Newbie flipper from SoCal

[Monica George]

Hi everyone at BP!

My name is Monica George ("Mona") and I'm in Southern CA - right now living in Moreno Valley.   I've been absorbing the wealth of info and training on Bigger Pockets and anywhere I can find for years.  And now I'm looking to purchase my first fixer property.   Honestly - I'm so excited I truly can't sit still.   

OK, so a little background.   I've had a rental home in Corona for over 10 years, lived in OC and now in Riverside County.  I got my appraiser's license and tried to get into flipping back in 2007.   But the housing market basically hit the lowest point possible right then and everything wrong that couldn't happened  ... DID.  That "bubble burst" killed my income, momentum, and almost all my hope that i could get into real estate.  To keep things rolling we decided to move into the flip house and wait until the prices came back up.  Then I found a good job with a consulting company and did all I could to repair our finances.

After years of saving every penny I'm finally in a good position to try again.   This time I'm partnering with my mother to purchase, rehab, and flip a home by the end of 2017.   She's going to finance the deal (with her good credit) and I'm going to handle basically everything else. I also started taking classes to get my real estate license since it will help with flipping and is more up my alley than appraising was.   

So far 1 online class completed ... 2 to go ... then take state exam.

Now I feel better prepared.  And I'm very excited at the prospect of being able to quit my boring day job and invest full time.  But still I feel like I'm just waiting for the floor to drop out from under my feet.   Can't shake that "ughhhhhh" feeling or wonder if I'm just risking ALL of my savings AGAIN!  I know that's just nerves, and I gotta push thru it.... but still ....

Yeah I'll get there, but I'll probably be holding my breath until I actually get that first purchase offer accepted.   There's lots to do and not much time for it.   My goal is to complete my first flip and have it sold by the end of 2017!   And this year I'm turning 40 in October, so I'm planning a long awaited and hard earned vacation in the Caribbean with my hubby at the end of the project.

So anyway, thanks for letting me vent a little and introduce myself to you all.   Anyone that's in the area and wants to chat - shoot me a message anytime.   I love to hear from fellow SoCal investors and to learn more.    :)

By this time next month (fingers-crossed) I hope to bring more good news of my 1st purchase!!