New member in the Inland Empire (So Cal)

[Matt Sauls]

I'm so excited to post for the first time to BP, and to join this vibrant community! My name is Matt Sauls and I'm a newer investor living in Redlands, California. Home turf for me is the Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego County. I have been in the real estate business for all of my adult working life. Different than most though, I have spent my career working in the new home building industry. I began in new home market research as a consultant and eventually moved directly into the home builder side. For the past decade I have led Marketing for a large regional West Coast home builder with direct management of 500-700 closings per year on average across Southern California. My previous and current investing experience has been primarily market timing speculation purchases of new homes during appreciation cycles. This works well in So Cal if timed correctly, and I'm fortunate to be directly on the pulse of market movement in my current job at all times. The more I've begun to goal plan for the next 20 years, I realize I'm ready for investment in long-term cash flow properties to help meet some of those goals. I believe there is still room in my goals for appropriate appreciation plays (new homes, fix/flip, spec build etc.) and I want to be open to these opportunistic strategies. I plan to continue to work my primary job, and know that my ultimate success will come from the people I meet and the teams I'll be able to build. I'm open to in-state, and out-of-state if the numbers and the strength of a local team can be achieved. Mostly, I'm excited to get started and join the conversation. There are many people to meet and I hope in no time I'll be helping others in the community as well. Please say hello, it will be great to meet you all!

[Matt Sauls]

Karen Margrave great to meet you and thanks for the kind words!

Sales in new homes have been pretty vibrant in the Inland Empire for the last 12 months, with very quick appreciation in early 2013. Appreciation has slowed, but is still occurring. There aren't many developers producing new lots, but it is starting to happen out here again. Many companies were burned hard in the last cycle, so everyone is being cautious.

Swat K. Great to meet you as well!