A developer may be an individual, but is most likely to be a form of  partnership, limited liability company or corporation. There are usually two types of developers in real estate, which are land developers and building developers.

Land developers usually acquire natural or "unimproved" land and "improve" or change it with utility connections, roads, earth grading, covenants (context in which future development of built improvements may take place), and entitlements (secured legal permissions from regulatory bodies).

Building developers usually purchase raw land, improved land, and/or redevelopable property in order to construct building projects. These  buildings are then sold entirely or in part to others, or retained as assets to produce cash flow such as rents and other means.

Successful real estate developers can become enormously wealthy due to the large sums of money being transacted and the value of the assets they control. However, because of the illiquidity of their assets, they are also very often cash-poor.