Appropriate salary for Associate at Development Firm?
So I currently work for a developer that does single tenant NNN projects. I’m pretty inexperienced, but have been picking up things extremely quickly and am running deals of my own (with supervision, of course). I was originally hired on for $55k and basically we both went “we’ll see!” I had no prior development experience before this job, but the goal was to train me from the ground up to be development manager. I’ve been frequently told that everyone is elated with my progress and that I’m exceeding expectations, and that I will probably be promoted early next year. 

They’ve been bumping up my pay as we go along and I think at this point I could expect my total comp next year to be around 75k, probably a little below that (based on current salary and includes small bonuses per project and profit sharing). I am currently taking on about 75% of the amount of projects a regular development manager would, and as mentioned, with some supervision, but I am definitely carrying the load on these deals. I’m also completing and managing a special project for the firm on the portfolio management side. 

I hope this is enough context for y’all to accurately assess my situation. Do you think this is a fair wage for me? I am not unhappy at all with my situation, but want to be sure I’m being properly compensated, as I’ve seen some large numbers around here. I live in a fairly low cost of living mid-sized city.
[{"id": "il5vnes", "text": "How many years of experience? Do you have?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "il5vpaq", "text": "Fwiw i started as a development associate at a pretty small firm ten years ago for $55k. Keep grinding, be a sponge, make yourself as useful as possible. Your skill set will be in demand.", "replies": [{"id": "il6xxhk", "text": "Thank you for the encouragement. Sometimes it can all feel totally pointless but this is nice to hear. How long do you think before I try to move on? I hear a year is good rule of thumb, but I suppose it could be different in development", "replies": [{"id": "il765n9", "text": "Depends on your situation. If you\u2019re in a situation where you\u2019re learning a lot and can maintain a long term perspective and survive on $55k i would try and hang on at least two years. If future employers see you jumping around after a year they may be reluctant to hire you.", "replies": [{"id": "im1my02", "text": "Hey I was hoping I could ask an additional question. A broker got into contact with me from a referral of a broker I worked with at my current company. He\u2019s looking for a new associate and wants to bring me on. Is it worth leaving my development path, financially speaking, and shifting over to brokerage? I\u2019d have to figure out if it\u2019s worth it personally, but just wanted to see if it was a nonstarter financially/logistically", "replies": [{"id": "im26qam", "text": "Unfortunately the answer is it depends. Ultimately I would say you should pursue whichever interests you more. I dipped my toe into the world of brokerage but my heart wasn't really in it. Personally I love development and the tangible end result of impacting the build environment for generations to come. Both paths can be difficult, both can be very lucrative. I would say your best chance of success is if you're passionate.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "il5z8uj", "text": "Wait, when you said development do you mean like project management for those ground up NNN builds?", "replies": [{"id": "il6mmjq", "text": "Yup!", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "il6ro9l", "text": "I am NNN developer myself. My advice to you. Take what you have learned here, go out and do your first deal tomorrow. You already know what to do. What\u2019s stopping you? Fear of not being able to raise the money or put the deposit down right?", "replies": [{"id": "il6s7kv", "text": "That and locking down a client. Any advice?", "replies": [{"id": "il6se6h", "text": "When you say a \u201cclient\u201d what does that mean? A partner, a tenant?", "replies": [{"id": "il6sjg7", "text": "Tenant, but I supposed partner as well. It\u2019s just a whole extra level I haven\u2019t considered. But you are right it wouldn\u2019t be a crazy jump if the money and tenant was there", "replies": [{"id": "il6tfth", "text": "What you are thinking right now, is what prevents 99% of this industry from becoming independently successful. \n\n1. you know how to find the site, you know the characteristics these tenants look for, you probably know how to speak to the city and know  the zoning. You just did 95% of the work.\n\n2. you probably know how to do a quick void analysis and see which tenant isn\u2019t there? Yes. Do that. Find the 3-5 tenants that aren\u2019t there.\n\n3. Call those tenants? How? This is actually the easy part. You can track down any corp/ real estate manager online with LinkedIn , or ICSC or even a regular search\n\n4. Once you get an idea of who might have interest. And if they are serious, you have to tie that property down immediately. \n\n5. Package it all up, and now you can go to the money.", "replies": [{"id": "il80465", "text": "What about signing guarantees and having working capital to spend before your loan pays you back?", "replies": [{"id": "il8134r", "text": "Never heard of her", "replies": [], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "im1rhz7", "text": "Hey I was hoping I could ask an additional question. A broker got into contact with me from a referral of a broker I worked with at my current company. He\u2019s looking for a new associate and wants to bring me on. Is it worth leaving my development path, financially speaking, and shifting over to brokerage? I\u2019d have to figure out if it\u2019s worth it personally, but just wanted to see if it was a nonstarter financially/logistically", "replies": [{"id": "im1t7au", "text": "You don\u2019t get what I\u2019m trying to tell you. Why would you work to build someone else\u2019s business and financial prosperity as opposed to yours? \n\nIt took me about 15 years and a lot of money made for others  to finally learn this lesson. I wish someone told me when I was much younger. \n\nYou can do it.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "il6vri5", "text": "My first development associate job started at $53k. I quit after just a few months (~4) for various reasons and got a development coordinator role in commercial starting at $65k. At the six month mark they bumped me to $70k. The development associate role at my current company starts at 80k, and development manager is $90k (super low for a dev manager). Use this as a jumping off point and find a development manager role in a year of two making $100k plus. It sounds like great experience", "replies": [{"id": "il6wa1m", "text": "What kind of cost or living does your area have? My area is really cheap so I don\u2019t want to expect too much with pay. For example, where I am, rent in the nicest buildings in the city start at like 1500 for a one-bedroom, average is probably 900.", "replies": [{"id": "il6x5n5", "text": "Denver, so fairly high", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "im1nq0i", "text": "Hey I was hoping I could ask an additional question. A broker got into contact with me from a referral of a broker I worked with at my current company. He\u2019s looking for a new associate and wants to bring me on. Is it worth leaving my development path, financially speaking, and shifting over to brokerage? I\u2019d have to figure out if it\u2019s worth it personally, but just wanted to see if it was a nonstarter financially/logistically", "replies": [{"id": "im222mp", "text": "I personally prefer the stability of a base salary and am not a fan of a commission structure. I think both paths can make you good money, but the broker side is a bit more of a hustle. Development managers average $100-$150k in my area. I\u2019m not sure what the upper end is for a broker, but I imagine it\u2019s similar. I\u2019d say it\u2019s far more competitive to become a successful broker, but I really don\u2019t know much about it so I could be wrong.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "il81xzu", "text": "I would focus more on your variable comp structure. In development it can be tough to rationalize high salaries so paying bonus\u2019 out during liquidity events is generally the best way to increase take home. It\u2019s risky but that\u2019s why most guys who stick around one shop for at least a few years are making good money.", "replies": [{"id": "il8591j", "text": "Good insight thanks!", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]