Guide: How to Become a Developer

[Nowhereman1280]

Originally Posted by ChiTownCity

Exactly what are some of the ways to become a developer? Would majoring in architecture be a good way to get into this field or would it be best to major in a strictly business field?

Do business and take as many courses on real estate that they offer. I am currently working on this myself. I got myself a good job during college working at a Real Estate Law Firm that taught me a ton and worked there for two plus years. Worked for a while at a tech start up which was a complete distraction from my real passion for real estate. I recently moved over to doing a combination of brokerage and consulting on corporate accounts. I am now in the process of buying my first building which is a two flat. I intend to live downtstairs and rent the top while I save up to rennovate the whole thing and sell it. Given the fact that its selling for about $150k in a market where a renovated two flat went for $500k to $750 three years ago, that should give me enough capital to really get going and either use it as collateral on other loans or just sell it to an investor and leverage the capital on other deals. Its going to take time and a lot of work, but I'm so close I can taste it.

Its funny, I was asking the exact same question on here four years ago so the advice I have for you works. Remember the following:

1. Be prepared to work your ass off
2. Be willing to take a risk. You have nothing to lose.
3. NETWORK at all possible opportunities. Real Estate is all about who you know
4. LEARN. Get yourself an internship or job at a real estate law firm, consultant, developer, or brokerage. Reference point one here. If you can't find a paying position or get a job through a connection, then approach local real estate people and offer to work for three. You can't do points 1-3 without number four. Most of Real Estate is something you can't learn in school, its good to have a education that gives you chops with numbers, but you need to have hands on experience.
5. Get your brokers license and do it as fast as possible. Its impressive to people if you have a license and a college degree at a young age. It also proves that you aren't just another business student groping everywhere they can looking for just another job to hold them over. It also only costs $600, but you can get the Illinois Realtors Association scholarship for college students who are interested in real estate.


If you do points 1-5 you will find yourself knowing what steps you have to take to become a developer in a couple years. I can't tell you how to become one because everyone does it differently, but I can tell you that if you do the above, you will figure it out yourself if you really have a passion for it.



PS: I double majored in Economics and Finance and graduated in 3.5 years so I could get a jump start on my goal.

PSS: The only developers that I know of who have an architecture degree are David Hovey and Antonvich. Architecture is a very uncommon way to get into the business.

To be honest if you are young, be aggressive and just throw yourself out there for every developer, consultant, REIT, and real estate law firm in the city and be willing to work your ass off for little to nothing. You will never have another opportunity in your life again where you won't need a fully paying job and there are a lot of REITS and developers right now that are ramping up their operation and running lean and mean in this environment. Getting a some college kid to do their admin work and pick up their lunch so they can work all day without stopping will be extremely tempting to them.

Also its not necessarily decades off, I will be officially a small time developer as soon as this deal closes in January meaning I went from punk ass college kid to "developer" (albeit small scale right now) in less than 5 years. And I'm still only 23...

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

PSS: The only developers that I know of who have an architecture degree are David Hovey and Antonvich. Architecture is a very uncommon way to get into the business.

Roszak, although that's more of a cautionary tale.

[untitledreality]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

PSS: The only developers that I know of who have an architecture degree are David Hovey and Antonvich. Architecture is a very uncommon way to get into the business.

Agreed that it is uncommon, but there is nothing stopping anyone who is an architect from becoming a developer, other than themselves. It just seems that many architects feel uncomfortable by the notion of development, by taking on risk. Its really quite sad.

Other notable Architect/Developers are Johnathan Segal, Sebastian Mariscal, Onion Flats and Alloy in NYC. They have all gone beyond the point of dabbling in development like so many architects frequently do and have found great balance between the demands of finances and design.

[Nowhereman1280]

Originally Posted by siunate2324

@nowhereman
I've taken some of your past posts in this thread and tried to apply as much as I really can at my stage. I just founded a real estate club on campus for students so I'm hoping that will help for grad school/jobs with a good leadership item for my resume. This is should be a good chance for me to maybe land an internship because I'll be dealing with many local brokers, RE law firms, etc. on a personal level. Also planning a trip to STL to hopefully have our group talk to a handful of development companies around there and try and gain as much knowledge from that as possible.

Also have you heard anything about ULI (Urban Land Institute). I think I'm going to join for year and see how that is along with getting my license after I graduate.

Sounds like you've gotten a good start. Are you going to school in Chicago?

I've read a lot of the reports/research that comes out of ULI. The do good work. Could be a good place to check for internships as well.

Also from my grad school research I tended to notice mostly the value of a degree. I really really wanted to get an MRED degree cuz its so real estate related and I'm still looking into applying for a couple even though I need to focus on graduating this year. But also I've heard from credible people that a MBA focusing on RE AND finance would be excellent, and obviously the better the university the greater the value. Plus like I said earlier you walk away with more flexibility as well. I really would prefer DePaul or UW Madison (GPA aint getting me into NW).

I think you might find that grad programs aren't as focused on GPA as you fear. The MUCH more important factor to grad programs is your resume. You could have graduated with a 2.0 from a community college and get into University of Chicago if you are the CEO of a $50 million company you built from scratch. That's why building your resume by doing things like starting a real estate club is so important.

Also, I think you'll find that UW Madison is just as picky as NW, especially for their business programs as they have a similarly selective program to NW. Madison and NW have two of the finest Real Estate MBA programs around.

[siunate2324]

Hope it's a good start, lol I've done research on the web the last few years trying to get as much knowledge as possible so I hope it pays off as I feel like I finally found the right path. No I am a senior at SIU down south. I switched from architecture to management to finance (real estate) an seems like it was the right way to get into development. Also noticed thru MRED n grad school research they put emphasis on leadership and having a genuine interest in RE, which is why I hope things like my club/ULI present not only resume boosters but hopefully opportunities.

Yeah ULI looked like a good chance to get some real knowledge on how the industry works and since it's my last semester to get it as a student I am planning on it getting it anytime.

I never looked at GPA and admittance into grad school like that but I guess you are probably right. I think me trying to be admitted into grad right after I graduate is prly unrealistic even though it'd be nice...but I guess if it can help earn a better degree getting good experience right away can only help. I def feel like if I can somehow pull off getting UW, NW, or now I'm looking at Depaul more extensively I'll be set for a good career. Depaul has gone up my list since all I've heard lately is the importance of gaining connections where you intend on working and also they offer opportunities for students to work and attend grad programs concurrently. We'll see what happens the real world is coming pretty quick...

[siunate2324]

For the sake of keeping this thread going I'll post a simple question since I'm closing in on graduating with a finance degree. Say I get out of here degree in hand, gonna probably be hard finding a development company that's decent around Chicagoland hiring even though that'd be ideal. But what other routes are there to take? I hear from many people in the industry starting as a broker isn't bad since u learn the trade, transaction process, n how to sell. But would that be better than a smaller time finance job with just any company? I need something for a bit of work experience to help my grad school chances in between undergrad and grad. Thoughts?

[Nowhereman1280]

If you are closing in on graduation, I'd start working on a brokers license. That's what I did right at the end of school and it's opened the door to a ton of opportunities for me. I will say that residential brokerage is NOT the way to go and that you should try to shoot for commercial brokerage and learn industrial or office brokerage. It's a great way to learn the fundamentals of putting deals together and to start building a network.

I'm finally closing in on my deal of being able to actually start my own independent development company and will probably open a brokerage arm as well as I've recruited a few friends who also have licenses to join me. What is really driving my business plan now is a Private Equity fund that I'm putting together to buy up small multi-family properties. I own two buildings now and have another under contract and am waiting for a response today on a 4th one that my partner and I put in a cash offer on (I'm pumped about this one as they've indicated we are the top offer right now). I wouldn't have been able to afford or figure out how to do any of this without the base that two years of brokerage has given me.