Can't get past basic hurdles to start.

[Charles Ownby]

Hello. I was introduced by a coworker to BP who is a long time and highly experienced investor and he has poured a lot of knowledge into me, however, I think we're at a point where he isn't going to go any further with me until I demonstrate I'm serious and willing to do my own legwork and I agree and am more than willing. I'm ready to be on the other side and able to show someone else the real estate way one day. I am married with 5 children.

Here is my situation. I just bought our new to us forever home(October 2021). It has some equity and needs some work. The ARV on it would be fairly significant once upgrades are done. In addition, my wife has a home she inherited and it is free and clear but there is an issue. Her dad was keeping up the insurance while her grandmother was still in it and for a while afterwards but he let it lapse and didn't tell us. Now, it needs some roof and flooring work and we've been unable to get homeowners without the repairs but can't get lending without insurance. I've just recently learned about builders risk and am looking into that.

In addition, my credit used to be awful. I've cleared most of it up and as of January this year it was in the low 700's. In April, a medical collection popped up that I truly had no knowledge of and another item from years ago but both have since been removed but my scores haven't rebounded yet. Regardless, I can't currently seem to get approved for anything through traditional banks and don't want to apply anymore as each hits my reports as well.

Between my personal home equity and our 2nd house we have probably 100-120K worth of assets that could be tapped. The 2nd house is worth probably 80-100K and with 30-60K worth of work, would put it up to 180-200K in value. My primary home is currently worth about 510K with 375K on the mortgage. My desire is to get a loan to fix the 2nd house and then cashout refi to pay off the repair loan and use the remaining cash to fund flips/acquire rentals. My problem is I can't seem to figure out how to make it work.

I've read, watched, listened to countless hours of podcasts, youtube videos, and articles and I hear all kinds of stories on using other people's money, using private lenders, hard money lenders, etc. but I can't seem to find them. They seem to be like unicorns. I've contact ones listed here on BP and I can't seem to get any response or find others. Google searches don't yield much of anything except conventional lenders.  I hear a lot of general statements made about just making it happen or finding a partner but I don't seem to find anything tangible to grab hold of or follow to actually get the ball rolling. Most of the stories I hear usually reveal in the meat of it that they had someone along the way that helped, provided funds, had a friend, etc. but we don't have anyone. Both my wife and I are going at this entirely alone. No one on either side of our family has any financial literacy or drive and definitely don't have any funds to contribute, even if we offered some return on it. They just don't have it.

I don't know if I just don't know where to look or if I am doing something wrong but I really want to get the ball rolling and start my real estate journey and change the trajectory for my family. My wife and I both came from not much of anything and have endured so so much in our lives. We came from poverty, I went back to school, got a great job and went from gov't assistance early on to now making six figure income. We've bought our dream home that just needs a little work and are able to support our family of 7 but still struggle at times. We've changed our finances, fought to repair our credit (except one unforeseen thing can popup and set us back months at a time) and are ready for the next step. We're on that last 100 yds to the top of the hill (which is the hardest and requires the most diligence, patience, and tenacity) but we just need a little wind on our backs. I'm hoping that posting all this here will at least point us in a direction or help us identify and remove our own barriers that maybe we aren't seeing. I know there is a lot here and is probably all over the place but it's where we are.

Any help, guidance, tips would be greatly appreciated.