Over the course of the last three months, I have had the pleasure of working as a full-time intern with the Total Realty Group team out of their Downtown Los Angeles office. What began as a simple cold call to the office of Michael Fukushima and Stephen Watson soon became an adaptive hands-on internship experience. As an undergraduate business student at LMU, I always knew commercial real estate was a field of interest to me. However, the one-on-one support and real-world application I have gained working alongside the team has not only opened my eyes to the industry, but allowed me to familiarize myself with the Los Angeles real estate market as a whole.
As I entered the office with no knowledge or exposure to the world of real estate, the team quickly and effectively guided me through increasingly complicated tasks. While at first my early tasks such as calling previous clients to confirm contact information and shadowing property inspections seemed simple, I quickly understood their importance. These straightforward tasks were meant to create a base which would later be built upon when the time was right. As time went on, I began to move into more complicated tasks such as property evaluations and composing property proposals. These exercises allowed me to understand specific metrics used when evaluating a property as well as the importance of analyzing comparable properties in a given area. I quickly learned how to calculate and use metrics such as the gross rent multiplier, capitalization rate, and price per square foot when assessing various clients’ properties on behalf of the team. Understanding the importance of these metrics on their own as well as the varying values of these metrics based on area in the Greater Los Angeles Area helped me better understand the multifamily market in Los Angeles.
Another key aspect of my internship was being a part of everyday meetings, both team and office. As I attended meetings, I was able to analyze the everyday tasks and observe market trends as they were discussed by the team. These observations only aided my overall understanding of the ever-changing Los Angeles real estate market as well as picking up on current buyer and seller sentiments. Things such as the rapidly changing loan environment due to rising interest rates and disparities in sales volume affecting the whole market were regularly discussed, allowing for a unique opportunity to see my team’s insider views on problems affecting financial markets everywhere.
Overall, I couldn’t be happier with my internship experience this past summer and the valuable information I learned. I will always be grateful for every member of the team as they welcomed me with open arms and often put valuable time aside to assist me throughout my assigned tasks. As I now prepare to enter my senior year at LMU, I feel very confident that the time I spent this summer developing a better understanding of the real estate world will continue to prove valuable not only in future real estate endeavors but in the business world at large.