There as positives and negatives for that, but if you want to qualify for a $100k loan (I haven't looked in a while but that was the largest they used to offer) you will need to have great credit and very strong income.Unless things have changed since I last looked, they are also repaid on 3-7 year terms that are fully amortizing so your monthly payment will be very high compared with a "normal" hard money loan, which is often interest only or on 20-30 year amortization schedules.

The largest employer is the state government and the second largest employer is the Federal government. 

My 3 largest passions are real estate, investing, and personal finance. 

We, Houston is 4th largest metro in the state for a reason, people love moving here even with Hurricane and flood because its welcoming city.

I am not familiar with your area, but, in general December is always very slow, especially from December 15th until the first week of January.Many are visiting family, traveling and celebrating the 2 largest holidays of the year, Christmas and New Years.

In the past year we sort of got screwed out of a city because 8 months into the process we realized the city didn't want to help at all for our $10,000,000 project (largest development in that town since the 08 crash).

It is a rather dynamic economy...alone 5th largest on planet?

You now have a "recent derogatory credit line" opposed to a "dated derogatory credit line" which again time is one of the largest influences in all models.Also remember not all creditors report to all three repository.

Orange County boasts some of the worlds highest valued real estate in the world, some of the largest and most successful companies, world class universities and research facilities, some of the best medical care in the world, famous amusement parks, every type of entertainment and cultural venue you can imagine, all types of sporting events, etc., and draws tourists from around the world, all year round!

Eric: Michael is correct in that NASB is one of the largest non-recourse lenders along with First Western Federal.