What should i major in if i want to become a real estate developer?

Question

i thought about majoring in accounting. and then get into the real estate development business. i don't know what to do because there is no major of real estate development. what should i do?

Answer 1

To be honest, college is pretty much a waste of time when it comes to real estate development. SAVE YOUR MONEY! Engineering will do nothing to teach you about real estate development. I am currently a part time real estate agent and an investor. I would suggest you get your real estate license first. Then work for an agency for about a year. This will give you an understanding of the market you are living in and how properties move. To be a developer, you must have one of two things. Money, or land. Being an agent will give you the inside information on how things work. Also, I would suggest after you are comfortable with being an agent, try flipping a small and cheap home. That will give you the experience necessary to become a developer. It will force you to find financing, find an accountant and find good contractors to work with. You could major in accounting but I think that is a waste of time. A developer is the guy/girl that puts it all together. You won't have time to do the menial tasks that you can dole out. Time is money. So, to summarize....
1-get your real estate agents license
2-work for an agency (about a year at least)
3-Find a "power team"... that includes your accountant, financier, contractors, and an agent (If you don't want to sell or buy yourself)
4-try to find a home to flip (not a very good market right now, but the experience is invaluable)

Hope that helps you and good luck.

Answer 2

Engineering would be my first choice, followed by management with some coursework in accountancy, finance and economics.

Ideally, because college is not well suited for this, trade school is, you would become a civil engineer or a related construction discipline and you would delay graduation to take one or two semesters of accountancy, a semester or two semesters in finance, particularly money, credit and banking, and a macro and micro economics course.

The ideal real estate developer can build and design the structures and has the management skills to pull it off. Engineering is not quite "insufficient," but it is pretty close.

The ideal is a contractor with significant field experience, with a good understanding of realty and the sales process. College is not well suited to teach someone who wants to be a banker, realtor, insurance agent or broker as a rule. Real estate development is the same thing, college is not well suited to teach you how to do it as the boss. It is well suited to teach you how to support the boss in the various roles the "boss" needs to successfully accomplish a project.

Answer 3

I haven't seen a major called "real estate development", however, the closest program I can think of is what the Univ. of Florida School of Building Construction offers.

Here's a link to their site: http://www.bcn.ufl.edu/prospective/index.htm

Answer 4

Many colleges have real estate related coursework in their schools of business, financing helpful, as well as city planning coursework. You may look at at IS type of program (Interdisciplinary Studies) and get as much related to economics, finance, real estate, marketing, architecture, engineering, land management, etc... as you can.