The money side of buildings and land: lending for apartments and offices, real estate funds, REITs, title insurance and the specialists who keep property deals moving.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Commercial Real Estate Lender: Arranges loans for office buildings, apartments, warehouses and hotels. Typical pay $150k.
REIT Analyst: Analyzes publicly traded real estate companies (REITs) that own malls, data centers and apartment buildings. Typical pay $135k.
CMBS Analyst: Analyzes bonds made from bundles of commercial real estate loans. Typical pay $125k.
1031 Exchange Intermediary: Holds the money in special real estate trades that let investors swap one property for another without paying taxes yet. Typical pay $80k.
Title Insurance Underwriter: Decides whether to insure that a property's ownership is clean, with no hidden claims or liens. Typical pay $90k.
Review Appraiser: Checks other appraisers' home and property valuations for errors before a bank relies on them. Typical pay $80k.
Property Accountant: Keeps the books for apartment complexes, office buildings and shopping centers. Typical pay $78k.
Multifamily Underwriter: Analyzes apartment buildings to decide how much a lender (often backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac) should lend. Typical pay $95k.
Private Real Estate Lender: Makes short-term, high-interest loans to real estate investors who need money fast to buy or fix up properties. Typical pay $100k.
Commercial Loan Closer: Gathers and checks all the documents needed before a commercial real estate loan can be funded. Typical pay $58k.
Tax Lien Investor: Buys the right to collect unpaid property taxes at county auctions, earning interest when owners pay or sometimes getting the property. Typical pay $70k.
Mortgage Note Investor: Buys home loans from banks, often ones where borrowers stopped paying, and works out new payment plans or takes the house. Typical pay $85k.
Housing Finance Agency Analyst: Works at a state agency that sells bonds and gives out loans and tax credits to build affordable apartments and help first-time homebuyers. Typical pay $80k.
Mortgage Quality Control Auditor: Re-checks a sample of closed home loans to catch mistakes and fraud, like fake income or missing documents, before investors or regulators do. Typical pay $62k.
Starter: fastest way in
Title Processor: Orders searches, prepares documents and keeps title insurance files moving toward closing. Typical pay $46k.
Appraisal Management Coordinator: Assigns home appraisals to appraisers for lenders and keeps them on schedule. Typical pay $44k.
Flood Zone Determination Specialist: Decides whether a house is in a FEMA flood zone using maps and data, which tells the bank whether the buyer must buy flood insurance. Typical pay $44k.
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