<p>Okay I have to admit, I HAVE MANY DREAMS (like owning the red soxs and becoming a billionaire, but those aren't realistic). The ones that are realistic don't seem to go that well. </p>
<p>I have been in love with engineering since freshman year of high school. However I have also been in love with real estate. I am going to study engineering in college, but minor in business. </p>
<p>Now a career that seems cool is real estate developer. Now my question is do you think this is possible to do with a mechanical engineering degree (I really don't like civil, but I guess I can try it) and minor or double major in business (also if the school I am appyling to doesn't offer real estate course, what should I do)? And after college, what should be my next step in terms of school and work? Also if you know anything about real estate development, please type it in?</p>
<p>Ha, I actually knew a guy who was a mechanical engineering major who went into real estate development. He didn't have a minor in anything else, but he was one of those types who was determined and driven, and had the "businessman mentality." This guy went on to do a MS degree in the architecture school, which focused specifically on real estate development. </p>
<p>You can always try getting an internship with a real estate developer, so maybe that will help you get your foot in the door. </p>
<p>I don't know much, since I've had very little exposure to this field, but what do you want to know about real estate development? And I hope you don't mean being a broker, because that's pretty different.</p>
<p>It's going to take a lot of work on your own to get to where you want to go, but I definitely wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>Construction management firms don't buy or assess anything. All we do is manage the building process. The real estate developer buys the land, and we help facilitate the process of bringing their vision into reality.</p>
<p>Ken you say being a broker is different. How different are we talking about?Also can you talk in more depth about what your friend does for a living?</p>
<p>I can only name companies that are big in NYC, but I assume many of them also have offices in Boston as well...</p>
<p>Extell Developments
Tishman Speyer
Vornado Realty Trust
Cushman & Wakefield
Brookfield Properties
Sciame - actually this one does both construction mgmt and development, rare for companies of this size
The Related Companies
The Durst Organization
Trump - of course
The Clarett Group
Zeckendorf Developments
Boston Properties - haha I'd be surprised if they don't have a presence in Boston</p>
<p>A broker is the salesperson who actually does the sale. This person is responsible for taking the finished apartment/house and making the deal with the future resident. Brokers are the little fish.</p>
<p>Not that brokers don't make any money, but since you say you want to be a billionaire, haha, I assume you want to be top dog! The real estate development company assesses land/property and buys up the ones that are worthwhile. As owner of the property, you contact an architect to design a building for you, with your vision in mind. You then hire a construction manager, hopefully me, to bring that vision into reality. Afterwards, you sell it to future tenants and turn a profit. This is probably a very simplistic explanation of it, as I haven't had too much contact with developers yet. I've probably omitted a lot of things too, so I'm not the best source, but I hope it helps somewhat. Maybe there's a real estate developer's forum somewhere? </p>
<p>I lost touch with my friend... all I know is he's somewhere in Russia now doing development.</p>
<p>boston<em>man</em>2009, I'm in the exact same position as you, the only difference is that my degree is a combined computer science and business degree. I was also very interested in engineering (at my school, comp sci is through the engineering dept), but im much more the business type than the programmer type and I really want to go into real estate development. </p>
<p>My plan is to look for an internship in real estate (it my be a little easier for me since i am in a combined major with business) and use my engineering degree on my resume as a way of separating myself from the other business majors, by demonstrating a have much better quantitative skillsthan a typical business major. Almost all real estate internship postings i have seen ask for very strong quantitative skills, so you should be in a qualified spot as an ME major, plus most real estate internships don't have strict real estate course background requirements.</p>
<p>So all in all, I think that if you are able to land a real estate internship, you should be fine to start a career in real estate after college.</p>