A lot of people would like to become a real estate developer. In fact, whenever Shaun Benderson tells people this is what he does, they immediately want to know how they can get into it as well. This is mainly because the field of real estate development features people who are constantly on the news. People like Donald Trump, for instance, managed real estate development projects and they made billions of dollars in the process. Today, there are even undergraduate and graduate degrees in this field, including at universities in Phoenix and in Sarasota.
Shaun Benderson on How to Get into the Market
Because real estate development is so popular nowadays, it is becoming more difficult to get into it as well. Some people are propelled to the top because they spotted a scoop, for instance on a commercial retail property in Tampa Bay, but you cannot organize your life around hoping to strike it lucky. Instead, you have to demonstrate that you are the type of person that can convince others that something that doesn’t exist yet will have fantastic value in the future. You have to be able to find land, buy it at a great price, hold it, and physically develop it.
One of the key issues with real estate development, however, is that it is a multimillion-dollar industry. Very few individuals, therefore, can truly become developers. Instead, they have to work for full development companies or trusts. If you are happy to do so, then the following tips may be of benefit to you:
- Make sure you know what your interests are. The field of real estate is very wide, spanning commercial and residential sectors, and various subsectors within that. It is recommended that you specialize in one of those areas. Additionally, you should consider which trade is most of the interest for you. You could be a buyer, but also a clerical work, an accountant, a lawyer, a geologist, an architect, a negotiator, and so on. If your aim is to get your foot in the door with a real estate development firm, you don’t have to start there as a developer, after all. In fact, you might find it much easier to get in with a different area of focus.
- Get the right training. If you want to make it big in the world of real estate development, you need a lot of knowledge. Make sure, therefore, that the degree you obtain is in some way relevant to real estate, or that you take elective courses that focus specifically on real estate.
- Have some financial backing, particularly if you want to become a personal developer. A lot of money is involved in these transactions and if you have not yet been able to secure the trust of investors, you are unlikely to get very far.
- Go job hunting. Remember that everybody has to start somewhere, which may mean that you have to do something that you feel is below your personal skill level. A real estate developer always looks towards the future, and you need to do so on a personal level as well.