Newbie from Los Angeles, California

[Eduardo Fernandez]

Hello Everyone!

I'm from Los Angeles. I've been involved in real estate since I was a child. My family has been in construction for over 35 years. Every summer since I was 7, I went to work with my old man and learned the fine etiquette of saw dust, hammers, nails, and good old power tools. Every member of my family is involved in one area or another of construction. From grading, foundations, framing, and finish carpentry we've done it all.

My family has always invested in real estate. We have bought and sold pre-foreclosures, commercial, and multi-family. We have also built custom homes and did some land speculation. I always loved it and knew that this is where I would eventually end up. In the early 90's we lost it all! My family didn't understand the concept of leverage and the construction industry took a dump. It sucks when you go from lavish dinners to paying for gas with pennies. Lesson learned!!!

After College, I left for Chicago to work in the commodities markets. I worked on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade for a commodities broker. Then I went to work at the clearing house in accounting, compliance, and finally trading platform technologies. Eventually, with the nod of the owners of the firm, I partnered up and ran a small operation at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. We had a group of 22 traders while I oversaw the firms risk management systems. After Nasdaq crashed and my partner lost $3 million (he was the money guy and was not on my system), I decided that I should learn the securities and bond side of the business. I joined UBS (at the time it was UBS Painewebber) as a financial advisor. That was an interesting time to say the least.

During my time at UBS, I was focusing on getting real estate professionals to invest in stocks and bonds. The rejection didn't phase me but I knew something was wrong. I walked into the office of the Boss and I asked how I could better approach my target market. He stood up and closed the door. He then proceeded to tell me that real estate was the best asset class since you could buy properties with little to no money down. ROI could be infinite. I walked out of his office, sat at my desk, and made the decision to leave. Within one month, I transferred all my accounts, and went to work at a mortagage company. Unfortunately, they turned out to be a boiler room. But I did learn enough to get an idea on how it worked.

Fast forward six/seven years and now I am the same person that I was pitching to before. Since that time, I've obtained my class B general contractors license. My experience is varied but potentially useful to the group. I have some land speculation in Mexico and southern california. I also have some foreclosures that I bought in the last three years. Most were converted into rentals with positive cash flow. I sold most of them over the last 12 months. We worked on several projects for KB Homes, Lennar, Standard Pacific, and smaller players like Brehm Communities. It was good while it lasted. We foresaw the credit crisis three years ago and prepared for the worst (we learned our lesson in the early 90's).

I started meeting with banking representatives about 8 months ago. I have talked to over 20 institutions mostly on the smaller side. Building the relationship is a long process. I learned patience long ago. I got myself involved with some individuals in the midwest and are now connecting deals for REO's in Chicago. Nothing big yet but working on it. I need to learn about bulk REO and performing/non-performing notes as I am now running into them with the banks. Obviously, deal flow is small and scams/fraud is rampant.

I am happy to share if I can help you with any of my knowledge. I have great contacts in many fields. I would also appreciate you sharing your knowledge as well. Knowing that I don't know everything and never will is a blessing from God. When I am out of my element, I turn to professionals that specialize in that field. Thank you for reading!!!