Beginner to real estate but not contracting...

[Jay Lipshez]

A quick synopsis about myself, and my current business... I am 32 years old and one of two partners in a (mostly) residential building and remodeling company that is in its 4th/5th year of life. We have been succesful with residential and light commercial contracting, whether it be full homes/additions or general interior/exterior remodels

(Ie. Kitchens, bathrooms, etc.). I have been in the field (construction/building) for almost 14 years now and have been contemplating jumping in to real estate with my partner since we began this venture.

My business partner Shawn, is a classically educated guy, also in his early 30's. He went to college for business management, and is also a realtor. We feel we have the perfect network and team in place to make the transition into real estate investment. Specifically starting with flipping, and then rolling it into buy and hold and/or multi-family properties.

Our biggest hurdle now, is capital/financing. We have the right team of people in place. A contractor (us), a realtor (also us), and a real estate attorney (Shawn's fiance is an attorney that works at a full spectrum firm, and he also has contacts from his 10 years as a realtor). We have a business plan, that includes a mission statement, basic guidelines/criteria and multiple exit strategies. Our only problem is pulling conventional loans via our business, as it doesn't provide income in an orderly fashion like banks and standard lenders prefer. The other side is that hard money lenders from what I can tell, have the prerequisite of "have you flipped a property before now?" Obviously that answer is no, we have not.

So basically I am here in an effort to find some more ideas on creative financing, and how I can put the money we currently have saved (around 30-40k) to work for us, in an effort to get into the market. All comments and questions are welcomed! Thanks in advance!

-Jay with J & S Construction llc