Flipping in Santa Barbara

[Alexandra King]

I am a designer and a realtor in Santa Barbara, CA. I want to flip properties in Santa Barbara and Goleta. However, I have no money, and have never flipped a property. Discounted/low-cost housing in Goleta goes for about $750,00 and sells for around 950,000, after renovation. Brandon Turner seems to think there are investors out there who will fund a flip. Does anyone know of any? Laurie K. Alexander www.laurie-k.kw.com

[Greg Dickerson]

@Alexandra King  I would not recommend flipping or using hard money or private money to flip if you’re just starting out especially at that price point and considering  you have limited funds. Hard money Is very expensive, you will need a down payment if you’re just starting out and you need reserves to pay for your mistakes and cost overruns. The interest carry will eat your profits fast especially if you struggle to get the project done and sold quickly.

The best way to get started in REI is by wholesaling and ramping up you RE retail business. Once you have done several deals gained some experience and have at least $100k set aside then you could try a flip. For now I recommend you focus on getting really good at finding buyers and finding good deals as you can list or flip the contracts to other investors.

First step is to educate yourself on the business and your market which as an agent I assume you know it well. You really need to immerse yourself and learn all you can. Attend REI groups and meetups and network with other experienced investors.

Start with finding cash buyers. You will learn a ton from them and as you build a relationship they can potentially become a client as well private lender or even partner with you on some deals down the road.

Best way to find cash buyers is networking at local REI meetups, masterminds, Facebook groups, other Realtors, title companies, closing attorneys, property management companies, auctions, Craigslist, and bandit signs.

You can search real estate transactions in your tax database. Look for entities and individuals that have bought multiple properties. You may need to search by the address of the buyer as they may change their name or the name of the entity on each purchase. You can also buy lists from companies like list source and there are some REI software companies that have a cash buyer search feature.

Best way to find motivated sellers is to purchase lists and compile lists from city and county for 60-90-120 days late on mortgage, pre-foreclosure, delinquent taxes, water cutoff, code violation, probate, divorce, high equity, etc. and mail or cold call.

Other methods are driving for dollars, door knocking, wholesalers, craigslist, Realtors, FSBO sites, expired listings, foreclosure sites, put out bandit signs, billboards, newspapers, other offline publications.

You can use pay per click/adwords, facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, and other forms of online and social media marketing.

Once you have a large enough budget you can do TV and radio as well.

You could letter up or wrap your vehicle.