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Contrary to what many people may first think, "real estate" encompasses far more than simply the residential brokers that help you buy and sell your home. In fact, the term refers to a much broader industry, including developers, financial analysts, corporate real estate officers, property managers, appraisers,
etc.
Below is a brief description of the various and exciting careers you may pursue with a real estate degree.
After reading through the various description below, visit our
Jobs & Careers
page for more information on how to get started building experience and
preparing to find your perfect career. |
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 Appraisal
Nearly every user of real estate—buyers and sellers, mortgage lenders, investors, tax assessors, insurance adjusters, government officials—requires an unbiased estimate of a property's true market value. As such, appraisers play an important role in real estate transactions, appraising properties as diverse as single-family homes, undeveloped farmland, retail strip malls, and high-rise office buildings.
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Commercial and Residential Brokerage
Brokerage is probably the most familiar—and most prevalent—career in the real estate industry. Real estate brokers act as intermediaries, helping buyers and sellers or owners and renters of real estate find one another, and facilitating the transaction once a "match" has been made.
Because of the unique characteristics of different real estate markets, most brokers tend to specialize in a particular property type: commercial office, retail, industrial, multi-family residential, or owner-occupied residential.
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Corporate Real Estate Asset Management
For most businesses, real estate often makes up a large fraction of the company's total assets, even if its primary business is not related to real estate. In addition, all businesses make real estate decisions on a regular basis: where to locate manufacturing plants, corporate offices, warehouses, retail operations, etc; whether to buy or lease space; is it best to build new or purchase an existing building; should the firm purchase or build more space than it currently needs, leasing out the excess until it is required.
To effectively make these decisions and to more efficiently manage their real estate assets, many large firms have created corporate real estate departments. In any event, all firms must make real estate decisions like as these on a regular basis, and students with an understanding of real estate markets bring an added set of valuable skills to any employer.
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Development
Development involves the subdivision of land and the construction of improvements such as roads, utilities and buildings to transform vacant or underutilized property for a new, more valuable use. Developers may specialize in land or building development, and may further specialize in the development of a particular type of property.
Real estate development is an exciting career that requires a solid understanding of every aspect of the real estate industry—and more than a little bit of luck.
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Mortgage Finance
Commercial banks, savings and loans, mortgage banks, insurance companies and other institutional investors are all among the numerous firms that provide loans for purchasing both residential and commercial real estate. These firms hire real estate graduates to design, price, and underwrite a variety of mortgage products and financial derivatives generated from mortgage.
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Investment and Portfolio Analysis
Many real estate graduates work for themselves as private real estate investors, or as analysts for larger corporations or syndicates. Key to success in property investment is a solid understanding the structure of real estate markets, knowledge about how to analyze the cash flows generated by income properties, and insight into the proper role of real estate within a larger financial portfolio. |
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Property Management
Property managers take care of most day-to-day tasks associated with operating income-producing real estate, including advertising, leasing, collecting rent, maintenance, and staffing. In addition, property managers often provide financial reports and advice to the owners of properties they manage. As such, property managers provide a valuable service that can help maximize the overall income a property generates for its owner.
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Title Research and Insurance
Unlike automobiles, there is no physical title certificate to demonstrate one's ownership of a parcel of real estate. Because of the varied and complex claims that can be established in real property, title companies play a central role
in the smooth transfer of properties from one owner to another.
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Urban Planning and Land-use Regulation
One of the defining characteristics of real estate is its fixed location, meaning each parcel of real estate is affected by the use of land around it. As a result, governmental restrictions on the use of private land are ubiquitous. Federal, state, and local government agencies all hire real estate graduates to help analyze real estate development patterns and develop efficient land-use policies.
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