Posts

The Covid Pandemic and the Self Storage Sector

The self-storage industry was fairly stable before the Coronavirus pandemic, and it experienced major growth in the US from 2014. This can be shown in; More units available for rent across the country. Better knowledge and understanding of the product among consumers Increased demand for the service throughout the US Large property development companies, including Real Estate Equity Investment , creating and maintaining self-storage departments and facilities. Like other real estate options, there was a steady increase in investor interest due to its high-profit margins, which led to fierce competition. Covid-19's immediate effect on the industry was overly positive. The market forces have balanced themselves out during the period, with an increased demand for units countering the oversupply before the pandemic hit. How Was Demand Impacted? Demand for self-storage units increased immensely in March and April 2020. The pandemic forced many businesses to downsize, moving t...

Introduction to Self-Storage

The self-storage industry has grown to be one of the most competitive sectors over the last decade. This trend has picked up further steam during the Covid-19 era due to its recession-resistant nature. It's important for candidates and workers in the real estate business to understand the self-storage sector. Such knowledge will not only help you land your dream work position but also improve your performance on the job. What is the Self Storage Sector? Self-storage is an industry that offers businesses and individuals places to store their belongings for a short period of time. This can include the renting of lockers, rooms, containers, and outside spaces. The reduction of business profits over the Coronavirus period has forced companies to move to smaller offices. These companies are, however, planning to increase to full capacity once their business bounces back. Before that happens, they have to find alternative storage for machines and property, increasing the nee...

Core REPE Career Skills

A real estate private equity career path will put you face-to-face with uncertainty. You’ll never have perfect information. And even if you do, you will never have a crystal ball. Even the best laid plans can fall to waste against an uncertain future . Many incredibly talented investors were caught off guard by industrial’s precipitous rise and retail’s dramatic crash. That said, some investors consistently (and statistically significantly) outperform others . This begs the question - what real estate private equity skills set the best investors apart from the pack? Diligence Diligence means you leave no stone unturned. You push every question to the furthest conclusion possible, until you’ve reached the best possible answer you could hope for. For instance, you should understand every in and out of a ground lease before building a buyout model. If you’re forecasting taxes, you should know the millage rate, assessment ratio, and propensity of reassessment at entry and exit for the ju...

Recruiting into Real Estate Private Equity from Investment Banking

Learn with Leveraged Breakdowns Eager to learn how to build real estate private equity models? Are you preparing for an upcoming interview? Are you competing for limited REPE roles as a complete outsider, and are looking for an edge against insider candidates? Look no further than Leveraged Breakdowns! We are megafund insiders offering courses and interview guides to boost your performance in the cutthroat REPE interview process. Introduction One of my students recently asked me the four questions below. These center on the recruiting process into real estate private equity firms as it compares to general private equity. The student asking the questions currently works in Investment Banking at a decent shop. If you’re a college student trying to get straight into REPE, this Q&A may be a bit less relevant. Does the recruiting for REPE funds (ex. Brookfield, Starwood, AEW) or RE investing arms of megafunds / institutional investors (ex. Caryle, PGIM RE) follow the same timeline ...

Networking is for Reconnaissance and Personal Branding

Introduction Networking calls serve two purposes: reconnaissance and personal branding. And here’s what they aren’t meant for: asking for a job. You’re free to take the bait if they set it, like mentioning opportunities at the firm or asking if you’re going to apply for an internship or a full-time career in real estate private equity at their firm. But let me repeat this - networking calls are for you to learn about the firm and improve your brand, not directly ask to get hired. The topic of being hired will come up when it’s relevant. So on reconnaissance and personal branding, what exactly does that mean? Learn with Leveraged Breakdowns Interested in a career in real estate private equity? Have an upcoming real estate private equity interview case study? Check out all the great resources that Leveraged Breakdowns has to offer . We have a 41-page technical interview guide, ~9 hours of megafund-investor-instructed video courses, and plenty of free resources to get you started. A...

Real Estate in a Macro Context

Real estate equity investments are made by anybody with the money to do so. You could be a single individual investing out of a personal LLC, a family office, a multinational corporation, a specifically structured real estate investment trust, or a real estate private equity fund. At leveraged breakdowns, we focus pretty specifically on the real estate private equity funds space. But when you’re bidding on an asset, you’re competing against anybody with the capital to buy whatever you’re interested in. Thus, demand from other investors is a key driver of private equity real estate returns . Macro Influences Real estate equity investment are just as influenced by macroeconomic trends as any other sector. The trend we care most about is returns. Let’s say you have a pension fund that absolutely must hit 8.0% growth per year. If low-risk corporate bonds are yielding about that much, then you’re happy parking your capital there. But if bond yields start to drop, you need to find another...

How Real Estate Private Equity Bid Processes Work

How does a real estate private equity bid process work? When a company decides to sell itself, or a portfolio of its assets, or something else, how does the process take shape? This post will seek to provide a high-level overview of a common feature of investment-focused real estate private equity jobs : the bid process. No two bid processes are exactly the same, but they’re all quite similar. So first, let’s think of who the seller might be. Public Company Seller First option, the seller could be a public company whose board of directors has decided it is time to search for “strategic alternatives.” Whenever a public company says it is going to search for strategic alternatives, it just means it is trying to sell itself. There are a number of reasons why a company might try to sell itself. Perhaps it has backed itself into a corner with too much leverage. Perhaps it believes the public markets are not valuing it highly enough, and a bidder might take the whole thing out for a nice ...