Home builders carry a lot more risk than your average software dev. You read all the time about devs making 250-400k. I'm in that range myself. There is basically no way I can screw up my job that results in anything worse than getting fired. If you are a home builder, you have on-going liability for everything you build. It's not unheard of to hear about somebody getting sued for something they built a decade ago. Imagine if your career could be ruined because code you wrote 10 years ago had a use after free bug?
Fluctuations in interest rates, material costs and the housing market in general means they also have a lot of risk on the business side. This is especially true for those building spec houses.
Honestly, compared to the software world, that profit range sounds too small.
Yeah, the bigger risk is just how insanely pro-ccyclical the housing market is. There are of course ups and downs in the world of software engineering but it's not like if there is a recession, all new software development is halted. Whereas in the housing market, housing starts basically fall off a cliff during a recession.
At those rates, it's a fantastic career. However, compared to software most careers fall short. I feel incredibly lucky that I chose software and that I love it. I was intentional about it, in that I chose software from when I was a teenager because I wanted to be rich and that's where I saw the money. 25 years later, I'm not rich (not yet anyway, haven't given up) but I'm comfortable. I'm probably quite poor compared to software engineers of my age, but it's been an amazing career so far, and it's far from over.
Fluctuations in interest rates, material costs and the housing market in general means they also have a lot of risk on the business side. This is especially true for those building spec houses.
Honestly, compared to the software world, that profit range sounds too small.