Career Advice? Development Associate - what next??
Hi All,

Ive been a long time lurker/ supporter of this community, thank you all for the great content. I wanted to get experienced professionals advice for my career.

I am currently 28 years old and have pretty solid construction/ project management skills. I got my General Contractor License at 22 working for a GC, and just recently ended a 4 year tenure as a Development Associate working mainly on Rehab/ Repositioning projects with Lease Ups and Dispositions.

I recently left after all my projects sold and got a nice payout, and wanted to get advice on next moves. My ideal Goal is to do small/ medium Friends + Family value Add Multi / Retail / Hotel deals in the future for myself and wanted to see what will help me refine my skills to be successful at that.

I also got very bored of the Project Management side. I want to transition to a more Underwriting/ High level role with a more incentive based payout.

I am currently exploring the following avenues:

1. MSRE - Going back to school. My weakness is in underwriting and general market understanding. I think this would help my skillset as well as credibility.
2. CRE Broker - Joining a successful broker to learn the ropes. Would need help in Underwriting, was considering doing the $1k Adventures in CRE underwriting course.
3. Development Associate - Again, my underwriting or lack therefor is hindering me to be successful at this. I could attempt this after my MSRE or try doing the Underwriting bootcamp for 3 months.

What do you all think?
[{"id": "ihas4vw", "text": "Honestly I don\u2019t think the brokerage or msre are too helpful.\n\nYou sound like a go getter.  Only next step I see is doing deals on your own.\n\nI\u2019m in the same boat.  I also have a gc licence and broker license and I keep making excuses as to why I can\u2019t get started on my own.  \n\nFinally pulling the trigger now.", "replies": [{"id": "ihasbl7", "text": "Congrats! Wish u the best \ud83d\udc4d\ud83c\udffb", "replies": [{"id": "ihcbv23", "text": "Same to you! We\u2019re actually close to the same age. I\u2019m 29.  Feel free to keep in touch!", "replies": [{"id": "ihctizq", "text": "Just sent you a DM!", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ihb4rd0", "text": "Everything you are describing is multiple steps below where you should be. The next step is doing your own deals , sourcing developments/ being the GP.\n\nThe financial underwriting sounds scary at first, until you just do it. Honestly it\u2019s mostly napkin math to begin with. \n\nIf you are competent enough to find a deal, be able to explain in 2 sentences how it will work and give the highest levels of numbers , go to the money and their people will fix it for you. \n\nAlso, educate yourself with some very simple underwriting spreadsheets that are widely available and already setup for plug and play.\n\nHigh level; make sure you understand cash on cash return. That\u2019s a good measuring tool. \n\nIf it\u2019s costs you 1 million all in for everything , and say your net income is 100k, 10% cash on cash. Then compare that to what\u2019s out there in the normal world, savings, stocks, bonds etc \n\nYour looking good just from that", "replies": [{"id": "ihb8o6k", "text": "This. Am mortgage broker.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ihbxcu3", "text": "I agree with what everyone has said here, go do your own deals.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ihchu2l", "text": "Where are you located?", "replies": [{"id": "ihcjxyq", "text": "South Florida", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ihcr2ui", "text": "Do your own deals. At 28 timing is right for you. School &amp; brokerage are a step back and a waste of time. Underwriting in itself is not hard; knowing what information to use in the model is the key. If you have a solid project and engage a Capital Markets broker, they can help on the underwriting. With the current financial market turmoil, banks and capital partners are still lending, however the yields they want are much higher and cost of capital is much higher then the last few years. As a young guy without much overhead you can afford to do skinnier deals then the big guys; those returns will look more attractive. Shoot if you can get by only making enough to pay your living expense, you\u2019ll come out on the other side of this 12-24 month recession with experiance and a track record. \n\nSource: developer of MF, Retail, storage, hospitality\u2026I\u2019ll build almost anything. Currently under construction on over 1,000 units.", "replies": [{"id": "ihcthtg", "text": "Thank you! I appreciate the advice! I\u2019m taking the Adventures of CRE to refine my underwriting then going heads in. \n\nI\u2019m in SOuth Florida so probably will do a deal in the $2-3M, with only $50,000-$100,000 investments max. Will need about 10-15 people. Need to understand how to properly structure and correct fee\u2019s", "replies": [{"id": "ihdttk4", "text": "Probably a JV is your best bet vs syndication. https://youtu.be/3QO0heMNwhg", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "ihebkt3", "text": "I\u2019m in south Florida as well. Highly competitive like fighting in a phone booth. \n\nYour first deal should be a JV. Co GP with a larger group then you. Let them do everything, you just bring the deal packaged up and right", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ihcufga", "text": "Find a partner that is good at underwriting, asset management, deal origination while you are good at construction, budgeting, etc and then figure out how to get the equity with your combined track records.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ihgxh0h", "text": "Explore the CCIM Institute classes and specifically CI 101.  Intense 1 week course but will give you the basic financial education and tools for underwriting. \n\nInstead of going it alone on your first deal, try to find an experienced equity partner who will appreciate what you can bring (deal sourcing and project management) and you get years of experience which could save you thousands or hundreds of thousands in mistakes.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ihxoi3u", "text": "You have very good experience. Honestly, there are more people out there who can play with excel and underwriting than understand the operations and on-the-ground work behind development. Take an online modeling class (like ACRE or breaking into real estate), read books (what every investor needs to know about cash flow by gallinelli, the real estate game by poorvu, making it as a developer by mcnellis are some good ones) and a textbook (real estate finance and investments by brueggemen or real estate finance by linneman) to supplement your experience with high level real estate concepts and finance. \n\nReal money in real estate is more often made as a small businessperson than trying to climb the ladder at a corporation or business owned by a family that isn\u2019t yours. Being a go getter is a good trait!", "replies": [{"id": "ihxpn37", "text": "Thank you! I appreciate the comment. My only reason for the MSRE is credibility. But I am about to take the Adventures of CRE course. Thank you", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]