When it arrived, I quickly realized that this is not a typical book.
But I took a friend's advice, dropped $50 on Amazon, and waited for my book to come. I'm sure some of you are rolling your eyes and saying, "Come on, man… how can you learn construction from a book?" 12 months ago, I was right there with you. Ching, and it has been a LIFESAVER!įor anyone looking to bone up on construction terms and methods, I cannot recommend this book highly enough!! The second thing I've been doing is reading "Building Construction Illustrated" by Francis D.K. There is absolutely no alternative to being there and seeing first-hand how a building is put together. First, and most importantly, I'm out on the job site at least every 10 days walking, asking questions, and trying to learn from the masters. Over the past year, I've been working hard to overcome this deficiency in two ways. I'm lucky to have a great construction team that really helps me out, but I still can't help feeling like they've forgotten more about construction than I've ever learned. Without a doubt, I've got one of the most fun and exciting jobs in the world, and I absolutely love it!Īll that said, there is one aspect of my job that I don't always love… and that's feeling like a total noob every time I'm out on the job site. Fast-forward 10 years and two masters degrees later and I can finally enjoy the thrill of BEING a real estate developer.
(I'm sure you all remember!) So, I started studying for the GMAT and teaching myself how to build proformas. It was 2010, and the construction path did not seem like a great option at the time.
The alternative was to take the "finance path" and learn how to make deals work on paper. First, he said I could get into construction, get really good at it, and then graduate to becoming a developer. When I first latched onto the idea of becoming a real estate developer, one of my mentors told me that there were two paths I could take that would ultimately get me where I wanted to be.