If you are considering a career in real estate there are a number of options open to you beyond the most well-known ones, such as acting as a buying agent. Instead, you may choose to enter real estate development, where you will actually have a direct hand in the creation of different types of property, instead of simply acting as the third party in transactions involving said properties.
So What Do They Do?
Simply put, a real estate developer is the person that makes a building happen. They are the ones with the vision, whether it is a simple house construction of the development of an enormous skyscraper that can be seen from miles around.
While they won’t be the ones actually building the property, they are the ones who will need to arrange for everything to be done and will usually be the person who assumes all of the risk for whether or not the project ends up being a success.
It’s usually their money and their land that the building is being built on, so a real estate developer is somebody who truly makes things happen in the industry and they are vital to keeping the entire industry going.
What Do They Need?
First and foremost a real estate developer is going to need the cash to make the relevant purchase to secure the land they wish to build on. Whether this be their own cash or money coming in from investors is up to the developer, but without a budget they are not going to be able to do anything.
Assuming the required money is in place, a real estate developer’s next task is to find a good team. They will need architects, builders and everything in between to make sure that their project comes to fruition. Just like every orchestra needs the right players before they can make magic, so does the team assembled by a real estate developer.
The last thing they need is a reliable supplier of materials. After all, the materials make the building and it is enormously important that the suppliers are both reliable and able to provide the best possible materials on the market.
So What Are The Risks?
As great as the rewards can be, real estate development also carries with it an enormous risk that must be considered before you start any project. Simply put, the outcome of the development is entirely on your shoulders. Sure, the developer needs a big team of people to make everything come together, but that team won’t be sharing the blame if things go wrong. In fact, more of the blame can be heaped on the developer’s shoulders simply because they are the person who assembled that team.
As such, it is important to have plenty of knowledge before you enter this side of real estate. It is not something that can be done by halves, so you need to make sure that you have the time, money and dedication required to make it a success, or you may well find that your reputation ends up in tatters.