Looking for advice on W2 related to CRE

[Jimmy Suszynski]

Hello everyone!
I am not sure if this is the right forum for this question, it is more personal but focuses directly on CRE.
I have a bachelor's in civil engineering and have worked as an assistant project manager for commercial construction projects already. Right now, I am fixing air planes for the air force because it pays more and I needed the benefits for a medical issue. I will be done with planes full-time on Dec. 31st and go back to my 1 weekend per month schedule.

Ultimately, I want to invest in commercial assets, preferably multifamily or mixed-use. The commercial projects I worked on before were mainly for higher education and healthcare.

I am looking for a career directly related to commercial real estate so that I can work in a field I am interested about AND gain knowledge/experience I'll need down the road to partner on projects. I have been reading through career sites and browsing job postings but most of the suggested positions that populate are for realtors and brokers.

I am not hellbent on being a project manager; what other career paths are there for someone wanting to gain exposure in commercial real estate. Either development, management, acquisition, financing, underwriting, etc. ? I'm sorry if it is a dumb question. I am trying to work in a field more related to my end goal rather than just working to make money.

[Paul Moore]

Hi @Jimmy Suszynski. Thank you for serving our nation!  Great question. 

You might want to consider a job with a CRE lender or real estate broker. You can learn the ropes and make many connections there.

Or you could take the property management route. Rick Graf is the CEO of Pinnacle, one of America’s largest property managment management firms. He started out as a porter for a property manager in college and worked his way up.  

I devoted the last 1/3rd of my new BP book to this topic.  It really is an important one. Good luck!