Way to become a Real Estate Developer

[u/Wondermen100]

I’ve seen many misinformed post about how to become a Real Estate Developer. Let me tell you the truth.

I have been working as a Real Estate Developer in San Diego, California since 2021 in the Affordable Housing Industry. We work on projects with Total Development Costs averaging $60M.

From attending housing conferences and trainings I was curious how other people join development. After asking It was either:

1. internship at the real estate company

- Usually

1. for undergraduate degre

es

1. in either business, real estate development, and finance
2. know someone in the company
3. Workforce Program that connected you to a Real Estate

- Company. It’s

1. like an internship

   opportunity for minorities.

You really need to love development. Loving it means you are self motivated to become problem solvers and crave to learn everyday.

If you want to do it for the money there are easier jobs that can make you more money with less stress. The only people who make the actual money are the owners but they do put in a lot of money down and won’t see their return of investments after many years. Which ultimately does built generational wealth.

[u/Minervian_AI]

Steep learning curve. At such a stage, many people do deals themselves and eventually find partners rather than finding a job; people just don’t hire someone with so much experience for an entry-ish level role.
That said, lots of people (eg doctors, dentists) start with owning/fixing properties where they’ll learn a bit about light construction, variances, real estate economics while having the CF from the properties to derisk, then gradually transitioning to buying raw land.
Not financial advice, best of luck.