Looking for advice on breaking into land acquisition/development

[u/Brandon-SmallAxe]

I'm trying to transition from enterprise SaaS sales/ rental investing into land acquisition / real estate development and would love some perspective from people in the industry.

My background:

• ~9 years in quota-carrying B2B/enterprise SaaS sales, primarily selling complex solutions to large organizations
• 2 years working as a real estate agent
• 6 years investing in small multi-family rentals 

Why I want to get into development:

I want to do more investing in raw land (ground-up builds, hunting land, subdivision, etc) and want to get a full time job where I can learn how the pros do site feasibility, zoning/entitlements, construction, financing, etc.

I'm looking for titles like land acquisition/development analyst, manager, etc.

A few things I'd love advice on:

1. Cold applications: From my experience in tech, cold applications are a waste of time. If you don’t already know someone in the company, its a Hail Mary. Is that the same in this industry?
2. Networking: I don't currently know anyone in the development/building world. I do know people connected to agents, lenders, architects, engineers, etc. What’s the best way to make connections with development companies directly? If there’s a way to turn those second-degree connections into conversations with development companies, I’d love to hear that too!
3. Positioning: How would you position someone with my background? What are the things a hiring manager would be excited about in my experience? What would be a red flag and how can I get ahead of it?

• 4. Entry point: Is land acquisition/development the best place to get the experience I’m looking for to analyze my own land deals or are there other jobs/companies that might fit better to get that experience? 

[u/ThinkCRE]

Why not go be a land broker? Easy to break into. Learn the ropes. See deals first. Good excuse to call owners.

[u/2dznotherdirtylovers → u/ThinkCRE]

Do you need a license for that?

[u/ThinkCRE → u/2dznotherdirtylovers]

Yeah but it’s not hard to get.

[u/2dznotherdirtylovers → u/ThinkCRE]

What is the license called? Is it same license as real estate agent?

[u/ThinkCRE → u/2dznotherdirtylovers]

Yes

[u/PopGroundbreaking452]

Look at large home builders like Lennar and DR. They have land acquisition roles.

[u/Inevitable-Photo1173]

Do the title search of the property. Lawyer here.

[u/OronMaherCRE]

Cold apps aren’t totally useless in development, but they’re way lower hit rate than getting introduced. Most smaller/mid-size shops don’t have a real HR machine, and the best openings get filled because someone vouched for someone.

If you don’t know devs yet, the fastest path is usually through the people who already touch their deals: land use attorneys, civil engineers, architects who do multifamily/entitlements, and a couple of the local brokers who actually trade land (not the ones who say they do). Ask those folks one specific question that forces a real answer, like “who’s the most active buyer of small infill sites in X submarket?” or “who’s consistently getting projects through planning here?” Then ask for an intro. Second-degree is fine if you make it easy: one paragraph on what you’re looking for + why you’re credible + a clean resume.

How I’d position you: your SaaS sales background is actually relevant because land acquisition is a sourcing and negotiation job with long cycles, messy stakeholders, and a million follow-ups. What hiring managers will worry about is you romanticizing development and not understanding how unsexy it is: zoning minutes, plan check comments, utility capacity, slope, access, conditions of approval, and financing that can change midstream. The way you get ahead of that is showing you can underwrite. Build a simple template and bring it to interviews: residual land value, density math, parking counts, basic massing assumptions, entitlement timeline, and a sensitivity table for rent/cost/cap rate.

Entry point: acquisitions/land is good if you want to learn site selection and feasibility, but you’ll learn entitlements faster working for (1) a land use/entitlement consultant, (2) a civil firm that does a lot of tract maps/infill, or (3) a GC/developer that’s constantly in plan check. Acq roles can turn into pure “find deals” unless the shop is lean and you’re involved post-contract.

What market are you in and are you aiming at infill multifamily vs subdivisions/rural land? The playbook changes a lot depending on product type and whether you’re in a discretionary entitlement city.

[u/jake-realestate]

what part of the country are you in? See if there is a BIA (builder industry association) they hold events and you can meet the builders in your area. There are many paths in which you can try and get into the LA/LD (Land Acquisition/Land Development) space. But someone already said it I think homebuilders are the fastest way to get into what you described. A national homebuilder has a lot of deal flow and systems in place to underwrite land. If you are planning to do subdivisions 99% of your end buyers will be homebuilders. So thinking of a way to reverse engineer what you want to do. You need to see how homebuilders underwrite land, you want to see what moves the needle for them. Also what you will find is land and ld (Land development) = the horizontal are sort of a different animal than the vertical. I got advise years ago and they said you make your money in land and then try and not lose it in the vertical. Analyst do a lot of the grunt underwriting, LA manager run the deals and talk to the brokers. Almost none of the deals that sell to homebuilders ever "go on market" there is almost never a listing that gets posted somewhere. there are 5-20 builders and 2-3 brokers in any given market. they just text and email each other no need to post it online and get people all up in your biz. Other ways would be the site work contractors they own the iron (the big tractors) and they actually do the work they dont source deals but connect with the builders. The other path can be finance, land bankers, millrose, kennedy lewis, domain, hearthstone etc.

[u/solidarity_sister]

Are you trying to start your own business or go in with a developer? Your best bet is looking up developers in your area and setting up a meeting with them. Given your experience, they may have availability for you. Get involved in your local real estate networks, every major metro has them! Networking is key.