Valuation & Consulting to Development

Hoping this makes it as a trending post to get feedback from others. I'm currently at a boutique valuation & consulting firm in Houston, TX. We value real estate on a national scale for institutional clients & funds (UBS, Clarion, PGIM, JP Morgan, Goldman, Crow Holdings, Invesco, ARA, BlackRock, Greystar, MetLife, The Carlyle Group, Principal Real Estate) to name a few. The work/life balance is great for the most part, with quarterly cycles of downtime/overdrive. The company culture is pretty chill and everybody gets along, no egos. I'd say comp is pretty good. Possible to make in the mid 100K a year in 2 years as you are able to efficiently handle more appraisal jobs. However, I don't find the work very fulfilling. We conclude to a value and once it goes final and it's booked, it's like your work disappears and you start over for the next quarterly valuation on the property. I've always wanted to end up in development, as I interacted with developers while I was in brokerage before appraisals. I don't have a traditional finance background (kinesiology degree). For those in development or acquisitions at an investment firm, what would you say is the most utilized skill I'd need to have in order to successfully make a transition and fit into a development firm? Do analysts/associates have to create Excel models from scratch? I'm currently getting Argus experience at my firm for DCF analysis. Lastly, any online recommendations I can use to learn finance for development on the side while working at my current job? To give frame of reference. 27 y/o, no finance background, brokerage for 2 years, 1 year at current firm. Thanks