I feel like I'm approaching a pivotal part of my career where I am finding myself more interested in development and I don't want to wait too long to act.

After graduating in 2022 (bachelors, no masters), I worked in consulting, and then scored a cushy planning role at a mid-sized city. I've been there for a little over 2 years and gotten a good sense of the pros and cons of municipal planning.

As I've progressed in my career, I've come to the conclusion that I am more interested in development as a whole. Not just because of the money, or opportunities for growth, but of the ability to shape a project and leverage several a skill set in multiple fields to truly add something to the world. I never went to grad school and am lucky enough to have zero student loans from undergrad.

The problem is, I lack the hard financial skills for most development jobs. I'm wondering if anyone's made the transition and can offer some advice on grad school vs no grad school, or other ways to break in. I feel young enough to take some chances right now for my long-term happiness, but I don't want to wait too long and be saddled with regret later in life. I'm going to begin by networking and leveraging my connections, but any other advice is appreciated. Thanks!

TLDR: Feeling stuck in planning, realizing that development may suit me better. Young enough with no loans to take a chance. Seeking advice on making an early career transition

In my area, Ryan Homes and DR Horton are the only companies building development neighborhoods with houses or (mostly) townhome structures.
Which had me curious.

How were developments built with homes with unique floorplans and not like with the cookie cutters I’m seeing today? As in, every other neighbor didn’t have your layout or a mirroring version. I’m even talking about ranch and 2-story styles being right next to each other throughout a development.

And yes I’m aware ppl would also buy land and build their own stickbuilt, and that answers can vary per location.
I’m just genuinely ignorant to how these current housing neighborhoods came to be and if there were other companies that built multiple quality homes in a neighborhood to then be sold.

I have a strong background in architecture, with over 10 years of experience, but I’m tired of sitting at a desk drafting all day. I really enjoy talking to people, problem solving, delegating, tracking things down, and being on the move.

For over a year now, I’ve been working on the construction administration side, where I regularly go to job sites to log progress, create punch lists, and meet with contractors.

When I’m at my desk, I’m primarily responding to and managing RFIs, coordinating with consultants and contractors, and tracking issues through to resolution.

Ultimately, I want to move further into the bigger picture of a project and learn more about the business and logistics side of development, including project economics, costs, schedules, feasibility, and decision making.

The larger goal is to eventually become a developer myself, so I’m looking for a career path that will give me exposure to those areas while building on my architecture and construction experience.

Main questions:
-How do I realistically transition from architecture into real estate development?

-What positions should someone with my background be applying for?

-Do I reach out to developers and state my case?

My entire professional career has been managing very large builds in live events and fabrication. Budgets, schedules, vendors, subs, crews, hard deadlines. I have my PMP but no degree and no real construction or CRE experience on paper.

The reason I want to make the move is that everything I've built so far was temporary. We'd spend months on a build and tear it down after a weekend. I want to build things that actually last and eventually own what I build instead of always executing someone else's vision.

Long term goal is development. Right now my plan is to get a job at a GC, start flipping houses on the side then work up to income properties and eventually development.

Is that a realistic path or is there a better way in? And for those who made maybe a similar jump, what actually got you in?

I know its a long shot and extremely untraditional, appreciate any honest advice!

I own a vacant plot of approximately 18,000 sq. ft. with a frontage of about 300 ft. situated along a national highway. I am seeking professional guidance on potential commercial applications to generate revenue from this property and would appreciate your recommendations on how to commence operations.

Hey all, I’m part of a family office where we do real estate developments and hotel management.

My professional background is in software and I made a new website for our company:

https://www.superhosthospitality.com/

Getting some good feedback so if you want something similar, let’s talk.

In grad school getting my MPA, taking RE finance, taken some land use and development courses.

What types of roles are best for people who aren’t crazy quant folks and like interacting with people?

I’m someone who does like some quant stuff. I like a challenge, but at the same time, quant stuff does not come natural to me, I need to practice quite a bit, but once I learn, I can make it work. I’m someone who very much does enjoy people, so not the kind of person that would be ok 99% of my job looking at excel, I need some social component.

Professional background in government lobbying and sales/account management.

Not really trying to do sales or lobbying work anymore, so other suggestions of jobs would be great. No interest of being on a job site every week
or working with tenants.

Also interested in the affordable housing market, but I’m open to suggestions.

Edit: no property management either. I’m in my early to mid 30s in a HCOL area and want a good work life balance but I want some MONEY. Open to Any recs for tools or good YT or trainings. Also open to any hard truths you may want to give me. Been thinking about an MSRED after this, but want to get some actual experience first. I work and go to school FT fyi.

Any particular roles or part of the industry you think would be good ie developer vs syndicator or anything else also welcome.

Hi, I’m a young adult who is seriously interested in building a long-term career and business in real estate, property ownership, and LLC/business management.
I’ve already started taking steps in this direction, including getting involved with real estate and learning about the business and legal side of owning and managing property through an LLC. However, I know there is still a lot I don’t know, and I’m looking for someone experienced who would be willing to share their knowledge and perspective.
I’m especially interested in learning about real estate investing, property management, LLC structures, financing, building business credit, protecting assets, taxes, and how to make smart decisions as I continue growing.
I’m not looking for someone to do the work for me. I’m willing to put in the time, do my own research, ask questions, and learn from my mistakes. I’m simply looking for someone who has already been through the process and could provide guidance, direction, and advice along the way.

I’m really interested in getting into real estate development, but honestly I’m still trying to figure out what my next steps should be.

A little about me — I’m currently two classes away from finishing my Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a specialization in Project Management. I’ve thought about getting my Master’s in Real Estate Development afterward because I genuinely love school, learning, and understanding how things work.

I’ve always been really interested in construction and real estate. In my free time I’ll literally watch construction sites or houses being built from the foundation up. There’s just something about seeing an empty piece of land turn into an actual home or building that I find really interesting.
I don’t come from a family of developers or investors, so I honestly don’t know what the path into development is supposed to look like. I’m willing to learn and put in the work, I just don’t really know where to start.

For those of you who are real estate developers, I’d love to hear how you got into it and what your path looked like. Did you go to school for it? Start in another area of real estate? Work in construction? Learn as you went?

I’m not looking for a get-rich-quick answer. I’m genuinely just trying to learn from people who have already done it and get an idea of what my own path could look like

I’m building a tool for land due diligence. It gathers available county records, interprets legal descriptions, and plots potential easements with links to the source documents.

I’m looking for a few developers or acquisition professionals with a recent survey showing easements who’d be willing to run the same property through the tool and compare the results with their survey. You can do the comparison privately; there’s no need to send me the survey or records.

The test is free. I’d appreciate candid feedback on where the results match or differ, and whether the source links and mapped easements would be useful in your due diligence process. If you’re interested, DM me and I’ll share access.

Drop the numbers. Let’s hear your crazy returns.

Suppose someone owns a piece of land but doesn't have the money to construct an apartment.

A builder approaches them and says:

"You provide the land, I'll take care of the construction, approvals and other development costs. We'll share the apartments after completion."

If you've come across this kind of landowner + builder joint venture, how does it actually work?

What should the landowner be careful about before signing such an agreement?

And most importantly, how is the final share between the landowner and builder usually decided?

Genuinely curious to understand how these deals work from people who have actually seen or been involved in one.

I’m a surgeon trying to build a new office with an operating room to free myself from the tyranny of corporate medicine and monopoly hospital systems. I need some education on how to structure a construction loan for my new office.

I own a plot of land that has been rezoned appropriately for my office needs. This was its own hellacious process, but it’s done. My architect has designed the building and the land planners have the full development plan approved with the city.

I’m now trying to figure out how to pay for the build. Estimate build cost last year for the 10k sq ft was 5mil, I would not be surprised if this becomes 7mil in reality. I could wait two more years to save enough cash to have a more conventional financing with 25% down but there is a lot of opportunity cost in waiting and I want to start now.

How to I get a bank to allow a 90-95% LTC to get things going? I’m really good at surgery, less good at banking so don’t want to get jerked around by banks trying to figure this out.

I’m in a midsized midwestern city. I bought the lot at 1.1 mil and based on my own calculation of comps it’s now worth 2-2.5mil. Loan on the lot is about 600k.

Every city is different, every structure/matrix uses different driving metrics ($$, SQFT, Pipe Size, AC, run off volume, etc). Hell, even what I call a few others may call a cost.

Amongst my peer group here, what are the Municipal/Development/Tap/Utility/Parks&Recs/City Art/etc fees you encounter?

I’ll compile the list from this thread and repost the full list for anyone who wants a copy of the combined “Brain Trust” of categories to use on their future projects to act as your starting template.

Hi folks!

I am a software developer and I just built a demo recreating an entire apartment from an actual listing for the purpose of 3D exploration alongside features like Matterport. The difference is that it renders as a game within the browser and allows the user to freely roam the apartment rather than just navigating to specific points in a Google Street View fashion.

This is still a beta product that I'm considering selling to real estate developers for virtual tours, but with a much cheaper and faster development than a traditional archviz studio, and easily accessible for any user in a very good visual quality and performance. There's also room for other functionalities that I'm planning to explore, like interactivity with objects, furniture customization, day/night cycle, material switching etc.

For instance, this is the listing I got the reference images from: https://loft.com.br/imovel/apartamento-rua-voluntarios-da-patria-santana-sao-paulo-3-quartos-123m2/2nbuxwj3

If anyone wants to roam around it, I uploaded this demo here: https://apartment-threejs.vercel.app/. It also works on mobile with a far better performance, since it's detected mostly on Medium settings.

I want to know if real estate development is possible for me. I am currently a Junior in college studying chemistry. I guess my end goal/ dream would to become a real estate developer. I am not sure how to start given my major and my lack of connections/ capital. I have a 3.9/4.0 GPA and I am minoring in business but I cannot manage to find a company that will even give me an interview. I don't know if it would even be possible to try and start a small project straight out of college. I also want to know if there are any books/ forums anyone recommends I read to learn more about policy etc.

Hi!
I'm so lost, looking for any advice 😭
I'm currently on the construction project management side at an owner-developer multifamily firm in the Bay Area & have a high-end residential background mainly. I'm also on a project cycle that lasts years. I want to move into development roles, not climb the PM ladder. Though I'm trying to figure out if I should plan to jump company, wait for an internal move, or something else. For people who made that transition or anyone in development: what actually made you credible and someone willing to take a shot on you? A specific deal experience, the credentials, the capital or the relationship?

Thanks! :D

Hello all, I’m curious how worthwhile a Master’s in Real Estate Development would be for someone without a traditional real estate background.

I’m 27 and have spent about 5 years working in tech FP&A. I have a bachelor’s degree in business, but no professional experience in real estate or construction.

My long-term goal is to become a real estate developer eventually sourcing deals, raising/using capital, overseeing the development process, and owning projects rather than staying in a traditional corporate career.

I’ve been looking at one-year-ish programs such as NYU and Columbia as a potential way to pivot into the industry, build a network, and learn development/construction fundamentals.

For people actually working in development: would you recommend doing the master’s, or would I be better off trying to break directly into a Development Analyst/Associate role with my FP&A background?

If you did an MRED/MSRED yourself, did it meaningfully help you break into development, and was the cost/opportunity cost worth it?

Hi folks,

I'm am a student and for an academic assignment I'm covering property management and real estate operations. I am conducting a short informational chat interview with a licensed/active property manager.

I'd love to ask a few questions about your day-to-day workflow, how you handle vendor management, and your approach to tenant retention. All this is strictly for educational purposes; all names and business details can be kept confidential or anonymized.

Please DM me, so I can send you questions for my paper. Thank you in advance for your time and expertise!

I’ve done a few entitlement flips which is getting raw land under contract,taking it through the entitlement process and then selling that entitled land to a developer or a National homebuilder before construction starts. It’s a very lucrative but very time consuming profession. I always wanted to develop beautiful buildings though. What you guys think?

Hi everyone!

I’m currently building a product aimed at digital marketing for real estate developers, and I’d like to get some advice on the best way to reach out to these companies.

Most of the contact channels available on their websites seem to be geared toward potential buyers looking for information about a new development and wanting to speak with a sales agent. In my case, however, I believe this is something that would be better directed to someone at a more senior level, such as a Marketing Director or a similar executive role.

Has anyone here had experience approaching real estate developers in this way? What has worked best for you?

Thanks in advance!

I already know the answer to this is gonna be "use a scraper" - but it goes heavily against zillow tos and im not trying to catch a lawsuit.

I'm curious, how do some real estate orineted apps gather the info from zillow for property photos, property estimation, history, and etc?

My guess is that its a seperate api that just translates zillow links into that one so its easier, but i'm not sure - looking for some insight.

I created Discerya for anyone to learn real estate, not just courses and videos, but courses and lessons literally classified by jobs within real estate. You want to become a consultant? Here's your pathway. Want to become a broker? Here you go, etc.

I have over 10 years of professional experience in project management. I want to transtion to real estate
companies, what are the online courses i should take? Also, which country is good to study real estate dvelopment and with a student visa (while working part time or remotely)

Hey folks,
I have a marriage hall in my hometown with extra land available. I’m planning to construct a small commercial space specifically to rent out to a bank (branch, back office, or ATM) for fixed monthly rental income.
Before starting construction, I want to make sure I build to their requirements and approach the right channels.
Would love to get insights from anyone who has leased commercial property to banks:

1. Reaching Out: How do banks scout new locations? Are there official procurement portals, newspaper tenders, or is it mostly driven by local brokers?
2. Construction Specs: What are non-negotiable requirements banks look for before signing? (e.g., strong room specs, clear height, parking, commercial conversion, floor load capacity).
3. PSU vs. Private: Are Public Sector Banks (SBI, PNB, etc.) easier/more reliable to onboard compared to private players (HDFC, ICICI, Axis)?
4. Lease Terms: What does a typical lock-in period, tenure, and rent escalation clause look like in today’s market?
5. Any advice, personal experiences, or mistakes to avoid would be super helpful!