How risky is working in Development, especially for someone right out of undergrad?
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[{"id": "i15rirq", "text": "Is true that development is cyclical, but even if they lay you off, there are a lot of skills you will acquire that would allow you to transition to other areas, like banking or corporate RE.\n\nIs not like you sit and analyze the construction budget, you still need to perform analysis on the property feasibility and operation as any other analyst would do.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i15tfpz", "text": "Not very risky.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i15tr71", "text": "Development in FL is a pretty fantastic place to be right now. You won't see anything near an environment like the great recession. Developers won't overshoot again, they're taking a far more measured approach to increasing supply and the prices that they're buying land for is pretty wild. It won't grow like this forever, but  2007 ain't happening again.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i15w4d1", "text": "You make money in upturns but you build relationships and wealth in downturns. A market crash could be the best thing for you personally, it just won\u2019t feel like it at the time.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i15wq7f", "text": "It\u2019s a wild time for land in Florida so being on the land brokerage side is definitely an exciting place to start a career.   Also since we are deep into this cycle so you will be in a great position to see how different developers react to a potential pending downturn (and how some don\u2019t react at all).  Learning how to prepare for and endure downturns is one of the keys to being successful in real estate.", "replies": [{"id": "i169i3y", "text": "That\u2019s a perspective I haven\u2019t heard", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i169f2z", "text": "Depends a lot on the specifics.  I started with a retail developer in 2003, which has been a lot different experience than those in multifamily, office or especially industrial.  We had 2 rounds of layoffs in 2008.  I was lucky enough (maybe due to low overhead) to stay with the company, but we went from over 100    to 20-30 employees in the following 12-18 months.  Ironically, and almost without exception, everyone of the people that were laid off ended up doing far better in their new roles.  In that case, many companies that folded spun off new groups without any liabilities and were able to start fresh in an environment with very low pricing compared to years before and the years that followed.  So yes, development has swings but there are ways to navigate those swings.  If you want to be in development long term I would recommend starting in that analyst role.  It takes time, and all your broker friends will be making way more than you the first few years but you\u2019ll get there.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i16ykjp", "text": "The analysist role is no more risky than any other entry level RE position.  You are still employed at the will of the company.    \n\n\nThe big risk you may encounter is getting a little experience under your belt thinking you have the development game figured out and putting your own capital in play to do a deal.  That's like going all in on a hand of poker - big risk and big reward.", "replies": [{"id": "i16zchb", "text": "Yeah def not the move more along the lines of working as an associate", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i1a8ulo", "text": "I switched from Development to Asset Management for that exact reason. I lost my develolopment job due to a downsize from Covid.  Asset Management has similar yet different skills but is much more stable as there will always be a need to manage the assets regardless of volatility.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]