Vault Career Guide to Real Estate (Vault Career Guide to Real Estate)

Rating:
Summary: Broad overview, poor on detail- a true newbie's book
Review: Anyone seeking to enter the world of commercial real estate will likely not benefit much from the Vault Guide to Real Estate. The information it contains is largely an overview and description of the culture of the industry. In my own research, I strongly believe (having been through the process of finding a commercial real estate job) that most of this information can be gleaned from a one hour conversation with almost anyone in the business. If you are extremely new to the field (i.e. know almost nothing about it) then this book could prove helpful.

Unlike the Vault financial guides, this resource does not go into the basic real estate terms and calculations that almost everyone in the field should know (NOI, Capitalization Rates, Competitive Analysis, RE loan terms, vacancy calculations, lease analysis, operating expense ratios, property valuation, etc.). In fact, I would recommend the Vault finance guides over this text, even for real estate- you will be better prepared for your interviews.

Anyone serious about the field will need to learn the numbers from another resource, possibly a CCIM course, "Real Estate Finance and Investments" or "The Real Estate Game". Again, the Vault book gives a a nice "soft" overview of the industry, but lacks the detailed substance necessary to understand how the real estate business works from a practitioner's standpoint.

To be fair, the book has some good suggestions on how to get a foot in the door in the business, etc. Nonetheless, you will not (by a long shot) be prepared for a real estate interview by reading this book alone. For an easy and fast introduction to the field it's a decent start.