Experienced Stockton (California) Investor seeking funding advice
Hey there BP community! Where are all of my fellow Central Valley investors that are capitalizing on the Stockton (California) market? I've been doing a lot of business there (Stockton is my hometown) with fix-and-flips and rentals lately and I'd love to synch up with others, regardless of it you've been in the business for a while, if you're a newbie, or even if you are considering dipping your toe in the market and have questions or need recommendations.
It's been quite some time since the last time I posted on the forums and after taking a general hiatus from using social media for real estate purposes, I feel like now is a good time to return to my roots. I first started in real estate in late 2011 really leveraged social media at that point to create some great business relationships that blossomed into awesome friendships an ended up being very profitable. While the whole starting a family thing took my attention away from my online presence over these past couple of years, I can't ever forget the role that BP and other sites played in my foundation. I can proudly say that I've made good money by partnering with others that I met through the BP community, some that I have thriving business relationships with to this day. Pretty cool!
I have a ton of projects going on in Stockton right now and I have some questions for you experienced "flippers" as business shows no signs of slowing down in the short-term future. And by a ton, I mean about 15+ at any given time. And yes, that is "a ton" to me (don't judge my numbers now, ya hear?!?!). The city has steadily risen to being recognized as one of the Top 15 hottest markets for real estate in the country and I'm not one to pass up picking low hanging fruit. At the same time though, every time in the past that I've improved the ladder that I climb to pick those fruit, the sweeter the fruit tastes once harvested. Make sense? Good. I need some help and direction.
When I purchase and flip homes, I always leverage private lenders and/or hard money to put a 1st and 2nd trust deed on a property. The whole "no money out of pocket" thing is real and can be done. I've made and unfortunately lost money in other investments so having the confidence that I can flip a house to make cash back in any city out there and with minimal hit to my pockets is a huge asset. But with this approach, would it be wise to adjust my the way that I structure funding in order to get my costs down a bit and be as efficient as possible with business? It's a juggle looking at my operations as a business but looking at each property's funding as an individual standalone entity. I buy in clusters so the bigger picture is important to me. Does anyone out there have experience with this type of turning point? Would it make sense to refinance my projects out with a single lender that would approach as a business rather than 15 separate projects? Does this type of lender exist? And is this even a normal question to be asking? Credit is great, business is a good standing S Corp with good financials, results are proven. Is there another level that I don't know about here?
BP, your assistance in looking at this in a more creative way would be greatly appreciated!