COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

We're glad you're interested in real estate! While you may liaise with any member of our team, Liz Wilson is the key advisor for this field and is eager to support you in your search. You may book an appointment with her, or any advisor in our office today!

Overview of Real Estate

Real Estate is a wide ranging industry split into two major areas: residential or commercial real estate. Residential real estate involves the buying and selling of private homes, townhomes, condos, and land. Commercial real estate (CRE) focuses on the buying and selling of commercial/retail spaces and the (re)development of commercial spaces, including large scale projects. Real estate businesses can be one person shops or a part of a large commercial lending bank.

This field involves interdisciplinary work with a wide variety in day-to-day responsibilities. Students who are driven, hardworking, and goal-oriented are a good fit for real estate. Those who are successful are often able to set their own hours, have an unlimited earning potential, and be their own boss.

Please note: If you are an international student, please ensure that you are in compliance with OPT/CPT guidelines in order to complete off-campus work along with conduct research to determine if the company will provide sponsorship.

Important Things to Know about Real Estate

There are three very important things to know about the real estate recruiting process:

1. Licensure: If you want to enter residential real estate, you will need to be licensed. The requirements vary by state, but typically include taking a licensure course and passing a national and state exam. You can take these exams at any point in time. If you want to work in CRE, you won't necessarily need to be licensed. Of course, you could choose to still pursue your licensure as an added credential. There are many opportunities within CRE that won't require licensure. 

2. Networking: Getting to know people within the real estate industry and at the firms to which you are applying is of paramount importance. You can use LinkedIn and Davidson Connect to find Davidson alums in the industry.

3. Location: CRE opportunities exist throughout the US, though they are most plentiful within the largest markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington DC, Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, and Seattle, among others. You'll also want to consider the areas you are most familiar with and where you have the most networking connections. 

General Real Estate Information Sources

1. CREW Network: Commercial Real Estate Women Network works to bring together women involved in the many aspects of commercial real estate to exchange information, develop business contacts and help each other succeed professionally. There is a CREW chapter in Charlotte and other cities across the US. 

2. Urban Land Institute: the oldest and largest network of cross-disciplinary real estate and land use experts in the world. There is also a Charlotte chapter that awards a scholarship each year and provides networking and learning opportunities. 

3. Pro Forma Futures (“PFF”) is a non-profit working to increase diversity in finance and consulting. PFF introduces candidates who are currently underrepresented across these industries (women, people of color, folks from the LGBTQIA+ community, and individuals from other diverse backgrounds) to the various post-graduate opportunities available to them. If you decide a career in consulting could be the right path for you, please reach out! The PFF team will help you develop a road-map to land your dream internship / job and, critically, teach you how to succeed during the recruitment process. PFF mentors are not typically involved in your hiring process, but they have been through the process recently themselves, so they are the ideal people to answer your questions about the field. Mentors are happy to help you by answering simple questions or preparing you for interviews. As many financial firms have real estate divisions, the PFF network can be helpful to you!

To begin scheduling one-on-one calls with PFF mentors, check out the website and/or shoot an email to proformafutures@gmail.com with a sentence or two on your background and which roles you are interested in learning more about (if you're not sure what you're interested in yet, that's totally fine - just say that you're hoping to learn more about real estate). If you're more certain about what you're pursuing, please check out the team page – you can find folks whose roles align with your interest and reach out to them directly.

Finally, you can also follow PFF on LinkedIn, where they frequently post about upcoming opportunities and information sessions various firms are hosting.

4. Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center: Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center is a comprehensive career exploration and job search preparation database. Articles, blogs, and videos help users explore industries and careers, plan for education and learn best practices for resumes, cover letters, interviews, networking, and salaries/benefits.

To access Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center:

--Visit the site nclive.org; Select the Career Development Database; From the alphabetical list presented, scroll to select “Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center"; Once prompted to enter your library, select Davidson College and log on (single sign on required). *Davidson alums residing in the state of North Carolina who possess a library card can access by selecting their respective library and entering their library card number.

5. Barron's: Barron's is a leading source of financial news, providing in-depth analysis and commentary on stocks, investments and how markets are moving across the globe. Students who are beginning to learn about business/finance can read Barron's to learn more about the industry. Students preparing for internship/job interviews should read Barron's to become familiar with current market conditions. Click here to activate your free Barron's account, using your Davidson email.

6. Davidson Student Organizations: Joining clubs on campus can help expand your knowledge of the field. Consider joining DREC (Davidson Real Estate Club) and Women in Business (not solely real estate focused).

Roles To Consider

There are many varied opportunities within CRE, so you can choose one that best aligns with your skills and interests. Some areas of interest to explore include:

• Accounting

• Analysts

• Appraisal

• Asset Management

• Corporate Real Estate

• Development 

• Government

• Institutional Real Estate Investment

• Leasing

• Lending/Banking

• Market Research

• Mortgage Brokers

• Project Management

• Property Management

Firms to Consider

With the varied opportunities in CRE, there are also many different firms you can explore. They range from large financial firms to corporations to CRE specific firms:

• Bank of America

• Wells Fargo

• Barings

• CBRE

• Cushman & Wakefield

• JLL

• Asana Partners

• Freddie Mac

• Sotheby's International

• Colliers International

• ReMax

• Simon Property Group

• Brookfield

• Carlyle