New to the industry and trying to COME OUT SWINGING!

[Nick Tolson]

Hello all,

I have been looking for a RE community ever since joining the industry back in late 2014 and I'm surprised I have just discovered this wonderful site. 

My journey (keeping it short): I got my CA Salespersons license in October 2014 as a "foot-in" and step to getting into development, and made my first transaction on a little condo in Playa Del Rey in February 2015. Shortly after, in May 2015, I got lucky and was offered a part-time job/apprenticeship with a small team of developers who have done a lot of business in the past 30+ years (built ~7,000 homes). I proved to them that I was hungry and they saw that I was serious about becoming a developer so they offered me a full time position earlier this year and are basically mentoring me to become a developer one day. They have bestowed upon me many responsibilities and trust me with a bit of business even though I am still so green. 

Recently, one of the associates brought up the idea of me finding my own small deal (single family house or 2-4 unit building; I'm assuming they'd be willing to put $1-3mil total in if it pens out favorably)  to take from beginning to end - funded by them -  and taking a good amount of the profit.

As much as I've learned in the past year, I still have minimal knowledge on how to take a project from beginning to end. Additionally, our team is very small, and very busy, (5 person firm) so they don't necessarily hold my hand on a day to day basis but are as available as they can be.

My hope is to gain some insight/knowledge from you all who've either done this before or can point me in the right direction.

My goal is to come out of this deal in 1.5-2.5 years with a beautifully done 1st project that will jump start my personal track record. I realize that there is a TON to learn and go through with even getting a single family home built, so I definitely don't want to bite off more than I can chew, but I am a fast learner and will have support; I know it's all a process.

With that being said, what are your suggestions? Where should I start?

Thanks in advance for the input and help!