The Right One

[Gigi Merritt]

Hello,

My name is Gigi Merritt, I live in the South Bay about 50 miles south of San Francisco, California.  I’m a new real estate investor interested in single family flips (to start) and I’m searching for not just a partner, but the right partner, and by that I mean someone with integrity and honesty who is in a financial position to help me quickly make deals happen. Someone who is willing to mentor and help me get on my feet, so I can fly solo. I’m also open to continuing a lucrative partnership, and if we vibe well then let’s keep making money.

In exchange, I want to manage the project and design and I have an eye for design, it’s called class, style, perfection! And while I have an eye for design, I can also keep costs for finishes and other materials under control. I’m more than happy to split the profits at whatever percentage is fair and this would also allow you to pay it forward, so win-win! You’re probably thinking, I don’t know this person so why should I get involved… just remember that we’d both be in the same boat, we both have to trust and respect one another, but read to the end, and learn more about me.

I was born and raised in San Jose, California by my beautiful, wickedly smart and fiercely independent single mother. She is a first generation Italian / Sicilian along with her older brother Johnny who passed away when I was three. My grandmother Virginia was born and raised in San Jose to Sicilian parents, my great grandfather Phillip DeBello and Mary LaTorre who immigrated here at or around the turn of the century, and my grandfather Costantino was born to Italian parents Sebastiano Mericone and Anatolia Panetta in Argentina.

My great grandfather was a gaucho (cowboy) who travelled quite a bit, but my grandfather was raised in the hills of Rome with his four siblings until 1925 when the family immigrated to the States through Ellis Island. My grandmother, Virginia was a housewife and worked in a cannery from time to time and my grandfather was a chef at Original Joe’s and a butcher for Denver Meat. I have a funny story about my grandparents engagement, but will save that for another time.

Me and mom moved to Ireland when I was seven because she adored Richard Harris who always talked about Kilkee on the Johnny Carson show. My mom’s dream of owning a pub didn’t work out, so we returned to the States when I was eight. In 2011, I moved to Switzerland and decided to stay for a couple of years returning in 2012. I have one son who I love more than life. In 2017, through Ancestry DNA, I found a brother and two sisters I didn’t know I had. In 2018 I got my real estate agent license, but that wasn’t a good fit for me. In February 2021, my biological father (our father) and I began to develop a relationship.

We bonded quickly in the ten months we got to know one another. It was as though we had known one another all the years before. Papa Bear was somewhat of a public figure and once told me, “I’m famous enough that people who know martial arts or know Bruce Lee films know me,” but I’m not so famous that I can’t walk down a street. I can go in and out of a restaurant. I don’t lose my privacy,” which he greatly protected.

He was a 9th degree Tang Soo Do black belt, a world champion martial arts winner who happened to play the part of O’Hara in Enter the Dragon, The Way of the Dragon and was in a few other flicks. Bob Wall loved to write and was working on the storyline as well as producing an exciting sequel to Enter the Dragon entitled Enter the Phoenix. I was helping select the actors for the leading roles who included Scott Bakula (he accepted the role last I heard), Tim Watters, Tom Byrne and Steve Sires. Papa Bear was also a very talented and successful real estate investor/broker in the Los Angeles area who was mentoring me, but didn’t get much of a chance.

In November 2021, he flew to Colorado to attend a friend’s graduation to the police force then two speaking engagements about Bruce Lee. When he returned home in December he became ill and after several weeks in the hospital, passed away on January 30, 2022. Needless to say, my heart was broken, it still is, we just found each other, we got along so well, we were bonding, but it wasn’t meant to be. The little time I had with him I cherish and he is intensely missed every day.

My primary career has been managing various claims from habitability to slip and fall (personal and commercial) workers comp to dog bite and private passenger auto/trucking with attorney involvement, so I’m not shy nor am I intimidated by these life sucking vampires, lol. I’ve been doing this type of work for way too long, earning whatever number it is my “boss” thinks I’m worth, and I want a career change that gets me out of the rat race.

I want to be around happy people (for the most part) doing something creative, that makes me happy, free and lucrative, one that allows me to be my own boss deciding how much money I make, and on my way to living an essential life with multiple streams of income that include me in Europe, writing stories in my free time. I’m going to make money work for me by making more money. I have plans for land I want to purchase to build self-sustaining animal sanctuaries with vet services, growing food for them.

Also more land to build self-sustaining low income/homeless developments, with career assistance, training, garden including growing vegetables to get them on their feet and possibly into home ownership when they move on if they wish it and they can also pay it forward. I want to buy a home for my elderly mother with a garden, she loves to get her hands in the dirt, before she leaves this planet and I want to leave a legacy for my son. Typical wishes, right? Not too much to ask, eh?

Last year I paid for a "coaching" program, formed an LLC with an S Corp election because my intention is to make a lot of money, began putting my team together which includes the best realtor I know and contractor plus a few hard money lenders including one that will loan 100% of the purchase/reno after I get a deal or two under my belt. I walked a crap ton of properties, but the one the stands out the most is a single family fixer in Milpitas, California. It was a 3/2, 1200 sq. ft. and a large backyard in a quiet neighborhood with $125k reno budget and It's after repair value would have been between $1.6 – $1.7 mil. It would have been a sweet $175k to $275k profit.

It didn’t work out for me because according to the formula my “coach” provided, this deal did not include at least a 10% profit, and I didn’t care that it was a 6% profit, it was a good profit, and it wasn’t going to be the only deal, but I pitched it to the private money partners I was given access, but It wasn’t jumped on fast enough before another investor snatched it up for $1.3 mil all cash within a couple of days of my walking it.

This was the problem with this “coaching” program… all my potential deals fell through because there never was at least a 10% profit, so I couldn’t get attention quick enough from the private money partners before another investor came in with all cash. However, I did buy a single family home in Sacramento with my son and it is currently rented.

So no, I don’t have a lot of experience flipping houses, but we all start somewhere, right? Hopefully my vibe is a good match for a partner with the same vibe who just wants to mentor and help another investor get started, and I would be grateful. One day, I will pay it forward. Oh and I can be analytical, I have a great sense of humor and I’m a Libra, so all about beautiful surroundings, balance, fairness and justice. As long as you have integrity, respect and a sense of humor we’ll be a match made in heaven. Thank you for reading, I know this was a bit long, but it was fascinating too, right? There is so much more, I could write a book 😉

Interested? I would think so, and now you know much more about me that I know about you at the moment, so go for it, send a message to me, tell me about yourself, and why you think we’d be a good match… let’s have a chat.

Cheers!

Gigi Merritt