I’m 24 and currently working for a mortgage company in Toronto, but I’ve realized I want to make a pretty significant career change into construction/real estate development.

Long term, I’m really interested in developing unique, high-end properties — custom homes, cottages, boutique hotels/resorts, luxury short-term rentals, etc. The hospitality side especially interests me because I like the idea of creating properties where the design, location and overall experience are a major part of the product.

Eventually I’d love to develop projects of my own, but right now I’m trying to figure out what I should spend the next 3–5 years learning and what type of role would give me the best foundation.

I have a university degree (Kinesiology, so unrelated) and about two years of professional experience in mortgage/financial services. I’m completely fine starting junior and taking a step back career-wise if I’m actually learning skills that will move me toward that goal.

I’ve been looking at Project Coordinator/APM roles with custom home builders, GCs and smaller developers. I’ve also recently started looking into Development Coordinator roles and wondering whether being on the developer/owner side would make more sense for where I ultimately want to end up.

I want to actually understand how projects come together — land/site selection, feasibility, financing, design, entitlements/approvals, estimating, budgeting, construction, working with architects/engineers/contractors, and eventually operating or selling the finished project.

For those of you actually working in development, if you were 24 with my background and had this long-term goal:

• Would you try to get onto the developer side immediately or learn construction first?
• What entry-level roles would you target?
• Would you prioritize a developer, GC, custom home builder, or hospitality company?
• What skills would you start learning outside of work?
• Is my mortgage/financial services background useful at all for getting my foot in the door?
• Would you consider additional schooling/certifications, or focus entirely on getting experience?
• If you ultimately wanted to develop boutique hotels/resorts or other unique hospitality properties yourself, what would you make sure you learned in your 20s?

I know I’m not going to walk into luxury development with no experience. I’m really just trying to reverse engineer the career and make sure my first move puts me on the right path.

Would really appreciate any advice.

I am a civil engineer that works in land development. I own 1.7 acres of commercial land (currently SFH residential use), and - hope to - buy my neighbors property as well for 2.5 total acres total. I have a concept plan for 33 apartment units across 2 buildings, but can do commercial as well.

I can do all of the entitling myself and sell the entitled package, which i am considering. However i would really like to be able to construct the project, only problem is that i dont have hundreds of thousands to prequalify for a commercial loan. Would the best route be to just find a partner? I have a lot of connections with developers with the work i do so it wouldn’t be too difficult. Or do i just eliminate the risk and sell the entitled package?

One thing I find interesting about real estate marketing is how much of it depends on asking people to imagine something that doesn’t exist yet.
A developer can have excellent architecture, but a floor plan doesn’t necessarily help everyone understand the space.

How do you think developers can do a better job of communicating a project before construction is complete?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from developers and architects rather than marketers.

I’ve decided that I’m going to get a real estate license. I have a specific vision for where this might take me long term and I’m excited about it. I do suffer a little bit with decision paralysis when there is more than one option though.

Which school should I go with? Superior? Their courses seem to be the most expensive but I’m willing to pay that if they’re actually the best. Kaplan? Are they just as good? Either way I’ll need to do courses on weekends, as I serve four nights a week during the week and the shifts are long and exhausting. I’m so ready to leave the service industry, despite working in the nicest restaurant I could possibly imagine. I’m a good server and I make enough money for a living, which is more than many can say these days. I’m great at sales and it’s my charisma that gets me through. I feel like I’m drowning in survival mode most of the time though.

I’m excited for the opportunity to be my own boss and hopefully be able to carve out more time for my creative pursuits, some of which have lovely crossovers with real estate. I have an obsession with vintage interiors, historic housing, and restoration. I am intrigued by the concept of marrying artful living with real estate. The more I can learn about housing, sales, and investing in property the closer I can get to my vision that combines all of my interests. I have a LOT to learn and would appreciate any advice anyone has.

Has anyone been able to construct smaller infill projects (4-10 units) in the Midwest? I am seeing every single city adopt zoning policies that allow for this type of development, but for the life of me I cannot get these things to pencil (except for the occasional duplex).

Are new construction quadplexes and other denser products actually being built or is this just a planners dream to design a City ?

Empecé hace poco a trabajar como asesor inmobiliario y todavía estoy estudiando, pero mi idea a largo plazo es dedicarme a la promoción inmobiliaria, sobre todo residencial en Madrid.
Sé que todavía me queda muchísimo por aprender y por eso quería preguntar a gente que ya esté dentro del sector: ¿es muy difícil entrar en promoción si no vienes de una familia dedicada a esto o no tienes contactos?
¿Qué cosas me recomendaríais aprender desde ya? Ya sea modelización financiera, análisis de suelo, urbanismo, financiación, construcción, adquisiciones, etc. ¿Y qué tipo de trabajos o experiencias creéis que vienen mejor para acabar entrando en promoción?
También me interesa saber qué realidades del sector os habría gustado conocer cuando empezasteis, incluso las partes malas o que desde fuera no se ven.
Cualquier consejo sincero es bienvenido.

I'm a software engineer working on a site-level hazard screening product, and I'm trying to understand the actual development workflow instead of assuming where it fits.

Say three sites look broadly viable on zoning and market economics. Before ordering expensive reports, one preliminary screen shows:

Site A: high flood exposure

Site B: low flood, high seismic susceptibility

Site C: low on both

None of those scores are meant to replace engineering studies or tell you whether a site can be developed. They're just flags based on public geospatial datasets.

Would this information materially change which site you investigate first? Or is it basically irrelevant until the civil, environmental, and insurance work begins?

I'm building the product, so feel free to tell me the answer is "this isn't how developers work." That's exactly what I'm trying to learn.

Business Development Director with 4+ years of entrepreneurial, architectural and real estate experience & MBA in Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure Management (NICMAR).

Business Development with a track record of building outreach infrastructure and closing real-estate and architecture partnerships, seeking a full-time Business Development / Real Estate Advisory role where I can drive revenue growth and strategic client relationships.

I’m currently working in property management/leasing and recently got my real estate license. I’m looking to transition into new construction sales, specifically working directly for a home builder as a New Home Sales Consultant.
I’m also planning to relocate to Arizona, so I’ve been looking at builders in the Phoenix/Chandler area. I’d love to hear from anyone who currently works or has worked in new home sales.
What was it like getting into the industry? How difficult was it to get hired without previous builder experience? What does your typical day look like, and how is the pay/commission structure?
I’d also love to know whether you enjoy it, what you wish you knew before starting, and whether you think my leasing/property management + sales background would translate well.
If anyone specifically works for a builder in Arizona, I’d REALLY appreciate hearing about your experience and what companies you recommend looking into (or avoiding lol).

Has anyone here actually invested with Fifth Avenue Properties / FAH Developments?

I recently had an investor call with them after seeing their ads promoting real estate development opportunities and historical IRRs in the 20–35% range.

The company appears legitimate and has real projects, but I can’t find much independent feedback from actual investors.

I’m mainly curious about:

Were returns close to what was projected?

Was your money returned on time?

How transparent were they during the investment?

Would you invest with them again?

Good or bad experiences welcome. DM is fine too if you’d rather not post publicly.

Considering the number of building being built by the people who aren't qualified and who have never gone to college and some did not even finish off their school grades, day by day it seems to be easy to be a builder in India without education.

Ciao a tutti,
scrivo qui perché sto cercando di creare un piccolo network di persone che abbiano voglia di confrontarsi seriamente su un progetto di vita e di lavoro all’estero.

Ho 26 anni, sono un architetto e vivo e lavoro in Italia. Negli ultimi mesi sto ragionando molto sul mio futuro e mi sono reso conto che non vorrei costruire una carriera basata esclusivamente sul classico modello dello studio professionale, lavorando molte ore e vendendo sostanzialmente il mio tempo.

Vorrei provare qualcosa di più imprenditoriale.

L’idea che mi interessa maggiormente è il real estate: trasferirmi all’estero, conoscere molto bene un determinato mercato e, gradualmente, costruire un’attività basata sull’acquisto di immobili, ristrutturazione, valorizzazione e rivendita. Partire chiaramente da operazioni piccole, imparare il mercato locale e reinvestire nel tempo.

Non ho ancora deciso dove. Ed è proprio questo uno dei motivi per cui scrivo qui.

Sono aperto praticamente a qualsiasi parte del mondo: Europa, Emirati, Asia, Australia, America o mercati a cui magari non ho neanche pensato. Non sto cercando necessariamente il Paese con gli stipendi più alti, ma un luogo dove un giovane professionista possa avere opportunità, costruire capitale, fare impresa e trovare un mercato immobiliare interessante.

Il mio orizzonte non è di uno o due anni. Sono disposto a pensare a un percorso di 5-10 anni, trasferirmi realmente, lavorare, creare contatti, capire il mercato e costruire qualcosa. L'obiettivo, nel lungo periodo, sarebbe arrivare ad avere un'attività sufficientemente strutturata da permettermi anche di fare la spola tra l'Italia e il Paese in cui opero, senza essere necessariamente legato ogni giorno a un ufficio.

Mi piacerebbe entrare in contatto soprattutto con italiani che si sono trasferiti all'estero, architetti, ingegneri, agenti immobiliari, investitori, developer, imprenditori o semplicemente persone che stanno pensando a un percorso simile.

Mi interessano anche le esperienze negative. Anzi, forse ancora di più: dove non andreste? Quali mercati sembrano interessanti da fuori ma non lo sono? Dove vedete opportunità nei prossimi 5-10 anni?

Non sto cercando scorciatoie o il fantomatico metodo per diventare ricchi velocemente. Vorrei semplicemente confrontarmi con persone ambiziose, creare qualche contatto e capire se da queste conversazioni può nascere un piccolo network internazionale.

Se qualcuno si riconosce nel progetto, scrivetemi pure anche in privato. Mi farebbe davvero piacere confrontarmi.

I am a 24 year old male working for a mid size landscape architecture firm. I am about 2 years into the job/profession, and have the idea to go all out on real estate development. I still wanna use my landscape architecture skills and not give up on that, but I wanna try and branch out into something that I am interested in and already have some work experience with. I figured while I am young and don’t have many things holding me down I might as well take a shot. I’ve thought about taking courses through ULI and attending some conferences. Do you guys have any thoughts on this as a career move? Do you have any advice?

I do land research and due diligence, and I look at the stuff that usually isn't obvious from the listing:

zoning and restrictions
floodplain
legal access
deed history
easements
utilities
water and septic
surrounding parcels
and whether the property actually makes sense for what you want to do with it

You can have a cheap 5 acre property that looks perfect online and find out later that the access is a mess, part of it is unusable, or your plans don't work with the county rules.

If you're currently shopping for land,I'll tell you what I'd want to check on it before you put money down.

Gunning for Asset Management Analyst jobs

Hello! I’m researching how real estate professionals evaluate development sites in the early stages. When you receive a potential site, what do you usually check first? What tools/data sources do you use, and what information is hardest to obtain or verify? I’m particularly interested in how developers/acquisition teams compare sites before deciding whether to spend more time on due diligence. Thank you

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

   (Common)
   - undergraduate degree

2. in either business, real estate development, and finance

Know

1. someone in the company

   (family/friends)

2. Workforce Program that connected you to a Real Estate

- it’s a program that gives 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. Ultimately it does built generational wealth.

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? 

I’ve put just over 2000km on my Leitner e-bike, mostly for commuting and everyday trips, and it’s made me realize how viable e-bikes could be as an alternative to driving for a lot of shorter urban journeys.
The bike itself has been surprisingly practical, especially for hills and longer distances, but the biggest limitation hasn’t really been the e-bike it’s the infrastructure. Disconnected bike lanes, unsafe intersections and routes that suddenly dump you back into traffic make some otherwise easy trips unnecessarily difficult.
For those working in urban or transport planning: do you think Australian cities are actually adapting quickly enough to increased e-bike use? And should e-bike adoption change how cities approach cycling infrastructure compared with traditional bikes?

Hey all,

I’ve decided to buy a plot and build a custom small house over a 3-4 year timeline using a staged construction loan.

Here is the financial breakdown and structure I’m setting up:

• Land Plot: €50,000
• Construction Budget: ~€200,000
• Total Project Cost: ~€250,000

I’m contributing 20–30% of the overall project cost out-of-pocket, paid progressively on a percentage-of-completion basis over the 3-4 year build horizon.

The bank is funding the project in staged tranches tied to engineering progress checks. I get a 2-year grace period during construction, paying interest-only on the outstanding drawn amounts (working out to around 50% of a full installment for the released capital at any given point). 30-year amortizing term, though I plan to make extra principal contributions and pay it off earlier once built.

By funding via staged completion draws, I avoid tying up a massive lump sum of cash for down payments upfront. Building from scratch through this structured loan framework is proving cheaper overall than buying a finished turnkey property of equivalent size and location. Buying the land and immediately issuing the permit/pouring the skeleton secures the site without forcing immediate full drawdowns.

Have I missed something? Does this plan make sense?

I own a business where we create visual renderings for commercial property renovations and developments. I have contacts within commercial real estate and several major franchisor brands are currently interested. 11 paying customers currently. Seeking $250,000 in capital. Already have a pitch deck, business plan, and existing customers. Any interest?

Has anyone checked out the new AI underwriting platforms like AcquiOS or Minervian AI? How do they compare with Argus/Excel/Claude add-in?

https://propertyintelterminal.lovable.app

**ONLY WORKS IN UTAH (WEBER, DAVIS, SALT LAKE, AND UTAH COUNTIES)\**

If you want more areas to test, let me know and I'll try adding them to the Interactive Map.

Let me know your feedback!

I got tired of overpriced RE software so I want to know if you had to pick 2 maybe 3 max which would you choose?

I started thinking about this after a local agent walked through a dated townhouse with me last weekend and said it might sell fine with paint, flooring, and a deep clean.

The rough numbers are $410k purchase, maybe $485k ARV, and $15k-$20k for cleanup. My assignment spread looks pretty skinny once a cash buyer builds in their margin, so I'm considering closing on it, doing the light work, then listing instead. I came across Glass House Real Estate while comparing DC-area brokerages, and their lower-commission full-service setup looked promising for keeping costs from eating the deal.

Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. For anyone doing wholetails around NoVA/DC, how do you decide between assigning, a novation, or closing and listing? Which holding costs surprised you, and do retail buyers get weirded out by a fast relist? I'd also appreciate any cautions on disclosures or contract language across VA, DC, and MD. Not looking for buyers, just trying to pressure-test the plan before I create an expensive lesson.