But get over it. Preparing for interviews by speaki...

A Student Recently Asked... “Hey all, I have an interview with a $65B real estate company for a retail center asset management position. How should I prepare for the real estate technical interview questions? Is there any source I can use to better understand this part of the real estate private equity interview process? The BIWS 400 guide doesn't have a real estate component. Also, could anyone in Real Estate or Asset Management share interview pointers? Especially if you’ve conducted interviews. Thanks!” Quick Intro I work in and am thus familiar with the real estate private equity interview process, so my responses reflect that perspective. Though I refer to real estate private equity interviews below, these responses are applicable to real estate asset management interviews at any sort of asset manager, be it an REPE fund, endowment, sovereign fund, REIT, or otherwise. How can I prepare Interview Technicals? Asset management interview questions will focus on ope...