21, working corporate, building towards my first spec home, looking for someone a few steps ahead to learn from
Background
I graduated with a degree in MIS, and I'm currently working a corporate job at a software company. It pays the bills but it's not where I want to end up. Over the last several months I've been shadowing a builder/broker. He owns his brokerage and builds spec homes on the side, and between watching his projects move and seeing how he structures his time, I got hooked. I want his life more than I want my corporate title.
Where I'm at right now:
I'm partnered with my mom on capital. She's bringing in $150K and I'm bringing $30K, so $180K total to deploy on a first build. She's an equity partner, not a lender, and she's also a licensed agent with MLS access, which has been huge for comps and lot research while I finish my own pre-license coursework (sitting the Georgia exam in the next few months). I'm targeting the Atlanta metro/exurb counties, mainly Cobb, Cherokee, Forsyth, and Bartow, for a single 4-bed spec build, slab foundation, sticking to a 25%-or-less land-to-sale-price ratio and roughly $130/sqft on the build side. I've got a live lot tracker with several candidates ranked and in due diligence right now.
12 month goal:
Close on my first spec home. Realistically that means land acquisition and a lender relationship in the first couple months, permitting and plans after that, a 5 to 6 month build, then list and close. If I hit that, I want project two to be bigger, and eventually move from single-family spec into small luxury builds and boutique multifamily, somewhere in the 8 to 20 unit range.
What I'm looking for:
I want to add more on top of what I'm already doing, shadowing isn't enough on its own anymore. I have free time after work and on weekends and I want to actually be doing something with it, not just watching from the side. What I'm looking for is someone with real experience who's willing to teach me what they know, and honestly I'd work for someone like that in exchange for the knowledge if it came to that. If that's you, or you know someone who fits that, I'd appreciate the connection.