Estimating to Development?

I am interested in making the transition to development as well but my background is in construction advisory, so others who are currently in the industry may provide better advice. First, there's a few posts on making the transition from the construction side, although some are specifically tailored to discussing the transition from the project management side, I would expect the process to be similar.

You may want to provide some more details on your current situation rather than just stating "been here for a few years" so others can provide some helpful advice; size of projects? type? market? educational background, how many years out etc. That said, depending on how many years you have been out of school, it will most likely come down to two scenarios, networking or MSRED/MBA.

Obviously, it is important to understand how GCs come up with their pricing/timeline etc, that's where I would say your experience becomes relevant. Especially with the current economic conditions and the issues specifically associated to the construction industry which results in GC's providing ridiculous quotes. Estimator's have to maintain relationships with multiple subs and vendors, another area where you may bring in value. I know some estimators are better than others when it comes to value engineering, if you're skilled in this, I'd say that's another plus.

Simply put, if you have a solid story as to why you are interested in real estate and you network it is possible. Aim for smaller firms, larger firms will most likely not even look at your resume without previous development experience or an MBA. And if you are not aware already, the number of openings out there are limited since many firms don't post openings, take a look at some of the recent job posts threads and you will see how difficult it is even for those with development experience to find something.