Snohomish County, WA Investor looking for advice

[Brian Powers]

Hey everyone!

This is the first time I have made a post of my own, but I feel like I'm at a bit of a dead end. I started a construction company last October and work as a subcontractor for a general about 45 minutes north of Seattle. Since I own my own company, I can't find a bank that will work with me for anything since my business hasn't reached 2 years yet. I have roughly 120k equity in my home and can only tap into a small amount of that money based off of my wife's part-time income. I have tried smaller credit unions and banks around my area and nobody that I have found is able to loan to someone with a brand new company. 

My goal is to flip houses and then rentals as my capital builds over time. Is my best route to use hard/private money in order to begin now or is there another way to access the equity in my home that I haven't thought of?

And for hard/private money - I might have a bit of a chicken and egg mentality. I have been waiting to find a real estate agent because I don't have the ability to make an offer right now, but I think that if I had a good deal I would probably be able to find someone who has money. Should I start looking for deals or am I wasting my time (and worse, an agent's time). 

We have no substantial capital to bring to the table and are not willing to move in order to house hack since we have 3 kids. 

Thanks in advance everyone! 

[Teresia Sayler]

Set up your funding source ahead of time, so when a deal comes along you can jump on it.