Real Estate Developers: Get this book

[Joshua McGinnis]

I recently picked up a copy of Professional Real Estate Development: The ULI Guide to the Business, 3rd Edition and I can't recommend it enough to anyone interested in becoming a real estate developer.

It covers:

• How to get started in real estate development
• How to analyze deals (market analysis, site selection, feasibility analysis, etc)
• How to finance deals (JV, commercial, private, syndication, govt programs, etc)
• Breakdown of how to develop residential, land, commercial, multifamily, office
• Analyzing real estate cycles
• Includes tons of case studies from all kinds of developers

I really like the book because it is extremely practical and not just theoretical, even though the underlying rational is very academic in its approach.

The book also makes a very strong emphasis on developers engaging the community as it is become more and more important to get community and political buy-in for successful projects.

Definitely worth a read.