Advise (Mentorship) on going from an Investor to a Developer

[Shawn Choi]

Hello,

In the past couple of years, I have successfully procured a few Multi Family Properties. (None of these properties required any construction or renovations)

My Real Estate Investment goal is to eventually be a full time Developer; and to get there, I would assume experience in Flipping will be the best teacher.

For those of you who have experience in Developing:

- What goes into developing a property, other than money and risk?

 - What is the most strategic way of leveraging my properties into becoming a Full-Time Developer?

 - What other ways are there for a passive investor to pivot into Developing?

 - Am I right in assuming that the next step towards my goal is to have many successful flips under my belt?

 - Knowing what you know, what advise would you give to someone that would like to become a Developer?

 - If you don't mind, would you please share your experiences on how you became a Developer?

For your information, my investments are located in California and would like to Develop projects in California.

Thank you very much for your answers. It definitely helps.

[Greg Dickerson]

Originally posted by @Shawn Choi:

Hello,

In the past couple of years, I have successfully procured a few Multi Family Properties. (None of these properties required any construction or renovations)

My Real Estate Investment goal is to eventually be a full time Developer; and to get there, I would assume experience in Flipping will be the best teacher.

For those of you who have experience in Developing:

- What goes into developing a property, other than money and risk?

 - What is the most strategic way of leveraging my properties into becoming a Full-Time Developer?

 - What other ways are there for a passive investor to pivot into Developing?

 - Am I right in assuming that the next step towards my goal is to have many successful flips under my belt?

 - Knowing what you know, what advise would you give to someone that would like to become a Developer?

 - If you don't mind, would you please share your experiences on how you became a Developer?

For your information, my investments are located in California and would like to Develop projects in California.

Thank you very much for your answers. It definitely helps.

 I will answer your questions in the order in which you ask them.

1. Vision, Leadership, Time, Energy, Expertise, Discipline, Diplomacy, Thick skin and Patience  

2. Either sell or refi and use the proceeds to do a project

3. Just do a deal or invest in passively and follow along.

4. Not necessarily. Flipping is very different than building ground up. You can start with either and you can start small and work your way up to bigger projects.

5. Educate yourself on the market, types of properties you want to develop, construction costs in the area, timeframe process and cost of project approvals. You also need to become and expert on finance and raising capital. You need to become a master of the trade.

6. I started as a builder working for investors and developers and scaled from there into development.