All Forum Posts by: J.R. St Julien

@Ashley Hamilton

Just listened to your podcast show and just read this post. So awesome to hear and read the great things you are doing. Well done!

@ Carl Whitford - That is exactly why they want to charge you to come out. We see that all the time if the home is in escrow or under contract. Makes sense though if you think about it from their perspective - what is the chance that they will actually get the business from providing a free estimate in this scenario? Best to establish a relationship with a good and reasonably priced contractor and work out a reasonable fee for this service.

Depends if you can afford the new mortgage without the contributions from the sale. If you can, I say rent it. Cash flowing in SoCal is hard to do and looks like you can do that. Wish you the best!

@Jeff S. The issue is zoning violation and the city recorded a notice of pending administrative action on the property clouding the title. The issues are all correctible and part of the rehab plan. The problem is the pending action states that non-compliance may result in fees up to $250,000. If implemented that would kill any deal that was present. But feedback from those that operate in the world of city planning and permitting - this is just a hammer that is held over your head until you comply, but it is never used on someone trying to comply. So lien goes away when problem is resolved. City inspectors said the same thing. Been working with a private money lender, but they have now requested something in writing from the city that would counter what they wrote on the notice (not likely going to get that). So that is why I asked - basically looking for a hard/private money lender that has funded a purchase scenario that looks like this.

The feedback from architects/permit specialists that I have received and even off the record from a couple of city inspectors is that the city rarely imposes the threatened non-compliance fees on someone trying to comply. But getting that in writing to satisfy the concerns of the private money lender has been a challenge. Fixing it prior to closing not really the desired path. Desire is to close then fix the issues. The violations are what created the deal in the first place. So my thought going in was why would it be hard to find the money to fund it. Seems like it may be harder than expected though....

Looking for a Southern California (San Diego area) hard money lender that will finance the purchase of a property that has a lien recorded by the city for permit/code violations. Anyone have recommendations for a lender that they have used in this situation? Lender should be familiar with the permitting process enough to be comfortable lending with an outstanding threat by the city to impose potential fines.

@Gary John, welcome to BP.  Love your idea for organizing another meet up.  

@Brenna Kinney please PM me. I would love to come view the property and then make a recommendation.

@Aaron Cullen check out the John Robinson Group.  They do a great job, you can schedule online, and they send the report to you electronically.  So there should be no issues with you being out of town.

@JR M.  I can help you find what you are looking for in that area.  I just shot you a connection request so we can chat about it further.