Top real estate analyst skills needed to get the job.

What are the top 3 traits or skills every real estate analyst must have to excel?

Can you suggest any tips or insights to develop your real estate analyst expertise?

I've been in commercial real estate underwriting/due diligence/analysis for several years, mostly on the debt side. The skills needed are many and varied but primarily revolve around the following: financial analysis, market research and writing. You'll need to understand "the process," be it finance, development, investment, whatever...and getting to that point takes time. I had no real estate experience when I got into the business and it took a couple of years for me to finally "get it." There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle.

You'll also do well to learn MS Office, particularly Excel. A good primer for this is "Principles of Finance with Excel" by Simon Benninga. Familiarity with ARGUS is also a plus. However, ARGUS is a program that will turn your brain into jelly unless you already have a really good handle on commercial real estate.

I've found commercial real estate to be a very rewarding career and if you like figuring things out, telling the tale, and being a part of making things happen, you'll probably find it to be a rewarding career as well.

I've been a real estate analyst at a large bank for 3 years and I agree with the above poster. The main arenas you need to work on are financial analysis and communication/writing. You need to able to take information from various sources and compile it into a succinct and meaningful presentation. You will need to be able to explain how you reached your conclusions and offer opinions on courses of action. Good luck.

must be curious, analytical, and love math.

Host said: What are the top 3 traits or skills every real estate analyst must have to excel?

Can you suggest any tips or insights to develop your real estate analyst expertise?

I've been a real estate market analyst for 3 years. What I've learned is that this is an unusual position in that #1. there are very few analyst within this enourmous sector #2. the real estate industry, especially on the residential development and sales side, is rather unsophisticated, #3. the data in information out there is marginal at best. I come from a sales and marketing background rather than a financial background. Therefore....I think the best skills you could have are

#1. Problem solving skills. You'll need to answer complex questions using a number of data and information sources. The path is not always clear so you have to overcome obsticles.

#2. You need to be handy with a computer. 50% Microsoft Powerpoint and Excel, 25% mapping / pictures / working with graphics, 25% capturing data from the internet.

#3. Presentations and Consulting. The most important skill to have when dealing with developers and project managers who often are masters of their own universe... Learn to listen, choose your words carefully, be direct, give them the honest truth.

It's a great profession. Dive right in and go for it if you want a career that keeps you on your toes and gives you many avenues to go down.

I too come from a sales/marketing background and looking for a change. I have been helping my husband who is a certified residential appraisal for over 10 yrs. running our small business. Any tips on how to land a local Real Estate Analyst job at a Farm Credit Service company, please give some advice. They are not looking for an appraiser.

I too come from a sales/marketing background, so I enjoyed your comments. Though I am weak at math, were you? Have you acquired the skills to crunch numbers, etc? I feel I can develop my math skills should I have a reason too.
Let's chat, I am on the job market and will be applying for this one Real Estate Analyst position by 1-26-09, so if I am lucking enough to land an interview, I will have more interesting questions to ask you. Ok?

Daniel Hussey in Sanford, Maine said: I've been a real estate market analyst for 3 years. What I've learned is that this is an unusual position in that #1. there are very few analyst within this enourmous sector #2. the real estate industry, especially on the residential development and sales side, is rather unsophisticated, #3. the data in information out there is marginal at best. I come from a sales and marketing background rather than a financial background. Therefore....I think the best skills you could have are

#1. Problem solving skills. You'll need to answer complex questions using a number of data and information sources. The path is not always clear so you have to overcome obsticles.

#2. You need to be handy with a computer. 50% Microsoft Powerpoint and Excel, 25% mapping / pictures / working with graphics, 25% capturing data from the internet.

#3. Presentations and Consulting. The most important skill to have when dealing with developers and project managers who often are masters of their own universe... Learn to listen, choose your words carefully, be direct, give them the honest truth.

It's a great profession. Dive right in and go for it if you want a career that keeps you on your toes and gives you many avenues to go down.

Charyl in Lincoln, Nebraska said: I too come from a sales/marketing background, so I enjoyed your comments. Though I am weak at math, were you? Have you acquired the skills to crunch numbers, etc? I feel I can develop my math skills should I have a reason too.
Let's chat, I am on the job market and will be applying for this one Real Estate Analyst position by 1-26-09, so if I am lucking enough to land an interview, I will have more interesting questions to ask you. Ok?

When you said 'go down' what did you mean?

Charyl in Lincoln, Nebraska said: I too come from a sales/marketing background and looking for a change. I have been helping my husband who is a certified residential appraisal for over 10 yrs. running our small business. Any tips on how to land a local Real Estate Analyst job at a Farm Credit Service company, please give some advice. They are not looking for an appraiser.

Charyl,

The math is very easy. Averages, median sale price, median list price, price per square foot, sales per month (aka absorption). No worries there. If your husband is an appraiser, he should have access to deed information or maybe even an MLS system. Sometimes you have to be or know a Realtor to have access to MLS, which could be troublesome if you do not.

As a market analyst, you'll need to articulate what happened over the 5 years, 1 year, 3 months, etc for a particular market area, be it towns roughly within 5 miles, one specific town, or a county. Did prices go up? Did they go down? Were there a lot of new home sales or were they resales? etc. I'd be happy to send you a sample of a market study so you can check it out. If you're interested, send me an e-mail at dhuzzy@gmail.com. It will be a pdf. Good luck!

"Many avenues to go down" meaning you could use these skills to become an underwriter, sales analyst for a biomed company, project manager, or if you're loving the real estate business, become a sales person and then a broker and run your own company and make $300,000 plus a year.

Will be applying tomorrow, wanting to learn more about this job.

what advice would you give to a young person whom is interested in real estate??

casheen smalling in nottingham, United Kingdom said: what advice would you give to a young person whom is interested in real estate??

#1. It doesn't matter how old or young you are. If you are presentable (clean cut), well spoken, ampathetic to other's needs, good with people, smile a lot, confident, and ambitious, you'll probably find some degree of success. Of course you may not start with all of these traits / skills, but if you try, you can develop them. It's not rocket science. Be nice, work on people skills.

#2. Most people think "residential" when they talk about real estate, so if that is the path you are going down, learn everything there is to know about it. i think real estate in the UK is very much like real estate in the US as we adopted British common law and formed our land laws around your system. We're cousins dude. Learn types of construction, materials, architecture, understand zoning, easements, financing, deeds, ownership, etc. All of the stuff you'll need to know to get your license, then pratice communicating the information to others. It will show others you are a professional who really knows your stuff and a lot of times, people will have confidence in you and want to work with you.....then you make the big bucks.

thank you, your help has guided me, and im begining to research the assests of real estate, i would eventually like to have my own real estate firm,america would be the ideal place for me to endure with my success, haha big bucks that was funny, thank you again,
what type of real estate job are you doing at the moment ?? and is the salary good, in terms of architecture what types?? is there alot of maths involing real estate im asumming there is.
thanks you for your help w/b and also what would be my first business move and appraoch and what is the maximum salary income that i could earn ??. sorry about all the questions

casheen smalling in nottingham, United Kingdom said: thank you, your help has guided me, and im begining to research the assests of real estate, i would eventually like to have my own real estate firm,america would be the ideal place for me to endure with my success, haha big bucks that was funny, thank you again,
what type of real estate job are you doing at the moment ?? and is the salary good, in terms of architecture what types?? is there alot of maths involing real estate im asumming there is.
thanks you for your help w/b and also what would be my first business move and appraoch and what is the maximum salary income that i could earn ??. sorry about all the questions

I work in residential real estate so single family houses and condominiums. The salary in Massachusetts, USA is very high compared to other states, but as a first year sales person, there are a lot of factors that could affect salary such as the town you're selling in, who you work for, the price range of the homes you're selling, etc. I think even in a poor market such as now, $35,000 part-time to $80,000 is reasonable. I know people who have made $1,000,000 in one year, during the good times, and even now they make tons of money, but they work very hard and they are top-notch professionals. You have to be a salesperson for 2 years before you can become a broker, then your salary has the potential to increase dramaticly since you have sales people working for you and you get a nice slice of commission from anything they sell.

No there is not a lot of math, only simple calculations which you'll need to know to get a license. Your first move would be to get a real estate license. Ask a broker how to do that in the UK. I'm sure there's tons of info online.

I'm currently a pension analyst (public servant) but would like to acquire other marketable skills like a Real Estate Analyst. I did work as a Personal Banker for Wells Fargo many years ago before I got my current job with excellent benefits. I've always been interested in this residential and commercial market. But someone like me who have no experience with no networks, with small kids and family to go home to, can get into this business. How do I acquire the necessary skill sets while holding another FT job. I just need advice how do I begin the process. My email lignas@yahoo.com

My husband is the certified residential appraisal and I am his wife, who runs the business. He too, works full time, and has only done appraising on a part-time basis for over 10yrs. Now, b/c I want to keep him busy, I help with orders, customer service, and data input. Since, I am not working outside the home any longer, w/4 kids at toe, I am starting a new business venture selling websites, promotional material, etc. to appraisers across the US. Creating websites now, then will direct market to them in the Fall when all our kids are back in school. My backgrnd is in sales, and I know a lot about what appraisers need to BRAND themselves and what services they need to run their small office. (typically out of their home, and a one man/women shop) If you have technical questions about appraising, education, training etc. we can maybe help you....first tell me, where do you live so we have an idea of your market....
Good luck and would love to keep you posted on our new venture.....
Stay tuned.....

thank you ligna. the dicusion u did was very clear and suitalbe for me i gaint alot tnx very much. i hope u will be albe to helpe me further

Part II - 3 Years Later and 3 years wiser

IN GENERAL, my friends

An analyst would need to know a whole lot about how the world works but let me start with two things:

1. An analyst needs to know how to collect, analyze, and communicate data in a matter-of-fact way and communicate what that means to a reader

and

2. A GOOD analyst needs to know everything about the markets and neighborhoods they are analyzing. What's it like? Can you walk to any place cool like a cafe or a restaurant? What about the views? Does the place smell good? I'm serious. You can compare two downtown luxury towers one block away from each other but if one builder purchased carpets that emit noxious fumes and gets a bad reputation, it will affect sales and macro-level data won't show that.

Common market indicators are # of Sales, Average or Median Sale Price, Price per Square Foot, Absorption (sales per month) Average Days on Market. Two links where you can see some of these stats at play are Gove Quarterly (my current periodical)

www.thegovegroup.com/real-estate-new-hampshire-news-gove-quarterly.php

and

www.primetimecommunities.com/

a former client.