Real estate development falls into two categories that you can get involved in: residential and commercial. Residential real estate usually deals with builders and those that build subdivisions. They tend to enjoy putting people in homes and really like to deal on a personal level with the public. On the other end of the spectrum, you will be focusing on the project as a whole. With commercial real estate development, everything is done on a much bigger scale. If you like doing things on a grand scale, this is the area of development that you should get involved in. If you enjoy retail and everything about it, this is probably for you.
Getting into the real estate development field isn't the same for everyone. There are many different entries points and there isn't really a textbook way to get involved. If you have capital to invest, you could just jump right to the top of the field and start your own projects. However, not everyone can get started this way. They have to work their way up from the bottom.
One of the most effective ways to get involved is with a real estate degree. While it's not required, the better degree you have in real estate, the more likely you are to get a job. You can get a job in several different areas within the real estate development field. If you're analytical, you can get into that side of the business. Creating business plans, dealing with numbers, and a lot more. If you are better at dealing with people, you can focus on acquisitions, relationship-building, and a lot of other aspects in the business. There is truly no limit to the areas that you could specialize in. If you work in a big city and for a large company, you could have a very specialized role in the company. With smaller companies, you could wear several hats for the business.
The compensation for real estate development is usually pretty good. An entry level position could pay you $50,000 under the right circumstances. By the time you work your way up a few rungs of the ladder you could be making over $100,000 per year. CEO's of some of the bigger companies make millions of dollars per year. Therefore, there is a vast difference in salaries from position to position within the industry.
Overall, real estate development can be a very rewarding career for those that enjoy this type of work. You can close the big deals and work on the big projects. This is real estate on a large scale. Check into a career in real estate development if this sounds appealing to you.
